Ascii Art

MCP server that exposes ASCII and Unicode art tools

Quick Install

Automated & IDE Setup

Copy the AI prompt to install this server into Claude Code, Cursor, or another agent — or use 1-click editor setup below.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code

Manual Client & Custom JSON ConfigExpand JSON ▾

Client Config & Setup

Choose your client or environment

Target File:~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ascii-art": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "ascii-art"
      ]
    }
  }
}

💡 Paste the JSON block into your client's configuration file under mcpServers, then restart the application.

Documentation Overview

ascii-art-mcp

ascii-art-mcp is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server built with Node.js and TypeScript that exposes tools for retrieving ASCII and Unicode art from a local database.

The server communicates using stdio transport, making it compatible with MCP clients such as:

Claude Desktop
Cursor
LM Studio
Open WebUI
Other MCP-compatible environments

https://theduodecim.github.io/ascii-art-mcp/

▶ Run this MCP

Just drop this link into any MCP-compatible AI chat:

Code

https://github.com/theduodecim/ascii-art-mcp/tree/main

"Run this MCP"

The AI will clone the repo, build it, and run it automatically. No setup needed on your end.

📦 Installation

The package is available on npm:

https://www.npmjs.com/package/ascii-art-mcp

Install locally:

Terminal

npm install ascii-art-mcp

Or run directly:

Terminal

npx ascii-art-mcp

🌐 MCP Registry

This server is also published in the official Model Context Protocol Registry:

https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/?q=ascii-art

Server name:

Code

io.github.theduodecim/ascii-art

This allows MCP-compatible tools to discover and install it automatically.

⚙️ Requirements

Node.js 20+
npm

🚀 Running the server manually

Development mode:

Terminal

npm run dev

Build + production run:

Terminal

npm run build
npm start

The server uses stdio transport and loads its data from:

Code

db.json

located in the repository root.

🧰 Available MCP Tools

get_ascii_art

Finds an art entry by exact nombre or by an exact value in aliases.

Input

Field	Type	Required
query	string	yes

Output

Returns the entry's art field as plain text.

search_ascii

Searches entries by categoria, tags, or both.

Input

Field	Type	Required
categoria	string	optional
tag	string	optional

At least one filter is required.

Output

Returns matching entries' art fields combined as text output.

random_ascii

Returns a random entry from the database.

Input

Field	Type	Required
tipo	ascii \| unicode	required

Output

Returns the selected entry's art field as plain text.

list_categories

Lists all unique categories present in the database.

Input

None

Output

Category names as newline-separated text.

🗂 Data Model

Entries in db.json follow the AsciiArtEntry TypeScript interface:

Code

src/types/asciiArt.ts

Each entry contains metadata such as:

name
category
tags
aliases
art content

🧪 Testing the MCP Server

A simple integration test was used to verify MCP communication using JSON-RPC over stdio.

Example test script (test.mjs):

server.ts

import { spawn } from "child_process";

const proc = spawn("node", ["dist/server.js"], {
  stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"]
});

proc.stderr.on("data", (d) => {
  console.log("LOG:", d.toString());
});

proc.stdout.on("data", (d) => {
  console.log("SERVER:", d.toString());
});

function send(msg) {
  const json = JSON.stringify(msg);
  const payload = `Content-Length: ${Buffer.byteLength(json)}\r\n\r\n${json}\r\n`;

  console.log("\nSENDING:\n", json, "\n");

  proc.stdin.write(payload);
}

setTimeout(() => {
  send({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    id: 1,
    method: "initialize",
    params: {
      protocolVersion: "2024-11-05",
      capabilities: {},
      clientInfo: {
        name: "tester",
        version: "1.0"
      }
    }
  });
}, 500);

setTimeout(() => {
  send({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    method: "initialized",
    params: {}
  });
}, 1000);

setTimeout(() => {
  send({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    id: 2,
    method: "tools/list"
  });
}, 1500);

setTimeout(() => {
  proc.kill();
  console.log("TEST FINISHED");
}, 4000);

🧠 Architecture

Code

src/
  server.ts
  tools/
  types/

dist/

db.json

TypeScript MCP server
JSON database (db.json)
Zod validation for tool inputs
stdio transport

🎯 Purpose

This project demonstrates how to build a simple MCP tool server that:

runs locally
requires no API keys
exposes structured tools
serves static data through MCP

📜 License

MIT

Read the full README →View source on GitHub →

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Frequently Asked Questions about Ascii Art

Add the following block to your claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers: "mcpServers": { "ascii-art": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "ascii-art"] } }

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Technical Specs & Signals

CategoryDeveloper Tools

25Quality signal: Emerging · 25/100How this signal is calculated ▾

Server availabilityNot measured

Not scored for repo-hosted servers — we can't reach the running server, only its GitHub page. Hosted MCP endpoints are health-checked live.

Verified ownership8/20

Documentation & tools10/30

Adoption & activity1/15

Community engagement0/10

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Documentation Overview

ascii-art-mcp

ascii-art-mcp is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server built with Node.js and TypeScript that exposes tools for retrieving ASCII and Unicode art from a local database.

The server communicates using stdio transport, making it compatible with MCP clients such as:

Claude Desktop
Cursor
LM Studio
Open WebUI
Other MCP-compatible environments

https://theduodecim.github.io/ascii-art-mcp/

▶ Run this MCP

Just drop this link into any MCP-compatible AI chat:

Code

https://github.com/theduodecim/ascii-art-mcp/tree/main

"Run this MCP"

The AI will clone the repo, build it, and run it automatically. No setup needed on your end.

📦 Installation

The package is available on npm:

https://www.npmjs.com/package/ascii-art-mcp

Install locally:

Terminal

npm install ascii-art-mcp

Or run directly:

Terminal

npx ascii-art-mcp

🌐 MCP Registry

This server is also published in the official Model Context Protocol Registry:

https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/?q=ascii-art

Server name:

Code

io.github.theduodecim/ascii-art

This allows MCP-compatible tools to discover and install it automatically.

⚙️ Requirements

Node.js 20+
npm

🚀 Running the server manually

Development mode:

Terminal

npm run dev

Build + production run:

Terminal

npm run build
npm start

The server uses stdio transport and loads its data from:

Code

db.json

located in the repository root.

🧰 Available MCP Tools

get_ascii_art

Finds an art entry by exact nombre or by an exact value in aliases.

Input

Field	Type	Required
query	string	yes

Output

Returns the entry's art field as plain text.

search_ascii

Searches entries by categoria, tags, or both.

Input

Field	Type	Required
categoria	string	optional
tag	string	optional

At least one filter is required.

Output

Returns matching entries' art fields combined as text output.

random_ascii

Returns a random entry from the database.

Input

Field	Type	Required
tipo	ascii \| unicode	required

Output

Returns the selected entry's art field as plain text.

list_categories

Lists all unique categories present in the database.

Input

None

Output

Category names as newline-separated text.

🗂 Data Model

Entries in db.json follow the AsciiArtEntry TypeScript interface:

Code

src/types/asciiArt.ts

Each entry contains metadata such as:

name
category
tags
aliases
art content

🧪 Testing the MCP Server

A simple integration test was used to verify MCP communication using JSON-RPC over stdio.

Example test script (test.mjs):

server.ts

import { spawn } from "child_process";

const proc = spawn("node", ["dist/server.js"], {
  stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"]
});

proc.stderr.on("data", (d) => {
  console.log("LOG:", d.toString());
});

proc.stdout.on("data", (d) => {
  console.log("SERVER:", d.toString());
});

function send(msg) {
  const json = JSON.stringify(msg);
  const payload = `Content-Length: ${Buffer.byteLength(json)}\r\n\r\n${json}\r\n`;

  console.log("\nSENDING:\n", json, "\n");

  proc.stdin.write(payload);
}

setTimeout(() => {
  send({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    id: 1,
    method: "initialize",
    params: {
      protocolVersion: "2024-11-05",
      capabilities: {},
      clientInfo: {
        name: "tester",
        version: "1.0"
      }
    }
  });
}, 500);

setTimeout(() => {
  send({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    method: "initialized",
    params: {}
  });
}, 1000);

setTimeout(() => {
  send({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    id: 2,
    method: "tools/list"
  });
}, 1500);

setTimeout(() => {
  proc.kill();
  console.log("TEST FINISHED");
}, 4000);

🧠 Architecture

Code

src/
  server.ts
  tools/
  types/

dist/

db.json

TypeScript MCP server
JSON database (db.json)
Zod validation for tool inputs
stdio transport

🎯 Purpose

This project demonstrates how to build a simple MCP tool server that:

runs locally
requires no API keys
exposes structured tools
serves static data through MCP

📜 License

MIT