MCP Quickstart

The Picsart MCP server exposes its available models as Model Context Protocol tools. Connect it to any MCP-compatible agent and that agent can generate image, video, and audio with available models using natural language or structured tool calls.

New to MCP? Start with What is MCP? first.

What you need

A Picsart account. You sign in to it in your browser the first time the agent connects.
Credits on that account for generations. Browsing the catalog and quoting costs are free.
An agent that supports remote (HTTP) MCP servers with OAuth sign-in. Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex, ChatGPT, and Gemini CLI all do.

That is all. The server is hosted by Picsart, so there is nothing to install on your machine. You do not need the gen-ai CLI, gen-ai login, or an API key to use MCP.

The server address is:

https://api.picsart.com/gen-ai/mcp

The first time your agent connects, the server answers that sign-in is required and points the agent at Picsart's sign-in page. The agent opens a browser window, you sign in to Picsart and approve access, and the agent stores the session itself. From then on every tool call is made as you, against your credit balance.

If the session expires, reconnect or re-authenticate the server from your agent's MCP or connector settings. The steps are in each integration guide.

Connect to your agent

Claude (web and desktop)

Go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste https://api.picsart.com/gen-ai/mcp, and sign in to Picsart in the window that opens. On a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, an organization owner adds the connector for everyone.

Claude Code

bash

claude mcp add --transport http picsart-gen-ai https://api.picsart.com/gen-ai/mcp

Then run /mcp inside Claude Code, pick picsart-gen-ai, and choose Authenticate to sign in. Use it in any conversation:

"Generate a product image on a white background using Flux 2 Pro, 4:3 aspect ratio."

For full Claude Code setup including Skills and troubleshooting, see Claude Code integration.

Cursor

Add the following to .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "picsart-gen-ai": {
      "url": "https://api.picsart.com/gen-ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Cursor integration.

Windsurf

Add to mcp_config.json (open it from Cascade's ... menu → Open MCP config file):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "picsart-gen-ai": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.picsart.com/gen-ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Windsurf integration.

VS Code (Copilot)

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace or to your user MCP configuration:

json

{
  "servers": {
    "picsart-gen-ai": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.picsart.com/gen-ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See VS Code integration.

Codex (OpenAI)

bash

codex mcp add picsart-gen-ai --url https://api.picsart.com/gen-ai/mcp
codex mcp login picsart-gen-ai

See Codex integration.

ChatGPT and other MCP clients

Add a connector (sometimes called a remote or custom MCP server) with the address above and choose OAuth as the authentication method. See ChatGPT integration and the full list of integrations.

Tool catalog

Connecting exposes the generation, catalog and Drive tools below, plus viewing tools, a set of guided creative boards, and picsart_media_* tools for building video and images out of material you already have.

Building rather than generating?

Picsart Media Studio is a connector dedicated to that kind of work. It is added and signed in to separately, and sits happily alongside this one.

Every tool is available to the agent once connected. Tools that do not spend credits are free to call as many times as needed.

Generation

Tool	Purpose	Spends credits
`picsart_generate`	Run any model end-to-end (image / video / audio / text)	yes
`picsart_remove_bg`	Remove an image background	yes
`picsart_change_bg`	Replace an image background from a prompt	yes
`picsart_enhance`	Upscale / enhance an image	yes
`picsart_vectorize`	Convert a raster image to SVG	yes

Catalog & cost

Tool	Purpose	Spends credits
`picsart_list_models`	Model picker widget, for the user to browse visually	no
`picsart_model_catalog`	The same catalog as plain data, for the agent's own reasoning	no
`picsart_model_params`	Parameter schema of one model (type, required, enum, min/max)	no
`picsart_model_choice`	Show the user a short list of candidate models as cards to pick from	no
`picsart_preflight`	Validate a params payload and quote its credit cost in one free dry run	no
`picsart_credits`	Current credit balance and quota breakdown	no
`picsart_job_status`	Poll a job started by `picsart_generate`	no
`picsart_render_monitor`	Live progress panel for a batch of running generations	no

Viewing

Tool	Purpose	Spends credits
`picsart_view_image`	Let the agent look at up to 6 Picsart-hosted images, so it can judge a result or describe a reference	no

Drive

Tool	Purpose	Spends credits
`picsart_drive`	Single entry point for Picsart Drive, behavior selected by `action`	no

picsart_drive takes an action parameter; there are no separate per-operation Drive tools:

`action`	What it does
`list`	Browse a folder (`folderUid` omitted = root; `flat: true` lists every file)
`create_folder`	Create a folder (`name`, or a slash-separated `path`, optional parent `folderUid`, `description`)
`upload`	Save a file: `file` (a chat attachment), `url` + `name` (HTTPS URL or inline `data:` URI), or up to 10 at once with `files`. `result.url` is a CDN URL ready to pass to `imageUrls`
`move`	Move `itemUids` into `targetFolderUid`
`delete`	Soft-delete `itemUids` to trash (`permanent: true` to erase)
`update`	Set custom attributes on one file (`itemUid` + `attributes`)

Every action returns the current folder listing so the Drive widget can render. See Files & Drive for details, and Local files → URLs for getting a file off your disk in the first place.

Creative boards and media building

Some tools open an interactive panel in the conversation instead of replying with text: the film setup console, shot list board, asset review board, motion setup console and scene editor, among others. They guide multi-step projects such as a short film or a motion-design video. The picsart_media_* tools (upload, scene templates, captions, transcription, reframing, export) are the same family documented under Media Studio → What you can do. Your agent discovers all of them automatically; you do not need to call them by name.

No tool accepts a filesystem path

Every image/video input is a URL. There is no filePath parameter anywhere in the MCP contract. See Local files → URLs for the paths that actually work.

Recommended generation flow

The tools are designed to chain. This sequence avoids surprises:

picsart_model_catalog (or picsart_list_models to let the user pick visually) → pick a model
picsart_model_params → learn its inputs
picsart_preflight → validate the payload and quote the cost in one free call
picsart_generate → start it
picsart_job_status → collect the result (media models run asynchronously by default)

If you already have a model id in hand, skip straight to picsart_generate.

Example tool calls

Generate an image:

json

{
  "name": "picsart_generate",
  "arguments": {
    "model": "flux-2-pro",
    "prompt": "a ceramic cup, studio lighting",
    "aspectRatio": "4:3",
    "count": 1
  }
}

Generate a video:

json

{
  "name": "picsart_generate",
  "arguments": {
    "model": "seedance-2.0",
    "prompt": "a cat skiing down a mountain",
    "duration": 8,
    "aspectRatio": "16:9",
    "generateAudio": true
  }
}

Validate and quote a cost first:

json

{
  "name": "picsart_preflight",
  "arguments": {
    "model": "veo-3.1",
    "params": { "prompt": "a drone shot over a snowy ridge", "duration": 8, "resolution": "1080p" }
  }
}

Remove a background:

json

{
  "name": "picsart_remove_bg",
  "arguments": {
    "image": "https://example.com/product.jpg"
  }
}

picsart_remove_bg, picsart_change_bg, picsart_enhance and picsart_vectorize each take one image URL and pick a suitable model automatically. Pass model to override it.

Inputs reference

picsart_generate takes:

Required: model (model id), prompt (text prompt)
Common optional: aspectRatio, resolution, duration, count (1 to 10), quality, style, negativePrompt
Image input: imageUrls (array of URLs, for image-to-image or image-to-video models)
Video input: videoUrl (single URL, for video-to-video models)
Audio generation: generateAudio (boolean, for video models that support native audio)
Prompt enhancement: enhancePrompt (boolean, routes through an LLM before generation)
Drive: saveToDrive (default true) and folderUid (which Drive folder to file the result in)
Async: async (defaults to true for every media model: the call returns a job handle immediately, and the agent polls picsart_job_status for the result)
Model-specific params: extra (free-form object; use picsart_model_params to see what a model accepts)

Finished results come back as assets: [{ id, type, url, ... }], plus a resource_link for each file so the agent can reference it in follow-up tool calls. Assets are HTTPS URLs, never base64. Text models return the generated text instead.

FAQ

Do I need the gen-ai CLI to use MCP?

No. The MCP server is hosted by Picsart and your agent connects to it over HTTPS. The CLI is a separate tool for the terminal. Install it only if you want to generate from a shell or use Skills.

Does the MCP server require an API key?

No. You sign in with your Picsart account through your agent. There is no key to copy or rotate.

Can I use MCP and the CLI at the same time?

Yes. They are signed in separately but draw on the same Picsart account and the same credit balance.

The agent connected but the tools do not appear.

Make sure you finished signing in, then restart or reload the agent. Most agents load the tool list when they connect, not continuously.

Which models work via MCP?

The SDK catalog reference covers 222 models. MCP availability depends on the server version. Use picsart_model_catalog or picsart_list_models to filter by mode, provider, or purpose, or browse the Model Catalog.

Where do generated files go?

By default each media result is also saved to your Picsart Drive, in a picsart-genai-mcp folder at the Drive root. Pass folderUid to file it somewhere else, or "saveToDrive": false to skip saving. Use picsart_drive to upload a URL or chat attachment yourself. See Files and Drive.

How do I know what a model costs before running it?

Call picsart_preflight with the model id and the parameters you plan to use. It validates the payload and returns a credit estimate without running the generation.

What happens if my credit balance runs out?

Check your balance with picsart_credits and top up at picsart.com before retrying.

MCP Quickstart ​

What you need ​

How sign-in works ​

Connect to your agent ​

Claude (web and desktop) ​

Claude Code ​

Cursor ​

Windsurf ​

VS Code (Copilot) ​

Codex (OpenAI) ​

ChatGPT and other MCP clients ​

Tool catalog ​

Generation ​

Catalog & cost ​

Viewing ​

Drive ​

Creative boards and media building ​

Recommended generation flow ​

Example tool calls ​

Inputs reference ​

FAQ ​

MCP Quickstart

What you need

How sign-in works

Connect to your agent

Claude (web and desktop)

Claude Code

Cursor

Windsurf

VS Code (Copilot)

Codex (OpenAI)

ChatGPT and other MCP clients

Tool catalog

Generation

Catalog & cost

Viewing

Drive

Creative boards and media building

Recommended generation flow

Example tool calls

Inputs reference

FAQ