Pixabay MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to the Pixabay API for searching and retrieving royalty-free images and videos.

📖 Complete Setup and Usage Guide - Step-by-step tutorial with examples and troubleshooting

Features

• Image Search: Search through millions of royalty-free images
• Video Search: Find high-quality stock videos
• Advanced Filtering: Filter by category, orientation, color, size, and more
• Individual Lookup: Get specific images or videos by ID
• Multiple Formats: Access different image sizes and video qualities

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

git clone 
cd pixabay-mcp-server

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

Configuration

API Key Setup

You’ll need a Pixabay API key to use this server:

1. Sign up at Pixabay
2. Go to Pixabay API page
3. Get your API key
4. Set the system environment variable (recommended for security):

For bash/zsh (add to ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.bash_profile):

export PIXABAY_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

For fish (add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish):

set -gx PIXABAY_API_KEY "your-api-key-here"

For Windows (Command Prompt):

setx PIXABAY_API_KEY "your-api-key-here"

After setting the environment variable, restart your terminal or run:

source ~/.zshrc  # or your shell's config file

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add the server to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Recommended (using system environment variable):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pixabay": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/pixabay-mcp-server/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Alternative (less secure - API key in config file):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pixabay": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/pixabay-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PIXABAY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Security Note: The recommended approach uses your system environment variable, keeping the API key out of configuration files.

Available Tools

search_images

Search for royalty-free images with various filters:

• q: Search term (max 100 characters)
• lang: Language code (default: “en”)
• image_type: “all”, “photo”, “illustration”, “vector”
• orientation: “all”, “horizontal”, “vertical”
• category: Category filter (nature, business, etc.)
• min_width/min_height: Minimum dimensions
• colors: Color filter (red, blue, grayscale, etc.)
• editors_choice: Editor’s Choice awards only
• safesearch: Safe for all ages