VectorCraft MCP Server

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Let Claude work on vector artwork with the VectorCraft installed on your computer — Windows, macOS and Linux:
vectorize images, convert between 20 formats, create and recolor designs with shapes, text, charts and effects.

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Why

VectorCraft is an open-source, Illustrator-class vector editor written in Rust, with a headless CLI (vectorcraft-cli), 685 commands and an MCP mode. This Model Context Protocol server turns that engine into file-in / file-out tools for Claude, so you can ask things like:

"Vectorize every logo in D:\logos with 6 colours and a transparent background, as SVG and PDF." "Make an 1080×1080 post: orange background, the title 'Sale' in white, a star and a bar chart of these numbers." "Change the red of brand.svg to #0055ff and export it as EPS, DXF and PNG at 2×." "Convert this AI file to SVG with the text as outlines, one file per artboard."

Sibling of filmcraft-mcp-server, pdfcraft-mcp-server and audacity-mcp-server.

Platforms

OS	VectorCraft package to install	Where the server finds it (no setup needed)	Status
Windows 10/11 (x64, x86, arm64)	MSI or portable zip	C:\Program Files\VectorCraft, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\VectorCraft, PATH	✅ Verified (Windows 11)
Linux (x86_64, aarch64, glibc ≥ 2.35)	.deb, .rpm or .tar.gz	/usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, /opt/vectorcraft/bin, ~/.local/bin, PATH	✅ Verified (Debian 12, headless)
macOS 11+ (Apple silicon and Intel)	.dmg (the app) plus vectorcraft-cli-<version>-macos-universal.zip	/Applications/VectorCraft.app, /usr/local/bin, /opt/homebrew/bin, ~/.local/bin, ~/bin, PATH	🟡 Supported, not yet tested on a Mac

All downloads: VectorCraft releases (there is also a FreeBSD tar.gz; set VECTORCRAFT_DIR to it). Anywhere else: set VECTORCRAFT_DIR (folder, .tar.gz root or VectorCraft.app) or VECTORCRAFT_CLI.

• macOS: the DMG contains only the app. Unzip the separate vectorcraft-cli zip and move vectorcraft-cli to /usr/local/bin (or point VECTORCRAFT_CLI at it). If macOS blocks its first run, allow it in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
• Linux: the AppImage and Flatpak contain only the app, not vectorcraft-cli; use the deb, rpm or tar.gz. For an AppImage app, set VECTORCRAFT_APP so open_in_vectorcraft can start it. On a server without a GPU, the verified setup used libxkbcommon0 libvulkan1 libegl1 mesa-vulkan-drivers libasound2 fontconfig.

How it works

Part	What it is
VectorCraft engine (vectorcraft-cli mcp --headless)	VectorCraft's own engine: importers, renderer, Image Trace, effects, Pathfinder, text, graphs and exporters. Started fresh and headless for each job, so it never edits a VectorCraft window you have open.
MCP server (Node.js)	10 high-level tools. Runs the engine one call at a time (object ids carry from one call to the next), validates paths and never overwrites.
Live app (optional)	run_vector_commands live=true drives the desktop app through its control channel (vectorcraft --control 7979).

Tools

Tool	What it does
vectorize_image	Image Trace PNG / JPEG / TIFF / WebP / GIF / BMP into vectors: presets (logos, photos, line art, silhouettes...) or mode, colours, threshold, paths, corners, noise, transparent background; one image or a whole folder
convert_vector	Any readable format to any writable one, several at once, one file per artboard, scale, quality, text as outlines
create_design	New artwork of any size / preset: background, rectangles, ellipses, polygons, stars, lines, SVG paths, text, placed images, charts — with fill, stroke, opacity and live effects
edit_vector	Recolor (old → new colours), reduce colours, scale / rotate / move / reflect, effects, text to outlines, add elements, fit artboard, metadata; or list the colours used
render_preview	An artboard as PNG, shown to Claude
get_vector_info	Artboards, colour mode, units, objects by kind, fonts (missing ones too), metadata, import warnings
list_vector_catalog	685 commands, 51 effects, Image Trace presets, document presets, formats, swatch libraries
run_vector_commands	Any engine tools in one session ($steps[N].id references), headless or in the live app
open_in_vectorcraft	Open files in the VectorCraft app
get_vectorcraft_status	Platform, install, version, commands, app / control port

Reads	SVG, SVGZ, PDF, AI, AIT, EPS, DXF, EMF, WMF, .vectorcraft, .drawcraft, .vctemplate, PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, TIFF, BMP
Writes	SVG, SVGZ, PDF, EPS, DXF, EMF, WMF, PNG, PNG8, JPEG, WebP, GIF, TIFF, BMP, TGA, PSD (layers), TXT, .vectorcraft, template
Effects	drop shadow, inner / outer glow, feather, Gaussian blur, round corners, scribble, roughen, zig zag, pucker & bloat, twist, offset path, 15 warps (arc, flag, wave, fisheye...), colour adjustments, Pathfinder effects...

Coordinates are points from the top-left of the artboard (1 px = 1 pt).

Example

{
  "name": "sale-post",
  "width": 1080,
  "height": 1080,
  "background": "#ff6a00",
  "elements": [
    { "type": "star", "cx": 540, "cy": 420, "radius1": 260, "radius2": 120, "fill": "#ffd23f", "effects": [ { "effect": "stylize.dropShadow" } ] },
    { "type": "text", "text": "SALE", "x": 330, "y": 880, "size": 180, "color": "#ffffff" },
    { "type": "chart", "chart_type": "column", "x": 640, "y": 900, "width": 380, "height": 160, "csv": ",2025,2026\nQ1,12,18\nQ2,15,24", "colors": ["#ffffff", "#ffd23f"], "text_color": "#ffffff" }
  ],
  "formats": ["svg", "png", "vectorcraft"],
  "output_dir": "/home/me/designs"
}

Requirements

• VectorCraft with vectorcraft-cli (tested with 0.7.0) — see Platforms
• Node.js ≥ 20 (bundled with Claude Desktop for .mcpb installs)

Installation

Claude Desktop (recommended, all platforms)

1. Download vectorcraft-mcp-server.mcpb from the latest release.
2. Double-click it (or drag it onto Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions) and click Install.
3. Optional: if VectorCraft is not in a standard place, set its folder or the vectorcraft-cli path in the extension settings.

Codex (OpenAI)

Recommended — the marketplace (gets updates): Plugins → Add → Add marketplace, source jhonsu01/craft-marketplace, reference main, then install VectorCraft Bridge from Craft Bridges (craft-marketplace). New versions arrive by refreshing the marketplace. Or upload the zip (Codex then keeps it in your account and refuses a newer zip with the same name):

1. Download vectorcraft-mcp-server-<version>-codex.zip from the latest release.
2. In Codex: Plugins → Add → New plugin, choose the zip and click Add plugin.
3. Codex starts the server with node, so Node.js ≥ 20 must be on PATH. If VectorCraft is not in a standard location, set VECTORCRAFT_DIR or VECTORCRAFT_CLI as system environment variables (Codex has no settings form for local plugins).

DeepSeek Harness

1. Plugins → Add plugin, enter github:jhonsu01/craft-marketplace#path:/plugins/vectorcraft-mcp-server and click Install, then Enable now.
2. Harness runs the server with its own MCP client and node (Node.js ≥ 20 on PATH); the tools appear as mcp__vectorcraft__<tool> and the output files as cards that open in Harness.
3. Harness does not update plugins by itself yet: to upgrade, uninstall the plugin and install it again with the same address.

Claude Code / other MCP clients

git clone https://github.com/jhonsu01/vectorcraft-mcp-server.git
cd vectorcraft-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Windows:

claude mcp add vectorcraft -- node "%CD%\dist\bundle.cjs"

macOS / Linux:

claude mcp add vectorcraft -- node "$PWD/dist/bundle.cjs"

Configuration

Variable	Meaning
VECTORCRAFT_DIR	VectorCraft install folder, one of its executables, a .tar.gz root (with bin/) or VectorCraft.app. Default: auto-detect
VECTORCRAFT_CLI	Path of vectorcraft-cli / vectorcraft-cli.exe (wins over VECTORCRAFT_DIR)
VECTORCRAFT_APP	Path of the desktop app when it lives elsewhere (e.g. a Linux AppImage)
VECTORCRAFT_CONTROL_PORT	Control port of the desktop app (default 7979)
VECTORCRAFT_MCP_TIMEOUT	Max seconds per engine call (default 3600)

Safety

• Files are never overwritten unless overwrite: true: in a folder a free name (_2) is used, an existing output_path is an error. Inputs are never modified.
• All paths must be absolute. The engine runs headless and never edits an open VectorCraft window unless live: true.
• Everything runs locally with no network access. Each job uses a private engine in a temp folder that is removed afterwards.

Development

npm run build       # TypeScript + single-file bundle (dist/bundle.cjs)
npm test            # unit tests (Windows, macOS and Linux path logic)
npm run test:e2e    # 20 end-to-end checks over real MCP stdio (synthetic PNGs and designs)
npm run pack:mcpb   # vectorcraft-mcp-server.mcpb
npm run pack:codex  # Codex plugin zip

Linux check in Docker (unpack vectorcraft-<version>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz first):

docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/work:ro" -v "/path/to/vectorcraft-0.7.0-linux-x86_64:/opt/vectorcraft:ro" -w /work node:22-bookworm bash -c "apt-get update && apt-get install -y libxkbcommon0 libvulkan1 libegl1 mesa-vulkan-drivers libasound2 fontconfig && node scripts/e2e.mjs"

License

Apache-2.0. VectorCraft is © its authors (Storytold), Apache-2.0. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by VectorCraft or Storytold. Adobe Illustrator is a trademark of Adobe.