mcp-drawthings

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Draw Things - enabling LLMs to generate images locally on Mac using Stable Diffusion and other AI models.

Features

Text-to-Image Generation - Generate images from text prompts using the currently loaded model in Draw Things
Image-to-Image Transformation - Transform existing images using text prompts
Configuration Access - Query the current Draw Things settings and loaded model
Local Processing - All image generation runs locally on your Mac using Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)

Prerequisites

macOS with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
Draw Things app installed
Node.js 18 or later

Setup

1. Enable Draw Things API Server

Open Draw Things
Click the gear icon (⚙️) to open Settings
Enable API Server / HTTP Server
The server runs on port 7860 by default

Verify the server is running:

Terminal

curl http://localhost:7860

2. Configure Your MCP Client

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drawthings": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-drawthings"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project or global config:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drawthings": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-drawthings"]
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Your MCP Client

Restart Claude Desktop or Cursor to load the new MCP server.

Available Tools

`check_status`

Check if the Draw Things API server is running and accessible.

`get_config`

Get the current Draw Things configuration including the loaded model and settings.

`generate_image`

Generate an image from a text prompt.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`prompt`	string	Yes	Text description of the image to generate
`negative_prompt`	string	No	Elements to exclude from the generated image
`width`	number	No	Image width in pixels (default: 512)
`height`	number	No	Image height in pixels (default: 512)
`steps`	number	No	Number of inference steps (default: 20)
`cfg_scale`	number	No	Guidance scale (default: 7.5)
`seed`	number	No	Random seed for reproducibility (-1 for random)
`output_path`	string	No	Custom file path to save the image

Example:

Code

Generate an image of a futuristic city at sunset with flying cars

`transform_image`

Transform an existing image using a text prompt (img2img).

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`prompt`	string	Yes	Text description of the desired transformation
`image_path`	string	No*	Path to the source image file
`image_base64`	string	No*	Base64-encoded source image
`negative_prompt`	string	No	Elements to exclude
`denoising_strength`	number	No	Transformation strength 0.0-1.0 (default: 0.75)
`steps`	number	No	Number of inference steps (default: 20)
`cfg_scale`	number	No	Guidance scale (default: 7.5)
`seed`	number	No	Random seed (-1 for random)
`output_path`	string	No	Custom file path to save the result

*Either image_path or image_base64 must be provided.

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`DRAWTHINGS_HOST`	`localhost`	Draw Things API host
`DRAWTHINGS_PORT`	`7860`	Draw Things API port
`DRAWTHINGS_OUTPUT_DIR`	`~/Pictures/drawthings-mcp`	Directory for generated images

Architecture

Code

┌─────────────────┐     stdio      ┌──────────────────┐     HTTP      ┌─────────────┐
│   MCP Client    │◄──────────────►│  mcp-drawthings  │◄────────────►│ Draw Things │
│ (Claude/Cursor) │   JSON-RPC     │                  │  localhost    │    App      │
└─────────────────┘                └──────────────────┘   :7860       └─────────────┘
                                           │
                                           ▼
                                   ┌──────────────┐
                                   │  File System │
                                   │   (images)   │
                                   └──────────────┘

Development

bash

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/james-see/mcp-drawthings
cd mcp-drawthings

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

Troubleshooting

"Cannot connect to Draw Things API"

Make sure Draw Things is running
Check that the API Server is enabled in Draw Things settings
Verify the server is accessible: curl http://localhost:7860
Check if a different port is configured in Draw Things

Images not generating

Make sure a model is loaded in Draw Things
Check Draw Things for any error messages
Try generating an image directly in Draw Things first

Permission errors saving images

Check that the output directory is writable. You can set a custom directory using the DRAWTHINGS_OUTPUT_DIR environment variable.

License

MIT

Related Projects

Draw Things - The AI image generation app for Mac/iOS
Model Context Protocol - The protocol specification
@modelcontextprotocol/sdk - TypeScript SDK for MCP