Empower your AI agents with stunning visuals, zero hassle.
A powerful FastMCP server that enables AI agents to seamlessly search, recommend, and deliver professional stock photos from Unsplash with intelligent context awareness and automated attribution management.
ð Why Choose This Unsplash IntegrationIn the landscape of visual content integration, our Unsplash Smart MCP Server stands out as the definitive solution for AI-powered image acquisition:
stock_photo
tool that handles the entire image workflowgit clone https://github.com/drumnation/unsplash-smart-mcp-server.git cd unsplash-smart-mcp-server
Configure your Cursor MCP settings:
~/.cursor/mcp.json
%USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json
~/.cursor/mcp.json
Add the following configuration:
{ "servers": { "unsplash": { "command": "npx", "args": ["tsx", "src/server.ts"], "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/unsplash-smart-mcp-server", "env": { "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "your_api_key_here" } } } }
Replace:
/absolute/path/to/unsplash-smart-mcp-server
with the actual path where you cloned the repoyour_api_key_here
with your Unsplash API keySave the file and restart Cursor.
Important: Unlike many MCP servers, this server requires direct process piping and cannot be accessed via TCP ports or through npm directly due to how it handles FastMCP's I/O interactions. The local installation method is the most reliable approach.
If you prefer using Cursor's CLI:
claude mcp add unsplash npx tsx /path/to/unsplash-smart-mcp-server/src/server.ts --cwd /path/to/unsplash-smart-mcp-server claude mcp config set unsplash UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY=your_api_key_here
Replace the paths and API key with your actual values.
Via Docker (Most Reliable Method)git clone https://github.com/drumnation/unsplash-smart-mcp-server.git cd unsplash-smart-mcp-server
docker-compose.yml
file:services: unsplash-mcp: build: . image: unsplash-mcp-server restart: always stdin_open: true tty: true environment: - UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY=your_api_key_here
Configure your Cursor MCP settings:
~/.cursor/mcp.json
%USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json
~/.cursor/mcp.json
Add the following configuration:
{ "servers": { "unsplash": { "command": "docker", "args": ["exec", "-i", "unsplash-mcp-unsplash-mcp-1", "tsx", "src/server.ts"], "env": {} } } }
This setup will:
If you prefer cloud deployment, you can use Smithery:
npx @smithery/cli install @drumnation/unsplash-smart-mcp-server --client cursor --key your_api_key_here
Note for Windows users: Smithery deployment includes special handling for Windows compatibility.
For detailed instructions and troubleshooting, see the Smithery Deployment Guide.
ð§© Integration with AI Agents Step-by-Step Guide for Claude in CursorOur Unsplash Smart MCP Server is designed to make image acquisition through AI agents effortless and intuitive:
stock_photo
tool with optimized parametersThis process eliminates the traditional workflow of:
Ask Claude in Cursor for images using natural language prompts like these:
"Find a professional image for a tech startup landing page hero section"
ðª Windows Compatibility
If you're using Windows and experiencing the "Client closed" error when running the MCP server in Cursor, follow these special configuration steps:
Windows-specific MCP ConfigurationCreate a file named mcp.json
in your .cursor
directory (typically at %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json
) with one of these configurations:
{ "mcpServers": { "stock_photo": { "command": "node", "args": ["./node_modules/.bin/tsx", "path/to/unsplash-mcp/src/server.ts"], "disabled": false, "env": { "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "your_api_key_here" }, "shell": false } } }Option 2: PowerShell Approach
{ "mcpServers": { "stock_photo": { "command": "powershell", "args": ["-Command", "npx tsx path/to/unsplash-mcp/src/server.ts"], "disabled": false, "env": { "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "your_api_key_here" } } } }
For complete documentation on Windows compatibility, see Windows Compatibility Guide.
URL-First Approach: The Smart ChoiceOur architecture uses a URL-first approach rather than direct image embedding for several critical reasons:
This strategy enables AI agents to intelligently suggest the optimal download location based on project context, without being constrained by their own environment limitations.
Minimizing Tool Spam and API CallsUnlike other solutions that require multiple tool calls for searching, filtering, downloading, and attributing images, our server:
stock_photo
toolThis design significantly reduces the number of API calls and tool invocations, leading to faster results and lower operational costs.
ð Automatic Attribution and Compliance Unsplash Terms of Service: Effortless ComplianceUsing images from Unsplash requires adherence to their Terms of Service. Our server handles this automatically:
By using our Unsplash Smart MCP Server, you are automatically compliant with Unsplash's requirements without any additional effort.
Attribution Management SystemThe server includes a comprehensive attribution management system:
// Retrieve attribution data for your project const attributions = await fetch('http://localhost:3000/api/unsplash', { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ method: 'get_attributions', params: { format: 'json', // Options: json, html, react projectPath: '/path/to/your/project' } }) }).then(res => res.json()); // attributions contains complete data about every image used
The API can generate three types of attribution files:
Our Unsplash Smart MCP Server seamlessly integrates into your development workflow:
Images are automatically organized based on your project type:
Framework Default Image Path Alternate Paths Next.js/public/images/
/public/assets/images/
React /src/assets/images/
/assets/images/
Vue /src/assets/images/
/public/images/
Angular /src/assets/images/
/assets/images/
Generic /assets/images/
~/Downloads/stock-photos/
ð¥ Competitive Differentiation Why Choose Our Unsplash Integration? Feature Unsplash Smart MCP Server Alternatives AI Agent Integration â
Purpose-built for AI agent workflow â Typically requires manual parameter setting Context Awareness â
Interprets vague requests intelligently â Relies on exact keyword matching Tool Efficiency â
Single tool handles entire workflow â Often requires multiple separate tools Attribution Management â
Comprehensive system with multiple formats â Manual tracking or basic text output Project Organization â
Framework-aware folder structures â Generic downloads to a single location Installation Complexity â
Simple one-line command â Often requires multiple configuration steps Response Format â
AI-optimized with relevant context â Generic JSON requiring further processing Download Flexibility â
URL-first with intelligent suggestions â Either direct downloads or just URLs Variable Description Default UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY
Your Unsplash API access key - PORT
Port for the server to listen on 3000
HOST
Host for the server localhost
ATTRIBUTION_DB_PATH
Path to store attribution database ~/.unsplash-mcp
Parameter Type Description Default query
string What to search for (AI will choose if not specified) - purpose
string Where the image will be used (e.g., hero, background) - count
number Number of images to return 1
orientation
string Preferred orientation (any, landscape, portrait, square) any
width
number Target width in pixels - height
number Target height in pixels - minWidth
number Minimum width for filtering results - minHeight
number Minimum height for filtering results - outputDir
string Directory to save photos ~/Downloads/stock-photos
projectType
string Project type for folder structure (next, react, vue, angular) - category
string Category for organizing images (e.g., heroes, backgrounds) - downloadMode
string Whether to download images or return URLs urls_only
Parameter Type Description Default format
string Output format (json, html, react) json
projectPath
string Filter attributions to a specific project path - outputPath
string Where to save attribution files - Common Issues and Solutions Issue Solution Connection Refused Ensure the server is running on the configured port Authentication Error Verify your Unsplash API key is correctly set No Images Found Try broader search terms or check your search query Download Permission Issues Use downloadMode: 'urls_only'
and manual download commands Docker Container Exits Prematurely Ensure you're using CMD ["npm", "start"]
in your Dockerfile instead of directly running the TypeScript file with tsx. This ensures the server stays running in a Docker environment. Timeout Errors The default MCP timeout is 60 seconds, which may be insufficient for downloading larger images or processing multiple images. For image-heavy operations: 1) Process fewer images per request, 2) Use smaller image dimensions, 3) Consider using urls_only
mode instead of auto-download, 4) Check network connectivity Attribution Not Found Verify the image was downloaded through the MCP server Unhandled MCP Errors If you see "McpError: MCP error -32001: Request timed out"
errors, your request is likely taking too long. Break it into smaller operations or use the URLs-only approach
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
npm install
.env
file with your Unsplash API keynpm run dev
npm test
Here's what we're planning for future releases:
MIT License
ð Attribution RequirementsWhen using images from Unsplash, you must comply with the Unsplash License:
Our server's attribution system makes it easy to provide proper credit to photographers.
For issues or questions, please open an issue on GitHub.
ð§° Development and Testing Running the Server Locally# Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/drumnation/unsplash-smart-mcp-server.git cd unsplash-smart-mcp-server # Install dependencies npm install # Set up your environment variables cp .env.example .env # Edit .env to add your UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY # Start the development server npm run dev
The package includes a comprehensive test suite:
# Run core tests npm test # Run all tests and get a summary report npm run test:all
The test suite includes:
For detailed information about testing, see docs/testing.md.
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