ASCII Magic for AI agents

The URL

https://www.ascii-magic.com/mcp

That is the whole configuration. The server supports OAuth with dynamic client registration, so your client registers itself and asks you to sign in. You sign in with the same ASCII Magic account you use on the site.

Who can use it

Anyone with an ASCII Magic account. You do not need Pro to connect.

• Free accounts get the 15 free styles, the full dither palette and algorithm set, and recipe encoding and decoding.
• Pro accounts get all 100 styles, the 28 post effects, the generative presets, and export up to 4K.

Your plan is read on every call, so upgrading takes effect immediately with no reconnection. Asking for a Pro style on a free account returns a clear lock message rather than quietly rendering something else.

Setup

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http ascii-magic https://www.ascii-magic.com/mcp

Then run claude, type /mcp inside it, pick ascii-magic and choose Authenticate. The server is registered to the folder you ran the add command in, so start Claude Code from that same folder.

Claude Desktop and claude.ai

Settings, then Connectors, then Add custom connector. Paste the URL and sign in when prompted. The connector appears in both the desktop app and the web app.

Cursor

Settings, then MCP, then Add new MCP server. Or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ascii-magic": {
      "url": "https://www.ascii-magic.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor and approve the sign-in prompt.

Everything else

Any client that speaks streamable HTTP and OAuth works the same way: give it the URL. That includes VS Code, Windsurf and Zed.

What your agent can do

Seven tools. You never call them by name, you just ask for what you want and the agent picks.

• stylize_image renders an image through the real engine and returns a full-resolution download link plus a small preview. Every render is dressed for quality by default: a curated look, post effects, a cell size fitted to the image, exposure rescue for dark or blown-out sources, and upscaling so the long edge is at least 2560px.
• suggest_styles ranks the styles that suit a specific image, judged on its brightness, contrast, detail and colour.
• list_styles lists every render mode, dither palette and dither algorithm this build supports, with which tier each one needs.
• create_upload hands the agent a one-time link for sending a file from your machine.
• encode_recipe and decode_recipe turn a look into a shareable code and back, so a render can be reproduced exactly or opened in the editor.
• account_status reports which account is connected and whether Pro styles will render.

Things worth knowing

Use an image URL, not a file path

The server runs in the cloud and cannot see your disk, so a path like ~/Desktop/photo.jpg will never work. Pass an http or https image URL. For a file on your machine the agent uses create_upload and sends the bytes over your shell, which means local files work in Claude Code and not in Claude Desktop, claude.ai or Cursor. Those clients have no shell to run the upload with, and MCP gives a client no way to hand a file to a server. It is a limit of the protocol, not something missing here.

The first call after a quiet spell is slow

The renderer sleeps when nobody is using it. The first request can take around 20 seconds while it wakes up. Everything after that is quick.

Download links expire

A finished render comes back as a link that is good for 24 hours. Uploaded source images are deleted within a day and are readable only from inside the renderer, never publicly.

Recipes reproduce a look exactly

A recipe code renders as encoded, with none of the automatic dressing applied. That is the point: it is how you get the same result twice, or hand a look to someone else.

Asking for things

Plain language works. Some examples:

• Turn this into ASCII art: https://example.com/photo.jpg
• Which styles would suit this image?
• Render it as LEGO instead, and make the cells smaller
• Give me that as a recipe code so I can open it in the editor
• Use the gameboy palette with atkinson dithering

If a render is not quite right, ask for a different variant. Most styles carry several curated looks.

Privacy

Images you send are used to produce your render and nothing else. Uploaded sources expire within a day, finished renders within 24 hours. We do not train on your images. The full detail is in the privacy policy.

Trouble

• The server does not appear in your client. In Claude Code, it is registered per folder. Start Claude Code from the folder you ran the add command in.
• A style comes back locked. That style needs Pro. Run list_styles to see what your account can render, or upgrade.
• A file path was rejected. Expected. Use an image URL, or use Claude Code, where the agent can upload the file for you.
• Something else. Reply to any of our emails or use the contact page. A solo founder reads them.