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.
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.
- “Find me 10 minimal SaaS dashboard references.”
- “What does brutalist editorial branding look like? Show me 8 examples.”
- “Pull 6 references with a sage-and-cream palette for a wellness startup.”
- “Give me everything similar to design df80024f but more confident.”
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.