---
title: "AST & File Utilities Reference"
description: "Helpers available from `../utils/index.js`. Use these instead of writing custom AST traversal."
type: skill
canonical_url: https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/reference-3
source: "Claudary"
difficulty: intermediate
author: "Claude Code Knowledge Pack"
date: 2026-07-10T11:37:32.770Z
license: CC-BY-4.0
attribution: "AST & File Utilities Reference — Claudary (https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/reference-3)"
---

# AST & File Utilities Reference
Helpers available from `../utils/index.js`. Use these instead of writing custom AST traversal.

## Overview

# AST & File Utilities Reference

Helpers available from `../utils/index.js`. Use these instead of writing custom AST traversal.

## ast-utils.ts

### Class/Interface detection

| Function | Returns | Use when |
|----------|---------|----------|
| `isNodeTypeClass(node)` | `boolean` | Check if class implements `INodeType` or extends `Node` |
| `isCredentialTypeClass(node)` | `boolean` | Check if class implements `ICredentialType` |

### Property finding

| Function | Returns | Use when |
|----------|---------|----------|
| `findClassProperty(node, name)` | `PropertyDefinition \\| null` | Find a property on a class (e.g. `description`, `icon`) |
| `findObjectProperty(obj, name)` | `Property \\| null` | Find a property in an object literal (Identifier key) |
| `findJsonProperty(obj, name)` | `Property \\| null` | Find a property with a Literal key (JSON-style `"key"`) |
| `findArrayLiteralProperty(obj, name)` | `Property \\| null` | Find a property whose value is an ArrayExpression |

### Value extraction

| Function | Returns | Use when |
|----------|---------|----------|
| `getLiteralValue(node)` | `string \\| boolean \\| number \\| null` | Extract primitive from a Literal node |
| `getStringLiteralValue(node)` | `string \\| null` | Extract string specifically |
| `getBooleanLiteralValue(node)` | `boolean \\| null` | Extract boolean specifically |
| `getModulePath(node)` | `string \\| null` | Get import path from string literal or template literal |

### Array operations

| Function | Returns | Use when |
|----------|---------|----------|
| `hasArrayLiteralValue(arr, value)` | `boolean` | Check if array contains a specific string literal |
| `extractCredentialInfoFromArray(element)` | `{ name, testedBy } \\| null` | Parse credential object from array element |
| `extractCredentialNameFromArray(element)` | `string \\| null` | Get just the credential name from array element |

### Method matching

| Function | Returns | Use when |
|----------|---------|----------|
| `isThisHelpersAccess(node)` | `boolean` | Match `this.helpers` member expression |
| `isThisMethodCall(node, method)` | `boolean` | Match `this.methodName(...)` calls |
| `isThisHelpersMethodCall(node, method)` | `boolean` | Match `this.helpers.methodName(...)` calls |

### Similarity

| Function | Returns | Use when |
|----------|---------|----------|
| `findSimilarStrings(target, candidates, maxDistance?)` | `string[]` | Suggest similar names (Levenshtein distance) |

## file-utils.ts

### Path operations

| Function | Use when |
|----------|----------|
| `isContainedWithin(child, parent)` | Check path is within a directory |
| `safeJoinPath(base, ...parts)` | Join paths with traversal prevention |

### Package.json

| Function | Returns | Use when |
|----------|---------|----------|
| `findPackageJson(startDir)` | `string \\| null` | Walk up to find nearest package.json |
| `readPackageJsonN8n(startDir)` | `N8nPackageJson \\| null` | Parse n8n config section |
| `readPackageJsonCredentials(startDir)` | `Set<string>` | Get credential names from package.json |
| `readPackageJsonNodes(startDir)` | `string[]` | Get resolved node file paths |

### File system

| Function | Use when |
|----------|----------|
| `validateIconPath(filePath, iconValue)` | Check icon file exists and is SVG |
| `extractCredentialNameFromFile(filePath)` | Parse credential class name from file |
| `fileExistsWithCaseSync(filePath)` | Case-sensitive existence check |
| `findSimilarSvgFiles(dir, name)` | Suggest similar SVG filenames |

### Credential verification

| Function | Use when |
|----------|----------|
| `areAllCredentialUsagesTestedByNodes(startDir)` | Check all credentials have testedBy |

---

Source: [Claudary](https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/reference-3) · https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com