Next AI Draw IO vs OSCAR
A side-by-side look at the Next AI Draw IO and OSCAR MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Next AI Draw IO for developer tools work as a local process; choose OSCAR for developer tools as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Next AI Draw IO when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You want tools like
get_drawing_guide, get_shape_library, start_session.
Choose OSCAR when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
status, list_projects, read_project.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 73/100 · Great | 64/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | API key required | No auth required |
| Pricing | BYOK (pay the provider) | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 36,391 | 192 |
| Directory activity | 6 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 16 | 11 |
| Full listing | View Next AI Draw IO | View OSCAR |
Tools & capabilities
Next AI Draw IO tools 16
get_drawing_guideReturn the drawing guide: XML format, layout, edge routing, style and editing rules. start_session already returns it; call this only if the guide is no longer in your context. With topic, returns a short XML reference for tables, layers or groups.get_shape_libraryGet the style syntax and shape names of a draw.io icon library. Call this BEFORE drawing with cloud, network or other icon shapes, and use the exact names it returns; never guess them. Libraries: - Cloud: aws4, azure2, gcp2, alibaba_cloud, openstack, salesforce - Networking: cisco19, network, kubernetes, vvd, rack - Business: bpmn, lean_mapping - General: flowchart, basic, arrows2, infographic, sitemap - UI/Mockups: android, material_design - Enterprise: citrix, sap, mscae, atlassian - Engineering: fluidpower, electrical, pid, cabinets, floorplan - Icons: webiconsstart_sessionStart a new diagram session, or continue a saved one with session_id, and open the browser for real-time preview. Starts an embedded server and opens a browser window with draw.io. The browser will show diagram updates as they happen. The result includes the drawing guide; follow it when drawing.list_saved_diagramsList the diagrams saved by earlier sessions (auto-save files), newest first, with their pages. Continue one with start_session session_id=<id>; the file path also works with load_diagram.create_new_diagramCreate a NEW diagram, REPLACING the whole document: every page and any unsaved user changes (the previous state stays in History). To add a tab use add_page; to change cells use edit_diagram. Before using icon shapes (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, Cisco...), call get_shape_library first. Follow the drawing guide returned by start_session (call get_drawing_guide if it is no longer in your context). Pass screenshot: true on the last call of a complex diagram to check the result. Accepted xml: 1) Only the mxCell elements of one page (recommended). The server adds <mxfile>, <mxGraphModel>, <root> and the root cells "0" and "1": <mxCell id="2" value="Shape" style="rounded=1;" x="40" y="40" w="120" h="60"/> 2) A bare <mxGraphModel> with <root> (one page). 3) A full <mxfile> with one or more <diagram> pages. Every page's <root> must start with <mxCell id="0"/><mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>. Rules: cells are siblings (never nested), ids are unique per page and start from "2", parent only for shapes inside a container, no XML comments, and shapes stay within x 0 to 800 and y 0 to 600. A style used by several cells is defined once with <mxStyle name="..." value="..."/> before the cells and used by name (see the drawing guide); html=1 and whiteSpace=wrap are added automatically. To clear the canvas to one blank page, send only the two root cells <mxCell id="0"/><mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>; the previous diagram stays in History.load_diagramLoad a .drawio diagram into the current session, REPLACING the entire diagram (all pages). To change an existing file, load it here, edit with edit_diagram, then export_diagram to the same path; never rewrite the file by hand. Provide ONE of two mutually exclusive sources: 'path' (the server reads the file from disk — you do NOT need to read the file yourself or pass its XML through create_new_diagram) or 'xml' (the raw file content you already have — from another tool, a repository read, or an API response — so no temporary file needs to be written first). Both accept plain XML and draw.io's compressed save format. .drawio.svg (Editable SVG, the format export_diagram writes) is accepted too; .png files (also draw.io's editable PNG) and plain .svg files cannot be loaded. After loading from 'path' (or from compressed 'xml'), call get_diagram before edit_diagram — you haven't seen the file's cell IDs yet. Plain-XML 'xml' content you supplied yourself is already known and can be edited immediately.edit_diagramEdit a specific page in the current diagram by ID-based operations (update/add/delete cells). All-or-nothing: if any operation fails, nothing is applied and every failure is listed. Freshness: the server remembers the last diagram state you have seen, and rejects this call only if the user edited the diagram in the browser since then. You do NOT need to call get_diagram before every edit: a rejected call changes nothing and includes the current XML of the page, so you can rebuild your operations and retry. Call get_diagram first only when you don't know the current diagram content (cell IDs, structure) — e.g. the diagram wasn't created in this conversation, or you're unsure your memory of it is accurate. Multi-page targeting: - page_id / page_name / page_index are optional; when all omitted, the FIRST page is targeted - Use list_pages to discover what pages exist Operations: - add: Add a new cell. Provide cell_id (new unique id within the page) and new_xml. One cell per operation. - update: Replace an existing cell by its id. Provide cell_id and complete new_xml. - delete: Remove a cell by its id. Only cell_id is needed. Its children and connected edges are deleted too, so give only a container's id. For add/update, new_xml is the complete mxCell (inside its <object> wrapper when it has custom data, see the drawing guide) in the compact form (a shape with x, y, w, h; an edge with source and target). No XML comments. Every " inside new_xml must be escaped as \" in the JSON. Example - Add a rectangle on the default (first) page: {"operations": [{"operation": "add", "cell_id": "rect-1", "new_xml": "<mxCell id=\"rect-1\" value=\"Hello\" style=\"rounded=1;\" x=\"100\" y=\"100\" w=\"120\" h=\"60\"/>"}]} Example - Delete a cell on the default page: {"operations": [{"operation": "delete", "cell_id": "rect-1"}]}get_diagramGet the current diagram XML (fetches latest from browser, including user's manual edits). Call this when you don't know the current diagram content (cell IDs, pages, structure) — e.g. before editing a diagram you didn't create in this conversation, or after edit_diagram was rejected because the user changed the diagram in the browser. Returns the full <mxfile> by default. If a page selector is provided, returns just that page's <mxGraphModel> embedded in a one-page <mxfile> wrapper.get_selectionReturn the cells the user has selected in the preview: their ids and labels, for edges the source and target ids, for shapes the position and size, and the page they are on. Call this when the user refers to what they selected ("this box", "these arrows", "the selected shapes"), then act on the ids with edit_diagram. Says when nothing is selected. Needs the preview tab to be open.screenshot_diagramRender the diagram in the preview and return it as a PNG image, so you can see your own result. Call this once after drawing or heavily editing a complex diagram, then fix overlaps and edges that cross shapes. Without a page selector it shows the page on screen; with one it renders that page without changing what the user sees. Needs the preview tab to be open.export_diagramExport the current diagram to a file. Supports .drawio (XML), .png, .svg, and .drawio.svg (an SVG with the diagram embedded, which draw.io and load_diagram can open again). The format is auto-detected from the file extension, or can be specified explicitly. Images get a 20 px margin; a PNG has a white background (or the page's own background color) unless transparent is true. Multi-page behaviour: - .drawio with NO page selector: writes the full <mxfile> (all pages). - .drawio with a page selector: writes a single-page <mxfile> containing only that page. - .png / .svg with NO page selector: exports the currently active page in the browser. - .png with a page selector: renders that page without changing what the user sees. - .svg / .drawio.svg with a page selector: temporarily loads that page into the browser, captures it, then restores the full document (the user sees a brief flicker).list_pagesList every page (tab) in the current diagram. Returns each page's id, name, 0-based index, and cell count. Use this to discover what pages exist before targeting one with edit_diagram, get_diagram, export_diagram, rename_page, or delete_page.- +4 more on the listing page
OSCAR tools 11
statusOSCAR's version, its ports (HTTP, the fixed OSC listening port, the socket bridge), whether editing is locked, the MIDI driver's condition, and how many projects and published interfaces there are. Start here.list_projectsEvery project OSCAR holds, with its id and its title, as File > Open project or template lists them. A project is what a person edits; it reaches phones only once it is published (list_published).read_projectEvery widget in one project, published or not, with its full settings as the editor holds them: addresses, ports, channels, MIDI mappings, DMX targets. Also says where the project is published, if it is. A setting nobody touched reads as its default. What phones see is the published copy, which may be older: read_published reads that one.list_publishedEvery published interface: its name, the project it was published from, the path it is served at, who can open it (access: "network", or "off" for one no device can open, whose schedules and bridges still run), and how many widgets it holds. Published interfaces are running -- phones and tablets may be on them, and the rig hears them.read_publishedEvery widget on one published interface, with its full settings as phones have them: addresses, ports, channels, MIDI mappings, DMX targets. For answering why something does or does not respond.installation_mapOne picture of the whole installation: this computer's network addresses and ports, its MIDI ports and USB interfaces (a USB DMX interface among them), and everything the published interfaces talk to and listen for -- each OSC destination with the addresses sent to it, each MIDI port with its channels and controllers, each DMX output with its universe and channels -- with the control and interface behind every one. notices lists what does not add up: a MIDI port or USB interface that is not there, OSC followed while OSCAR cannot listen, two controls on the same DMX channels. It is worked out from settings and sends nothing onto the network: it says where OSCAR sends, not whether anything is there to hear it.midi_portsThe MIDI inputs and outputs this machine has right now, and the driver's condition.recent_activityThe network log's recent rows: what OSCAR's server actually received and sent, oldest first, repeats within a moment gathered into one row with a count n. Each row has what (OSC address, MIDI control, DMX universe and channels) and value (what the latest carried). Incoming rows: device (the sender's address, or the MIDI port), surfaces (published interfaces that follow it), canvas (the editor's canvas followed it); with neither, nothing follows it. Outgoing rows: to (where it went), origin (whose move: canvas, local, internet, schedule, bridge), surface (the published interface) and widget. dropped, on either, says why it was refused. The first place to look when something moves that should not, or does not move when it should.describe_widgetsEvery widget OSCAR has -- tag, attributes, defaults, and each setting with its type, options and meaning -- plus how an interface is written as HTML. Read this before building one.validate_draftRun an interface written as HTML through the widgets' own validators: unknown settings, values their panels would refuse, missing or repeated ids. Returns the complaints to correct. Nothing is saved.create_draftValidate an interface and, if it is clean, save it as a draft: it appears in OSCAR under File > Open project or template, with a Draft badge. It is a file for a person to review: nothing is published, nothing is sent, and no project is changed. An existing draft of the same name is only replaced when overwrite is true.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Next AI Draw IO
{
"mcpServers": {
"next-ai-draw-io": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@next-ai-drawio/mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
OSCAR
{
"mcpServers": {
"oscar": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"createwithoscar"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Next AI Draw IO is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. OSCAR belongs to Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Next AI Draw IO for developer tools work and OSCAR for developer tools.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Next AI Draw IO is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: api key required. OSCAR is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add next-ai-draw-io and oscar as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Next AI Draw IO has a quality signal of 73/100 (Great) with 6 views, 0 installs and 36,391 GitHub stars. OSCAR has 64/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 192 GitHub stars.