pixabay

This Pixabay MCP Server exposes access to the Pixabay API via the MCP interface. It enables searching for royalty-free images and videos, retrieving individual items by ID, and using various filters to refine results. The server supports these tools: search_images for image queries with filters like q, lang, image_type, orientation, category, min_width, min_height, colors, editors_choice, safesearch, order, and paging options; search_videos for video queries with similar filtering plus video_type; get_image_by_id to fetch a specific image by its Pixabay ID; and get_video_by_id to fetch a specific video by its Pixabay ID. Responses are returned as JSON containing metadata such as URLs for different sizes, dimensions, file sizes, view/download/like counts, user information, and tags.

To use the server, ensure it is running and configured with your Pixabay API key. Calls from your MCP client will route to Pixabay via this server, returning structured results that you can incorporate into your applications or agents. If you configure Claude Desktop, you can point Claude to the pixabay MCP server to enhance content search capabilities within Claude workflows.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js and npm installed on your system
• A Pixabay API key
• Access to the pixabay-mcp-server source or build artifact at dist/index.js

Step-by-step:

1. Clone the repository (or download the release): git clone <your-repo-url> cd pixabay-mcp-server

2. Install dependencies: npm install

3. Build the project (if applicable): npm run build

4. Obtain a Pixabay API key and set it in your environment (recommended):

   • Linux/macOS (bash/zsh): export PIXABAY_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
   • Windows (PowerShell): $env:PIXABAY_API_KEY = "your-api-key-here"
   • Windows (cmd): set PIXABAY_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

5. Start the MCP server (example using the built index): node dist/index.js

6. Verify the server is running and accessible via your MCP client.

Note: If you are using Claude Desktop, prefer the environment-variable approach for security so the API key is not embedded in configuration files.

Tips and considerations:

• Securely manage your PIXABAY_API_KEY; prefer environment variables over embedding in config files.
• The server adheres to Pixabay rate limits and caches responses (adjust caching policy as needed for your deployment).
• If you modify runtime environment variables or config, restart the MCP server to apply changes.
• When using Claude Desktop, use the recommended (secure) configuration example that references the system environment variable for PIXABAY_API_KEY.
• If you encounter network or authentication errors, double-check that the API key is valid and that the server has network access to Pixabay endpoints.