artscii is an MCP server for ASCII art generation, search, and manipulation. Here's what you can do:
Search & Browse: Search ASCII art and kaomoji by keyword, type (art, kaomoji, all), or category; list all available arts with metadata; or browse available categories
Get Art: Retrieve a specific ASCII art piece by ID, or get a random one
Kaomoji: Fetch Japanese text emoticons by emotion, keyword, or category (e.g. happy, sad, animals, table-flip), or get a random one
Banners: Render text as large ASCII art banners using FIGlet fonts (Standard, Small, Slant, Big, Mini)
Image Conversion: Convert images (via URL or base64) to ASCII art with options for size, invert, contrast, and gamma correction; optionally save the result as a new art entry
Submit Custom Art: Add new user-defined ASCII art to the store with name, category, tags, content, size tier, and description
Delete Art: Remove previously submitted (user-created) ASCII art by ID (built-in arts are protected)
LLMs can't draw. This MCP can.
ASCII art, kaomoji, animations, diagrams, charts, image conversion & procedural characters — 11 focused tools for AI agents.
81 curated arts × 12 motions = 972 terminal animations. 153,600 unique procedural characters from a single seed. Plus 100 kaomoji, 11 diagram types, FIGlet banners, and image-to-ASCII with braille mode.
.::-::. .:-::. --- apple (16w) ---
.=#%@@@@@%#=: .=*%@@@@@%#+: +:
-%@@@@@@@@@@@%*+%@@@@@@@@@@@%+ :--:#*.--:
.%@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@- -#@@@@#%@@@@%=
-@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@* :@@@%****+#%@@@:
.%@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@= -@%%%+*@@+*@%%@-
=@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@* *@@%+*+#=#%@@#
-#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@%= +%@@@#@@@@%+
=%@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@%*. .-+**=*+=.
=#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@%+.
=#@@@@@@@@@@@@%+. ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ (◕‿◕) (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
-#@@@@@@@@%+.
-#@@@@%=.
-*#=Claude Code — one command:
claude mcp add artscii -- npx -y artsciiClaude Desktop — add to claude_desktop_config.json:
{ "mcpServers": { "artscii": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "artscii"] } } }Cursor — add to .cursor/mcp.json:
{ "mcpServers": { "artscii": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "artscii"] } } }VS Code — search @mcp artscii in Extensions panel, or add to settings.json:
{ "mcp": { "servers": { "artscii": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "artscii"] } } } }Related MCP server: Ascii Art AI MCP
Tool | Parameters | Description |
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| Search art + kaomoji. Omit query to list all |
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| Get art by ID |
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| Get kaomoji by emotion. Omit for random |
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| Render large ASCII text (FIGlet, 5 fonts) |
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| Draw box/frame around text (5 styles) |
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| Data visualization: progress, sparkline, heatmap |
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| Compose art + motion → terminal animation |
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| Generate unique ASCII character from seed |
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| Combine text blocks side-by-side or stacked |
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| Image → ASCII (ascii or braille mode) |
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| Generate ASCII diagrams (11 types) |
Draw borders around any text with 5 styles:
┌───────┐ ╔═══════╗ ╭───────╮ ┏━━━━━━━┓ +-------+
│ hello │ ║ hello ║ │ hello │ ┃ hello ┃ | hello |
└───────┘ ╚═══════╝ ╰───────╯ ┗━━━━━━━┛ +-------+
single double rounded bold asciiOptions: padding, align (left/center/right), title in top border.
Unified chart tool with 3 types: progress, sparkline, heatmap.
Progress: ███████████████░░░░░ 75%
Sparkline: ▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█▇▅▃▁
Heatmap: A B C
X ░▒█
Y ▓░▒Compose any art (noun) with a motion (verb) to create terminal animations. 81 arts × 12 motions = 972 combinations. Custom text works too.
animate("apple", "bounce") → bouncing apple
animate("trophy", "progress") → trophy rides a progress bar 0→100%
animate("lock", "reveal") → line-by-line reveal
animate("GAME OVER", "blink") → blinking custom textMotions: bounce, shake, blink, slide, reveal, fade, pulse, rain, progress, wave, jump, talk
Output: script (bash for terminal playback) or frames (raw data)
Procedural ASCII character generator. One seed → one unique character. 153,600 standard combinations (16 species × 10 eyes × 8 mouths × 10 hats × 12 accessories).
character("alice") character("bob", mood: "happy")
____ /\_/\
]==== ) ( ^ ^ )
_____ ( u )
/ * * \ \_^_/
| u |
\_____/
|||||
~~o=o~~Species: blob, cat, bear, robot, bird, bunny, ghost, alien, fox, frog, penguin, octopus, dragon, mushroom, cactus, skull
Mood presets: happy, sad, angry, surprised, sleepy, cool, love, silly — sets eyes+mouth in one param. Explicit eyes/mouth still override.
Mini mode: 2-line inline characters for chat and status lines.
mini blob: (^ ^) mini cat: /^ ^\ mini robot: [^ ^]
(u) >u< [u]Same seed always produces the same character. Output works directly with the animate tool — try wave, jump, or talk motions.
Combine multiple text blocks horizontally (side-by-side) or vertically (stacked):
┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐
│ A │ │ B │ │ A │
└───┘ └───┘ └───┘
horizontal ---
┌───┐
│ B │
└───┘
verticalOptions: gap, align (top/middle/bottom), separator (vertical mode).
Convert images (URL or base64) to ASCII art. Two render modes:
ascii — character ramp ( .:-=+*#%@), classic look
braille — Unicode braille dots (⠿), 8x resolution per character
Options: size (16/32/64), invert, contrast, gamma, threshold (braille).
11 diagram types with unicode, rounded, and ascii border styles.
Type | Required fields | Output |
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| Vertical flow with |
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| Title + separator + body |
|
|
|
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| Column-aligned grid |
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| Actor lifelines with arrows |
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| Vertical |
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| Horizontal |
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| UML class with properties/methods |
|
| Entity-relationship diagram |
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| Horizontal mind map tree |
|
| Gantt chart with timelines |
┌─────────┐ ╭──────────╮ ┌──────┬───────┐ src
│ Start │ │ Status │ │ Name │ Score │ ├── index.ts
└────┬────┘ ├──────────┤ ├──────┼───────┤ └── diagram.ts
│ │ Line 1 │ │ A │ 95 │
▼ │ Line 2 │ │ B │ 87 │
┌─────────┐ ╰──────────╯ └──────┴───────┘
│ End │
└─────────┘
flowchart box table tree{ "type": "class", "classes": [
{ "name": "Animal", "properties": ["+ name: string"], "methods": ["+ speak(): void"] },
{ "name": "Dog", "properties": ["+ breed: string"], "methods": ["+ bark(): void"] }
]}┌──────────────────┐
│ Animal │
├──────────────────┤
│ + name: string │
├──────────────────┤
│ + speak(): void │
└──────────────────┘
▲
│
┌──────────────────┐
│ Dog │
├──────────────────┤
│ + breed: string │
├──────────────────┤
│ + bark(): void │
└──────────────────┘{ "type": "gantt", "tasks": [
{ "label": "Design", "start": 0, "duration": 3 },
{ "label": "Develop", "start": 2, "duration": 5 },
{ "label": "Test", "start": 5, "duration": 3 }
], "unitLabel": "weeks" } 0 2 4 6 8 weeks
┼────────────────────
Design ████████
Develop █████████████████
Test ████████████Render text as large ASCII art using FIGlet fonts: Standard, Small, Slant, Big, Mini.
Each art is stored at its minimum identifiable size.
Tier | Dimensions | For |
16w | 16 x 8 | Icons, symbols, simple shapes |
32w | 32 x 16 | Animal silhouettes, emoji |
64w | 64 x 32 | Detailed scenes (rare) |
100 curated entries across 26 categories. Source: kao.moji (MIT).
Category | Examples |
happy |
|
sad |
|
angry |
|
love |
|
confused |
|
animals |
|
table-flip |
|
+ 19 more | excited, greeting, celebrate, hug, surprised, sleepy, nervous, wink, magic, laughing, determined, eating, dancing, hopeful, jealous, ... |
MIT. Art icons from game-icons.net (CC BY 3.0, Lorc & Delapouite).
Compose ASCII animations: combine any art with a motion. Motions: bounce, shake, blink, slide, reveal, fade, pulse, rain, progress, wave, jump, talk. Returns a bash script or raw frames.
Inputs: art (required), motion (required), output.
Render text as a large ASCII banner using FIGlet fonts. Great for CLI headers, welcome messages, and titles.
Inputs: text (required), font.
Generate a unique ASCII character from a seed. 153600 possible combinations (16 species × 10 eyes × 8 mouths × 10 hats × 12 accessories). Same seed always produces the same character. Use mood for quick expression presets. Output can be piped to the animate tool.
Inputs: seed (required), species, eyes, mouth, +4 more.
Render data as ASCII charts. Types: progress (bar), sparkline (trend), heatmap (2D grid).
Inputs: type (required), percent, items, values, +6 more.
Combine multiple text blocks side-by-side or stacked.
Inputs: blocks (required), mode, gap, align, +1 more.
Convert an image (URL or base64) to ASCII art. Modes: "ascii" (character ramp) or "braille" (2x4 dot grid, higher fidelity).
Inputs: url, base64, size, mode, +4 more.
Generate ASCII diagrams: flowcharts, boxes, trees, tables, sequence, timeline, bar, class, ER, mindmap, and gantt.
Inputs: type (required), nodes, title, lines, +14 more.
Draw a box/frame around text. Styles: single, double, rounded, bold, ascii.
Inputs: text (required), style, padding, align, +1 more.
Get ASCII art by ID.
Inputs: id (required).
Get a kaomoji (Japanese text emoticon) by emotion or keyword. Perfect for inline text expressions.
Inputs: query, category.
Search ASCII art and kaomoji. Omit query to list all. Use random for a random entry. Use mode "categories" to list categories.
Inputs: query, type, random, mode.
Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.
Loading tool schema changelog…
Scored across 11 tools
Each tool targets a distinct aspect of ASCII art: generation (banner, character, convert, diagram, chart, kaomoji), manipulation (animate, compose, frame), and retrieval (get, search). No two tools have overlapping purposes, making it easy for an agent to select the correct one.
All tool names are lowercase single words (e.g., animate, banner, chart) with no underscores or mixed casing. The naming pattern is perfectly consistent.
With 11 tools, the server is well-scoped for ASCII art creation and manipulation. Each tool serves a clear purpose, and the count is neither too sparse nor overwhelming for an agent.
The tool set covers generation, conversion, diagramming, charting, animation, and search. Missing are editing tools (e.g., resize, crop) or a dedicated save/output tool, but the core workflow is complete and an agent can accomplish most tasks.
AI agent social network + no1land, a persistent ASCII RPG world agents play and co-build.
Machine-readable utilities and datasets for AI agents.
A public home for AI agents and humans: readable chat, play, and human-controlled access tokens.
Exact text tools for AI agents: unified diff, patch apply, regex testing, grapheme counting.
