inkscape-mcp-server

A dependency-free MCP server that drives Inkscape — and tells you the truth about what happened.

23 tools. ~5,900 lines of Python. Zero dependencies — standard library only. Nothing to resolve, no lockfile, nothing to break when Inkscape updates.

# clone and run -- no install step
git clone https://github.com/code-and-crypto/inkscape-mcp-server
python inkscape-mcp-server/server.py --check     # 6/6 checks passed

# or install it
pip install git+https://github.com/code-and-crypto/inkscape-mcp-server
inkscape-mcp-server --check

Why this exists

Inkscape exits 0 when an action does not exist.

$ inkscape drawing.svg --actions="file-vacuum-defs;export-filename:out.svg;export-do"
InkscapeApplication::parse_actions: could not find action for: file-vacuum-defs
$ echo $?
0

Any wrapper that trusts the exit code reports a successful operation that never happened. The existing Inkscape MCP server calls file-vacuum-defs and file-cleanup — neither action exists. Its "optimize" and "scour" tools have never optimized anything.

This server verifies. Every Inkscape call goes through one function that scans stderr for rejected actions, then checks the output file exists, is non-empty, and has a fresh mtime — because a stale file from a previous run makes a failed export look fine.

Every capability here was confirmed by running it and looking at the output. The receipts are in the repo.

Related MCP server: inkscape_mcp

What you get

Things Inkscape genuinely cannot do headlessly, done anyway

Offset/inset · fillet/chamfer · powerstroke · taper · radial repeat · tiled clones as real <use> links · mesh gradients · multipage · node-level path editing · layer management · SVG optimisation · animation.

Install

Needs Python 3.9+ and Inkscape 1.2+. Nothing else — dependencies = [] is not an oversight, it is the point.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "inkscape-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/path/to/inkscape-mcp-server/server.py"],
      "env": { "INKSCAPE_BIN": "/path/to/inkscape" }
    }
  }
}

INKSCAPE_BIN is optional — the server checks PATH and the usual install locations. Confirm what it found, and that everything works, with one call:

python server.py --check

self-test: 6/6 checks passed

The 23 tools

Named <group>_<action>, so the list is scannable and mirrors the source layout.

Full parameters: docs/tool-reference.md

Errors that teach

The caller is a model that will act on the message, so every failure names the cause and the next call:

'p1' is <rect> with no 'd'. Run path_convert kind='object-to-path' on it first —
Inkscape's own inset/outset refuses non-paths too.

'fit-canvas-to-drawing' IS in the action registry extracted from the Inkscape source,
but this Inkscape build does not expose it at runtime (it is absent from --action-list).
The registry tracks the source, not your binary. Run action_find to search for a
working equivalent.

That second one is real. fit-canvas-to-drawing is a registry entry that lies — the working route is page-fit-to-selection, and this server uses it.

Documentation

Roadmap

Tracked in Issues — comments and ideas welcome.

Status

Verified against Inkscape 1.4.2 (f4327f4).

CI runs the self-test on Linux, macOS and Windows across Python 3.9–3.13, then again with a real Inkscape installed on Linux and Windows, and finally builds the wheel and installs it into a clean environment. The badge above is the current state.

macOS has no Inkscape-backed job — installing it on hosted macOS runners is slow and flaky — so the pure-Python half is verified there and the action-backed half is not. Reports welcome.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.