hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server

Overview

An unofficial Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that wraps the Unsplash API, enabling search and retrieval of photos, collections, topics, users, and stats from any MCP client such as Claude or Cursor. It includes built-in attribution and download-tracking compliance to meet Unsplash's API requirements. Written in TypeScript and designed for production use.

Best for

Best for
Developers building MCP-based tools that need direct Unsplash photo search and metadata access.

Use cases

• Search Unsplash photos by keyword or query from an MCP client
• Fetch photo details, collections, topics, and user profiles
• Track photo downloads and ensure attribution in generated content

How to use

Install

npx @hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server login

Tools exposed

• UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY
• UNSPLASH_APP_NAME
• UNSPLASH_SECRET_KEY
• UNSPLASH_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI
• LOG_LEVEL
• unsplash_random_photo
• unsplash_list_photos
• unsplash_get_photo
• unsplash_photo_statistics
• unsplash_track_download
• unsplash_search_photos
• unsplash_search_collections
• unsplash_search_users
• unsplash_get_user
• unsplash_user_photos
• unsplash_user_collections
• unsplash_user_statistics
• unsplash_list_collections
• unsplash_get_collection
• unsplash_collection_photos

Tested with

Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code

Example client config

{\n  "mcpServers": {\n    "unsplash": {\n      "command": "npx",\n      "args": ["-y", "@hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server"],\n      "env": {\n        "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "your_access_key",\n        "UNSPLASH_APP_NAME": "your_registered_app_name"\n      }\n    }\n  }\n}

Notes

An unofficial Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that wraps the Unsplash API, enabling search and retrieval of photos, collections, topics, users, and stats from any MCP client such as Claude or Cursor. It includes built-in attribution and download-tracking compliance to meet Unsplash’s API requirements. Written in TypeScript and designed for production use.

1 stars on GitHub. Last updated 2026-09-01. Licensed MIT.

Use cases

• Search Unsplash photos by keyword or query from an MCP client
• Fetch photo details, collections, topics, and user profiles
• Track photo downloads and ensure attribution in generated content

Pros

• Production-ready with built-in attribution and download-tracking compliance
• Works with any MCP client, including Claude and Cursor
• Covers a broad range of Unsplash API endpoints in one server

Cons

• Unofficial, so not maintained or endorsed by Unsplash
• Very low community adoption (1 star) may indicate limited testing or support
• Requires an Unsplash API key and understanding of MCP setup

Indexed from awesome-mcp-servers-punkpeye and enriched against its public facts.