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Artlist MCP: Connect Claude to Artlist

Last updated: July 5, 2026

Overview

The Artlist MCP lets you generate AI images and videos with your Artlist account directly from Claude — no need to open the Artlist Toolkit in your browser. This article explains what MCP is, how to connect it to Claude, and what you can do with it once it's set up.

Note: The Artlist MCP is currently available with Claude only. Support for other AI platforms may be added in the future.

What is the Artlist MCP?

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol — an open standard that lets AI assistants (like Claude) connect to external tools and data sources. Think of it as a bridge: when you ask Claude to "generate an image of a sunset over the ocean," the Artlist MCP routes that request through Artlist's AI generation pipeline and returns the result straight into your conversation.

In short: you chat with your AI assistant as usual, and it can now create Artlist AI images and videos on your behalf, using your own Artlist account, plan, and credits.

What it can do

The Artlist MCP is currently in beta. Here's what's supported today:

  • Text-to-image — generate an image from a text prompt
  • Text-to-video — generate a video from a text prompt
  • Image-to-image — use an uploaded image or a previous generation as a reference to create a new image
  • Image-to-video — animate an uploaded image or previous generation into a video
  • Browsing your models — ask your assistant which AI models are available and what settings they support
  • Checking generation status — track a generation from "in progress" to "completed," with a downloadable result

💡 Tip: All generations use the same credit pool and plan permissions as the Artlist Toolkit website — there's nothing extra to set up on the billing side.

⚠️ Note: Voiceover, music generation, catalog search, and video-to-video are not available through MCP yet. Unlimited generation is also not supported through MCP — only credit-based generations. Once started, a generation also can't be canceled — credits are deducted when the request is made, the same as on the website.

How to connect

Connecting takes two steps: point Claude at the Artlist MCP server, then sign in with your Artlist account.

Claude Desktop

  1. Open Claude Desktop and go to Settings > Connectors (or Settings > Extensions, depending on your version).
  2. Choose to add a custom connector and enter the Artlist MCP server URL: https://mcp.artlist.io/mcp
  3. Claude will open a sign-in window — log in with your Artlist account credentials and approve the connection.
  4. Once connected, you'll see Artlist listed as an active connector. You can now ask Claude to generate images or videos in any conversation.

💡 Tip: If you connected using a link (rather than adding the connector manually in Settings), relaunch Claude Desktop afterward so it can sync the new connection.

How to use it

Once connected, you don't need to remember any commands — just describe what you want in natural language. Behind the scenes, your assistant is calling Artlist's tools for you.

  1. Ask what's available. Try "What Artlist image models can I use?" — your assistant will list the current models and their settings.
  2. Generate. Ask something like "Generate a video of a car driving through a neon city at night" — your assistant sends the request and returns a generation ID.
  3. Check progress. For videos in particular, generation takes a little time. Your assistant will let you know when it's done and share a preview or download link. Images under 500 KB show up inline in the chat; larger files and all videos come back as a download link.
  4. Use a reference image. To do image-to-image or image-to-video, share or upload the image in your conversation and ask your assistant to use it as the starting point.

💡 Tip: Be as descriptive as you'd be on the Artlist Toolkit website — your prompt is sent through as-is, with no rewriting in between.

Good to know

  • The Artlist MCP is in beta — features and supported platforms may change.
  • You'll need an active Artlist plan with AI credits; generations draw from the same pool as the Toolkit website.
  • A generation can't be stopped once it starts — credits are deducted at the time of request.
  • If you run out of credits or your plan doesn't support a model, your assistant will let you know and point you to the Artlist plans page.

Troubleshooting

If you're running into issues connecting to or using the Artlist MCP, try these steps:

  • Connector won't connect / sign-in window doesn't appear. Double-check the server URL is entered exactly as https://mcp.artlist.io/mcp, then try removing and re-adding the connector.
  • Sign-in fails or loops back to the login screen. Make sure you're signing in with the same Artlist account you use on the Toolkit website. If you use SSO, confirm your SSO session hasn't expired.
  • Claude says the Artlist connector isn't available or the connection times out. If your computer, network, or Claude account is managed by your company's IT department, check with them — some organizations restrict which connectors or external domains can be used. Ask them to allow mcp.artlist.io.
  • Generation fails or gets stuck "in progress." Confirm you have enough AI credits on your Artlist plan and that the model you asked for supports the type of generation (e.g. some models don't support image-to-video). If it's still stuck after a few minutes, try the request again.
  • No models show up when asked. Reconnect the Artlist connector, and confirm your Artlist plan includes AI Toolkit access.
  • Generated result doesn't appear in the chat. Large images and all videos return as a download link rather than an inline preview — check for a link in your assistant's reply.

If none of the above resolves the issue, you can contact us. 

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