Pexels

io.github.codeChapPublished by GitHub account codeChapv0.1.0Updated Oct 24, 2026

MCP server for Pexels — search photos and videos, and browse collections

VerifiedSTDIODesktop onlyWeb Search & ScrapingMedia & Design

Overview

AI-generated overview

MCP server for the Pexels stock media API that lets an assistant search photos and videos, fetch individual items, and browse curated collections.

What you can do
  • Search photos by query with orientation, size, color and locale filters, and fetch a single photo by ID
  • Search videos by query with orientation, size and locale filters, and fetch a single video by ID
  • Browse curated hand-picked photos and popular videos with dimension and duration filters
  • List featured collections and the photos or videos inside a given collection
When to use it
Useful when you want an assistant to find stock photography or video footage for a project, article, or design, or to pull media details and collection contents from Pexels without leaving the chat.
Requirements
Runs as a local process over stdio; the README says it is built in Rust and must be compiled with cargo, producing a binary that is registered as the MCP command. A Pexels API key is required and is read from a config file at ~/.config/mcp-server-pexels/config.toml. Network access to the Pexels API is needed.
Before you install
The Pexels API key is stored in plain text in a TOML config file on the local machine, so protect that file. Queries and lookups are sent to the Pexels API as a third party. The listed tools only read and search media; no writing or deleting is described.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open Pexels in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.

Other MCP clients

Follow the launch instructions in the repository.

README

mcp-server-pexels

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for the Pexels API. Built in Rust, exposes photo search, video search, and curated/featured content as MCP tools.

Communicates via stdio using JSON-RPC 2.0.

Tools

ToolDescription
search_photosSearch photos by query with optional orientation/size/color/locale filters
curated_photosGet a paginated list of curated, hand-picked photos
get_photoRetrieve a single photo by ID
search_videosSearch videos by query with optional orientation/size/locale filters
popular_videosGet popular videos with optional dimension and duration filters
get_videoRetrieve a single video by ID
featured_collectionsList featured collections (themed sets of media)
collection_mediaList media in a specific collection (filterable by photos/videos)

Prerequisites

Setup

bash
mkdir -p ~/.config/mcp-server-pexels

Create ~/.config/mcp-server-pexels/config.toml:

toml
api_key = "your-pexels-api-key"

Build

bash
cargo build --release

Produces target/release/mcp-server-pexels.

MCP configuration

json
{  "mcpServers": {    "pexels": {      "command": "/path/to/mcp-server-pexels"    }  }}

Project structure

src/  main.rs    - entry point, config loading, stdio transport  server.rs  - MCP tool definitions  api.rs     - Pexels HTTP client and response types  params.rs  - tool parameter types  config.rs  - TOML config loading

License

MIT

Source: README.md at commit 302a871

Tools

0
SourceWeft has not started this package in its sandbox yet, so its tools are not known.

Version history

1
  1. v0.1.0LatestSep 16, 2026

Score

40% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 days25 pts

    Keep the endpoint answering the MCP handshake; SourceWeft probes it every 30 days.

  • Auth declared10 pts

    Declare the credential headers in the registry entry, or keep the endpoint answering the probe so its auth can be classified.

  • Tools listed15 pts

    Answer tools/list without a credential, or ship a package that starts in a sandbox without one.

  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts

    Declare a license in the repository or the registry entry.