Allows filtering image search results by Flickr as a source when searching for openly-licensed images.
Provides tools for searching and fetching openly-licensed images from Openverse, including filtering by license type, source, file format, and aspect ratio, with features for retrieving detailed image information, attribution details, related images, and essay-specific image search.
Integrates with the WordPress-maintained Openverse project for accessing openly-licensed content.
@mcp/openverse
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides tools for searching and fetching openly-licensed images from Openverse.
Features
- 🔍 Search for CC-licensed and public domain images
- 🎨 Filter by license type, source, file format, and more
- 📊 Get detailed image information including attribution
- 🔗 Find related images
- 📝 Essay-specific image search for content illustration
- ⚡ Built with TypeScript and fastmcp for excellent performance
Installation
Or install from source:
Usage
As an MCP Server
Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
):
Or if installed locally:
Available Tools
search_images
Search for openly-licensed images with various filters.
Parameters:
query
(required): Search termspage
: Page number (default: 1)page_size
: Results per page (default: 20, max: 500)license
: License type (by
,by-sa
,by-nc
,by-nd
,cc0
, etc.)license_type
:commercial
ormodification
creator
: Filter by creator namesource
: Filter by source (flickr
,wikimedia
,met
, etc.)extension
: File type (jpg
,png
,gif
,svg
)aspect_ratio
:tall
,wide
, orsquare
size
:small
,medium
, orlarge
mature
: Include mature content (default: false)
Example:
get_image_details
Get detailed information about a specific image.
Parameters:
image_id
(required): Openverse image ID (UUID format)
get_related_images
Find images related to a specific image.
Parameters:
image_id
(required): The image ID to find related images forpage
: Page number (default: 1)page_size
: Results per page (default: 10)
get_image_stats
Get statistics about available images by source.
No parameters required.
search_images_for_essay
High-level tool for finding images to illustrate essays or articles.
Parameters:
essay_topic
(required): Main topic/title of the essayconcepts
(required): Array of key concepts to find images forstyle
:photo
,illustration
, orany
(default:any
)max_images
: Maximum images to return (default: 10)
Example:
Image Attribution
All images from Openverse come with attribution requirements. The API provides:
attribution
: Pre-formatted attribution textlicense
: License code (e.g., 'by-sa')license_url
: Link to the licensecreator
: Original creator/photographercreator_url
: Link to creator's profile
Always include proper attribution when using images.
Rate Limits
The Openverse API has the following rate limits:
- Anonymous: 100 requests/day, 5 requests/hour
- Authenticated: 10,000 requests/day, 100 requests/minute
This MCP server currently uses anonymous access. For higher rate limits, consider implementing OAuth authentication.
Development
Building from Source
Running in Development Mode
Testing the Server
You can test the server using the MCP inspector:
Examples
Finding Images for a Blog Post
Searching with Specific Requirements
License
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
Development Guidelines
- Follow TypeScript best practices
- Add tests for new features
- Update documentation
- Ensure all tools have proper error handling
Acknowledgments
- Openverse for providing the API and openly-licensed content
- WordPress for maintaining the Openverse project
- fastmcp for the excellent MCP framework
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
- Rate limit errors: You're hitting the anonymous API limits. Wait an hour or implement authentication.
- No results: Try broader search terms or remove filters.
- Connection errors: Check your internet connection and firewall settings.
Debug Mode
Set the DEBUG
environment variable:
You must be authenticated.
An MCP server that enables searching and fetching openly-licensed images from Openverse with features like filtering by license type, getting image details, and finding essay-specific illustrations.
- Features
- Installation
- Usage
- Image Attribution
- Rate Limits
- Development
- Examples
- License
- Contributing
- Acknowledgments
- Troubleshooting
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