Simon Willison has converted Mozilla’s extensive browser-compat-data repository into a 66MB SQLite database hosted on GitHub with open CORS headers. This project mirrors the functionality of the new MDN Model Context Protocol service but delivers the data directly as a downloadable file. Willison wrote a script using Claude Code to perform the conversion via sqlite-utils. A GitHub Actions workflow, built by Codex Desktop, compiles the database and force-pushes it to an orphan branch to enable the necessary cross-origin access. Developers can download the file or explore it through Datasette Lite without needing to set up a local server.
This approach removes the requirement for developers to run heavy query tools locally just to check browser support. It provides a lightweight alternative to the MDN MCP server for users who prefer static files over model-based queries. The setup demonstrates how AI coding assistants can handle complex data engineering tasks like schema conversion and automated deployment.
* Database size is approximately 66MB
* Hosted on a GitHub orphan branch
* Accessible via Datasette Lite
