MCP server

Curated design references inside Claude.

Search 12,427+ hand-tagged designs by style, mood, industry, or palette — directly from Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP client.

POSThttps://www.designtaste.ai/api/mcp

Search by intent

Natural language in, ranked references out — with images, descriptions, and metadata.

Filter by facet

Tags, moods, industries, palette buckets. Combine to narrow the shelf.

Find similar

Pivot from any reference to its nearest neighbors, ranked by shared facets.

Install

Get your key from the account page after subscribing, then drop it into your client's MCP config.

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows). Restart Claude Desktop — the Design Taste tools appear under the tools menu.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "designtaste": {
      "url": "https://www.designtaste.ai/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer dt_live_YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor / Cline / Windsurf

Same shape — point any HTTP-capable MCP client at the URL and pass the Bearer header.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "designtaste": {
      "url": "https://www.designtaste.ai/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer dt_live_YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

cURL smoke test

200 = your key works. 401 = bad / missing key. 402 = past due. 429 = quota exceeded.

curl -i https://www.designtaste.ai/api/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer dt_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Accept: text/event-stream"

Tools

Seven tools, one shape. Every result includes an 8-char hash you can pass back into get_design or find_similar.

search_designs
Natural-language search. Returns ranked references with image, hash, description, tags, mood, palette, industry.
filter_designs
Filter by structured facets: style tags, moods, industries, color palette buckets.
get_design
Full record for one design by hash (full, 8-char, or pin slug).
find_similar
Nearest neighbors to a chosen design — ranked by shared tags, mood, palette, industry, and quality.
list_tags
Style tags with frequency counts. Filter by substring.
list_moods
Mood descriptors with frequency counts.
list_industries
Industry / use-case categories with frequency counts.

Sample prompts

What it sounds like to use the server in a working session.

Auth & limits

Every request needs an Authorization: Bearer dt_live_… header. Keys are issued per account and tied to an active Pro subscription.

Quota resets monthly. If you hit 429, upgrade or wait for the reset. Past-due subscriptions return 402 with a link to manage billing.

No key yet? Subscribe for $12/mo — same plan unlocks the Figma plugin and unlimited browsing.

Frequently asked

Is the MCP server free?

No — the MCP is paid only ($12/mo). The web library at designtaste.ai is free to browse.

Which clients work?

Any MCP client over HTTP — Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, Cline, Windsurf, and custom agents. The transport is standard streamable HTTP.

How do I rotate a key?

Account → Keys → Revoke. The old key stops working within ~60 seconds. Generate a new one and update your client.

Is the server open source?

No. The library, scoring, and tagging pipeline are not open source. The MCP interface itself is a thin layer over the same API the website uses.