Image search MCP server for AI agents

Lightdrift Images MCP is a remote MCP server at https://lightdrift.ai/mcp that gives any agent an image search tool. The agent describes the image it needs, gets back real, openly licensed photos from a 1.85 million image index, and receives the source, license, and attribution for each one, so it can put the image straight into a page, deck, or answer.

Updated September 27, 2026

Server details

Lightdrift Images MCP server
	Value
Server URL	https://lightdrift.ai/mcp
Transport	Streamable HTTP (remote)
Authentication	OAuth sign-in in the browser, or an X-API-Key header
Registry name	ai.lightdrift/images (official MCP registry)
Index	1,852,370 captioned Creative Commons and public domain images
Cost	1 credit per 10 results; 500 free credits every month

Tools

Images MCP tools
Tool	What it does	Cost
search_images	Search by text, a reference image (image_base64 or image_url), or both, with the same filters as the REST API.	1 credit per 10 results
find_similar_images	More images like a result the agent already has, by asset ID. Paid plans.	1 credit per 10 results
get_image	File URLs, dimensions, provenance, and the rights object for one image.	Free

Searches default to commercial-use licenses, exclude images marked AI-generated, and prefer files at least 1000 px wide. The agent can override each default and filter by license, source, orientation, color, size, and year.

Connect your client

Sign-in opens in a browser. If it opens inside an embedded or in-app browser, copy the link into your normal browser: only email and password work inside embedded browsers.

Claude Code

Run this in your terminal.

Claude Code setup

claude mcp add --transport http lightdrift https://lightdrift.ai/mcp

Then type /mcp inside Claude Code, pick lightdrift, and choose Authenticate. Your browser opens; sign in and you are connected.

Run this in your terminal with your key filled in.

Claude Code with an API key

claude mcp add --transport http lightdrift https://lightdrift.ai/mcp --header "X-API-Key: YOUR_LIGHTDRIFT_API_KEY"

Cursor

Add this to .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or to ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project.

Cursor setup

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lightdrift": {
      "url": "https://lightdrift.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Open Cursor Settings, MCP, and click Connect next to lightdrift. Your browser opens to sign in.

Add this to .cursor/mcp.json with your key filled in.

Cursor with an API key

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lightdrift": {
      "url": "https://lightdrift.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "YOUR_LIGHTDRIFT_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude

In Claude (web or desktop) open Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, and paste this URL.

Claude setup

https://lightdrift.ai/mcp

Claude opens a sign-in window. Approve access and the tools appear in your chat.

Codex

Run this in your terminal.

Codex setup

codex mcp add lightdrift --url https://lightdrift.ai/mcp
codex mcp login lightdrift

The second command opens your browser to sign in.

Add this to ~/.codex/config.toml with your key filled in.

Codex with an API key

[mcp_servers.lightdrift]
url = "https://lightdrift.ai/mcp"
http_headers = { "X-API-Key" = "YOUR_LIGHTDRIFT_API_KEY" }

Other

Add this remote MCP server to your client. It speaks streamable HTTP and standard OAuth.

Other setup

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lightdrift": {
      "url": "https://lightdrift.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

If your client can send headers, use your API key instead of OAuth.

Other with an API key

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lightdrift": {
      "url": "https://lightdrift.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "YOUR_LIGHTDRIFT_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

What a result looks like

Every result carries a rights object. The agent checks commercial, and when attribution_required is true, it places the attribution string next to the image.

Rights object (excerpt)

{
  "license": "cc-by-sa",
  "license_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/",
  "as_declared_by": "Flickr (YFCC100M)",
  "commercial": true,
  "attribution_required": true,
  "attribution": "\"Meatlocker-2008-09-28\" by 7278633@N04 — Flickr (CC BY-SA)"
}

Good fits

Coding agents building sites and apps that need real photos instead of placeholder boxes. See real images for coding agents.
Deck and document builders that must show a specific subject, such as a named aircraft or species.
Assistants that should show what something looks like rather than describe it.
Image generation pipelines that need a real reference photo to ground a generated image.

Prefer HTTP? The same search is available as a REST API. See the quickstart and the Images MCP guide.

Get a free API key Read the quickstart