Pexels MCP Server runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 46 installs a week from npm. Last commit 19 Aug 2026.
MCP server for the Pexels API: search & fetch stock photos, videos, and collections.
Nothing serious here today
Today is the operative word: we check Pexels MCP Server every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.
Connect this server
This server runs on your own machine — install it with the package manager and the client starts it for you. Package name taken from the official registry entry.
claude mcp add pexels-mcp-server -- npx -y @hanoak/pexels-mcp-server{
"mcpServers": {
"pexels-mcp-server": {
"args": [
"-y",
"@hanoak/pexels-mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}
}
}[mcp_servers.pexels-mcp-server]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@hanoak/pexels-mcp-server"]{
"mcpServers": {
"pexels-mcp-server": {
"args": [
"-y",
"@hanoak/pexels-mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"pexels-mcp-server": {
"args": [
"-y",
"@hanoak/pexels-mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}
}
}This one needs environment variables set before it will start:
PEXELS_API_KEY (Your Pexels API key (sent as the Authorization header, no prefix).), LOG_LEVEL (Log verbosity; all logs go to stderr.).
The author declared them in the registry entry; get the values from the project itself.
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Pexels MCP Server — questions
Answers built from our own checks of this server.