Installation

Coolors MCP is a stdio MCP server published on npm as @trishchuk/coolors-mcp. Your MCP client starts it with npx, so there is nothing to install by hand.

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or newer. Check with node --version.
• An MCP client that can launch stdio servers: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and others.

The server needs no API keys, accounts, environment variables or configuration options. All 31 tools run locally and never use the network.

Claude Code

claude mcp add coolors -- npx -y @trishchuk/coolors-mcp

The server is added to the current project by default. Add --scope user to make it available in all your projects:

claude mcp add --scope user coolors -- npx -y @trishchuk/coolors-mcp

Run claude mcp list in a terminal, or /mcp inside Claude Code, to check that coolors is connected.

Claude Desktop

Open the configuration file:

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

Add the server and restart Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "coolors": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@trishchuk/coolors-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor and other clients

Clients that use the mcpServers format take the same entry. For Cursor, put it in .cursor/mcp.json in your project or in ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "coolors": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@trishchuk/coolors-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

For any other client, configure a stdio server with the command npx and the arguments -y @trishchuk/coolors-mcp.

Global install

If you prefer not to go through npx on every start:

npm install -g @trishchuk/coolors-mcp

This installs a coolors-mcp command that starts the server.

claude mcp add coolors -- coolors-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "coolors": {
      "command": "coolors-mcp"
    }
  }
}

From source

The project uses pnpm (npm i -g pnpm or corepack enable):

git clone https://github.com/x51xxx/coolors-mcp.git
cd coolors-mcp
pnpm install
pnpm run build

The server is built to dist/bin/server.js. Point your client at it with an absolute path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "coolors-dev": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/coolors-mcp/dist/bin/server.js"]
    }
  }
}

To call the tools by hand in a browser UI, run the built server under the MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/bin/server.js

Verify the installation

Ask your assistant:

Convert #6366f1 to HSL

It calls convert_color with {"color": "#6366f1", "to": "hsl"} and gets back:

hsl(239, 84%, 67%)

Running npx -y @trishchuk/coolors-mcp in a terminal prints nothing: the server waits for MCP messages on stdin. Press Ctrl+C to stop it.

Updating

npx reuses the version in its cache. To pick up a new release, ask for @latest in the arguments:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "coolors": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@trishchuk/coolors-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

For a global install, run npm install -g @trishchuk/coolors-mcp again. Release notes are in the Changelog.

Troubleshooting

• The server does not start: check that node --version is 20 or newer, and restart the client after editing its configuration.
• An old version keeps running: use @trishchuk/coolors-mcp@latest, or clear the npx cache.
• A tool returns Invalid color format: the color syntax is not supported. See the supported color formats.

More cases and the exact error messages: Troubleshooting.

Next steps

• Getting Started: first calls with real output
• Tools Overview: all 31 tools
• GitHub Issues: report a bug or request a feature