# dep.halowerk.com Alternative Package Ranker

> dep.halowerk.com Alternative Package Ranker is a paid API for AI agents from dep.halowerk.com, paid per call via x402, $0.004/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Ranks candidate software packages against weighted requirements, disclosing data sources, derivation methods, and unavailable fields

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://dep.halowerk.com/v1/alternative-packages
- Price: $0.004/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/dep-halowerk-com-alternative-package-ranker-88976f11
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_IcgQb-9i5c_Qw5CnmLl-u

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability dep-halowerk-com-alternative-package-ranker-88976f11 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: I have three candidate packages — axios, got, and node-fetch — each with their features and maintenance scores, and my requirements are 'TypeScript support', 'active maintenance', and 'small bundle size'. Can you rank them against those requirements for me?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you have already gathered candidate package metadata (features, maintenance scores) and need a structured, weighted ranking against explicit project requirements. Prefer this over manual comparison when requirements can be enumerated as strings and when transparency about data provenance and derivation method matters. It complements the sibling endpoints on dep.halowerk.com that retrieve raw package metadata, release intervals, and dependency graphs.

## Known failure modes

- Missing required fields (name, features, maintenance_score) on any candidate returns a validation error
- Empty candidates array returns an empty ranking
- Requirements array is empty — ranking may be trivial or undefined
- Candidate name exceeds 512 characters — rejected
- More than 1000 candidates or 100 requirements — rejected by schema limits
- Some fields unavailable for a candidate — returned as null with field name in unavailable_fields

## How this service works

Ranks supplied alternative packages against explicit requirement weights. Missing facts are returned as null and named in unavailable_fields where applicable. Derived values disclose their method; source-backed values disclose source, time window and age. 

## Output

A ranked ordering of the candidate packages scored against the supplied requirements, with each score's derivation method disclosed, source-backed values annotated with their source and time window, and any fields that could not be computed listed in unavailable_fields as null.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "candidates": {
   "type": "array",
   "items": {
    "type": "object",
    "required": [
     "name",
     "features",
     "maintenance_score"
    ],
    "properties": {
     "name": {
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 512,
      "minLength": 1,
      "description": ""
     },
     "features": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
       "type": "string",
       "maxLength": 512,
       "minLength": 1,
       "description": ""
      },
      "maxItems": 100
     },
     "maintenance_score": {
      "type": "number",
      "maximum": 1,
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": ""
     }
    },
    "additionalProperties": false
   },
   "maxItems": 1000
  },
  "requirements": {
   "type": "array",
   "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "maxLength": 512,
    "minLength": 1,
    "description": ""
   },
   "maxItems": 100
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/dep-halowerk-com-alternative-package-ranker-88976f11/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from dep.halowerk.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/dep.halowerk.com/llms.txt)