MCP Connect Guide
Connect your AI agent to Ark AI Designer over the Model Context Protocol — generate images, browse templates, and manage your work straight from your editor or chat agent.
Overview
Ark AI Designer ships a remote MCP server that exposes your account's tools — generating images, listing AI models, browsing templates, and pulling your generation history — to any MCP-compatible agent. Point your client at the server URL, authenticate, and the tools appear in your agent's toolset.
Pick your client from the list on the right to jump straight to its setup steps.
Server URL
https://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messagesThis is a remote streamable HTTP MCP server. Clients that only speak stdio can reach it through the mcp-remote bridge (shown in the steps that need it).
Use the full URL ending in /mcp/messages. Pointing a client at just /mcp lands on the server root — OAuth sign-in still succeeds, but the connection then fails with “returned an error when connecting.”
Authentication
The server accepts two auth methods:
- OAuth 2.1 — the client opens a sign-in page; you log in with this same account. Best for chat connectors (claude.ai, Claude Desktop). No token to copy.
- API token header — send your account token as
X-API-KEY. Best for CLI agents and config files. The snippets below use this method.
YOUR_API_TOKENSign in to auto-fill your token. The snippets below show YOUR_API_TOKEN as a placeholder.
Claude.ai & Desktop
- 1
Open the connector settings
In claude.ai go to Settings → Connectors (or in Claude Desktop, Settings → Connectors). Click “Add custom connector”.
- 2
Paste the server URL
Enter the full MCP endpoint below — including /mcp/messages. Do NOT shorten it to /mcp, or the connection will fail after sign-in.
texthttps://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messages
- 3
Connect and sign in
Click Connect. Claude opens an Ark AI Designer sign-in page — log in with this same account (OAuth 2.1). No token to copy; you stay signed in via a refresh token.
- 4
Confirm the tools loaded
The Ark Ai connector should move to “Connected” and its tools (generate_image, list_ai_models, …) become available in chat.
Claude Code
- 1
Add the server with the API token (recommended)
Run this in any project. Claude Code speaks streamable HTTP natively.
bashclaude mcp add --transport http ark-ai-designer \ https://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messages \ --header "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_TOKEN"
- 2
Or connect via OAuth instead of a token
Add it without a header, then authenticate interactively.
bashclaude mcp add --transport http ark-ai-designer https://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messages # then inside Claude Code: /mcp # select ark-ai-designer → Authenticate, sign in with your account
- 3
Confirm the connection
bashclaude mcp list # ark-ai-designer should show "connected"
Hermes Agent
- 1
Open the Hermes Agent MCP configuration
Hermes connects to HTTP MCP servers directly — paste a single server object (no mcpServers wrapper).
- 2
Add the Ark AI Designer server
Hermes speaks streamable HTTP natively, so the API token goes straight in the headers.
json{ "type": "http", "url": "https://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messages", "headers": { "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_API_TOKEN" } } - 3
Restart Hermes Agent
After saving, restart so it connects to the server and discovers the tools.
Openclaw
- 1
Open Openclaw’s MCP settings
Openclaw follows the standard MCP client config (an mcpServers block in its settings JSON).
- 2
Register the server
The mcp-remote bridge forwards the X-API-KEY header to the remote HTTP server.
json{ "mcpServers": { "ark-ai-designer": { "command": "npx", "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messages", "--header", "X-API-KEY:YOUR_API_TOKEN"] } } } - 3
Reload Openclaw
Reload the window or restart so the new tools appear in the agent’s toolset.
Codex
- 1
Open the Codex config
Codex CLI stores MCP servers in ~/.codex/config.toml.
bashopen ~/.codex/config.toml # or: code ~/.codex/config.toml
- 2
Add the server block
Codex launches the mcp-remote bridge to reach the HTTP endpoint.
toml[mcp_servers.ark-ai-designer] command = "npx" args = ["mcp-remote", "https://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messages", "--header", "X-API-KEY:YOUR_API_TOKEN"]
- 3
Start Codex and check the tools
bashcodex # the ark-ai-designer tools (generate_image, list_ai_models, …) are now available
Antigravity
- 1
Open Antigravity’s MCP server settings
In Antigravity, open the agent/MCP settings panel and choose to add a custom MCP server (edit mcp config).
- 2
Add the Ark AI Designer server
Antigravity uses the standard mcpServers JSON format; the mcp-remote bridge connects to the HTTP endpoint.
json{ "mcpServers": { "ark-ai-designer": { "command": "npx", "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://ai-image-gen.micro-ark.com/mcp/messages", "--header", "X-API-KEY:YOUR_API_TOKEN"] } } } - 3
Refresh the server list
Save and hit refresh in the MCP panel — the tools should load and turn green.
Verify it works
Ask your agent
“List the AI models available in Ark AI Designer.” It should call the list_ai_models tool and return your enabled models. From there you can ask it to generate banners, enhance products, build menus, and more.