Pexels

What Pexels MCP server does

The Pexels MCP server connects MCP-compatible clients to the Pexels API at https://api.pexels.com. It makes photo, video, and collection operations available as callable tools, allowing an agent to search media or retrieve specific records without implementing Pexels API requests itself.

The hosted option runs through Pipeworx. A scoped Pexels endpoint lists the Pexels tools along with shared Pipeworx gateway tools. The gateway can also route broader questions through ask_pipeworx, while the full gateway endpoint exposes all catalog packs directly. The local package provides only the Pexels tools and does not include those shared gateway tools.

How it works

An MCP client connects either to https://gateway.pipeworx.io/pexels/mcp over the hosted gateway or starts @pipeworx/mcp-pexels as a local process. The local process communicates over standard input and output and handles MCP initialize, tools/list, and tools/call requests.

For hosted use, the gateway connection returns the Pexels pack's tools plus shared meta-tools. Its initialize response is the authoritative source for the exact tool scope at a given time. Direct HTTP callers can inspect a tool with a GET request or invoke one through the gateway's /v1/tools/{tool} endpoint.

Setup and configuration

The Pexels MCP server can be configured in a client with the hosted URL:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pexels": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/pexels/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For a local deployment, use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pexels": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-pexels"]
    }
  }
}

Authentication supports the platform variable PLATFORM_PEXELS_KEY. Gateway requests can instead provide a Pexels key with the _apiKey argument. The README identifies the platform key as reserved for signed-up Pipeworx accounts and describes BYO-key usage for gateway HTTP calls. Pexels documents a free allowance of 200 requests per hour and 20,000 per month.

Tools and capabilities

The Pexels MCP server includes these tool groups:

• Photos: search by query with optional orientation, size, color, locale, page, and page-size filters; browse curated photos; retrieve a photo by ID.
• Videos: search by query with orientation, size, locale, page, and page-size filters; browse popular videos with dimension and duration constraints; retrieve a video by ID.
• Collections: list featured collections and retrieve collection media with optional type, sort, page, and page-size parameters.

The hosted gateway also supplies shared tools such as ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, remember, and recall. These are gateway features rather than standalone Pexels package tools.

Limitations and notes

The local package does not provide Pipeworx routing or shared meta-tools. Hosted pack endpoints currently include those shared schemas, so the tool count may be larger than the Pexels-specific list. The gateway and full-gateway URLs use the same underlying gateway and data sources, but differ in which pack tools they list directly.

The supplied material does not describe additional filters beyond those exposed by each tool, nor does it document a separate local configuration flow for supplying credentials. Client compatibility depends on MCP support; the README specifically shows Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf configurations.