Pinata IPFS MCP server

The Pinata Model Context Protocol (MCP) server allows Claude to interact with both Public and Private IPFS through Pinata's API. This integration enables Claude to upload, search, manage, and access files stored on IPFS via Pinata.

Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ installed
• A Pinata account with an API key (JWT)

Installation

For Claude Code

Run the following command and follow the prompts:

claude mcp add

When prompted, provide these details:

• Server Name: pinata
• Server Scope: Project or Global
• Server Command: npx
• Command Arguments: pinata-mcp /path/to/allowed/directories /another/path/to/allowed/directories
• Environment Variables: PINATA_JWT=<YOUR_JWT>,GATEWAY_URL=example.mypinata.cloud

For Claude Desktop

Add the following configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pinata": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "pinata-mcp",
        "/path/to/allowed/directory"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PINATA_JWT": "<YOUR_JWT>",
        "GATEWAY_URL": "example.mypinata.cloud"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage

After installation, start Claude Code with the claude command or launch Claude Desktop. The Pinata MCP provides the following capabilities:

File Operations

• Upload files to Pinata (public or private IPFS)
• Search files by name, CID, or mime type
• Get file details by ID
• Update file metadata including name and key-values
• Delete files from Pinata

Group Operations

• List groups with optional filtering
• Create groups for organizing files
• Get group details by ID
• Update group information
• Delete groups
• Add/remove files to/from groups

Content Access

• Create private download links for accessing private files
• Fetch content from IPFS gateway and optionally save locally

Example Prompts

Here are some example prompts you can use with Claude to interact with Pinata:

Upload an image

Please upload the file at ~/Pictures/example.jpg to my Pinata account as a private file named 'My Example Image'

Search for files

Search my Pinata account for all PNG files

Create a group and add files

Create a new group called 'Project Assets' on Pinata, then find all my JSON files and add them to this group

Download content from IPFS

Fetch the content with CID QmX... from IPFS and save it to my Downloads folder

Support

If you encounter any issues, you can send an email to [email protected] for assistance.

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 "pinata" '{"command":"npx","args":["pinata-mcp","/path/to/allowed/directory"],"env":{"PINATA_JWT":"<YOUR_JWT>","GATEWAY_URL":"example.mypinata.cloud"}}'

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": {
        "pinata": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "pinata-mcp",
                "/path/to/allowed/directory"
            ],
            "env": {
                "PINATA_JWT": "<YOUR_JWT>",
                "GATEWAY_URL": "example.mypinata.cloud"
            }
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "pinata": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "pinata-mcp",
                "/path/to/allowed/directory"
            ],
            "env": {
                "PINATA_JWT": "<YOUR_JWT>",
                "GATEWAY_URL": "example.mypinata.cloud"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect