Unsplash MCP server

Unsplash MCP Server is a simple tool that allows developers to integrate Unsplash's vast image library into their applications. It provides search capabilities for high-quality images through a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before using the Unsplash MCP Server, you'll need to obtain an Unsplash API Access Key:

1. Create a developer account at Unsplash
2. Register a new application
3. Get your Access Key from the application details page
4. Use this key in the configuration steps below

For more detailed information, refer to the official Unsplash API documentation.

Installation Options

Automatic Installation via Smithery

You can install the Unsplash MCP Server automatically for different IDE clients:

For Cursor IDE

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install @hellokaton/unsplash-mcp-server --client cursor --key YOUR_UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY

For Windsurf

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install @hellokaton/unsplash-mcp-server --client windsurf --key YOUR_UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY

For Cline

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install @hellokaton/unsplash-mcp-server --client cline --key YOUR_UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY

Manual Installation

If you prefer to set up the server manually:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hellokaton/unsplash-mcp-server.git

# Navigate to project directory
cd unsplash-mcp-server

# Create virtual environment
uv venv

# Install dependencies
uv pip install .

Configuration

Cursor Editor Integration

To integrate the MCP server with Cursor editor, add the following to your settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unsplash": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--with", "fastmcp", "fastmcp", "run", "./server.py"],
      "env": {
        "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "YOUR_ACCESS_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important notes:

• Replace YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with your actual Unsplash API key
• If uv is not in your system PATH, use an absolute path (e.g., /path/to/uv)
• ./server.py should point to the actual location of the server script

Using the MCP Server

Available Tools

Searching Photos

To search for images, use the search_photos tool with parameters:

{
  "tool": "search_photos",
  "query": "mountain",
  "per_page": 5,
  "orientation": "landscape"
}

Supported Search Features

The server supports various search filters:

• Keyword-based searches
• Color filtering
• Orientation options (landscape, portrait, etc.)
• Custom sorting and pagination

Alternative Implementations

If you prefer other programming languages, there are also implementations available in:

• Golang: unsplash-mcp-server
• Java: unsplash-mcp-server

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "unsplash" '{"command":"uv","args":["run","--with","fastmcp","fastmcp","run","./server.py"],"env":{"UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY":"${YOUR_ACCESS_KEY}"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "unsplash": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "--with",
                "fastmcp",
                "fastmcp",
                "run",
                "./server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "${YOUR_ACCESS_KEY}"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "unsplash": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "--with",
                "fastmcp",
                "fastmcp",
                "run",
                "./server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "${YOUR_ACCESS_KEY}"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect