Unsplash MCP Server runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 80 installs a week from npm. Last commit 19 Aug 2026.
MCP server for the Unsplash API: search & fetch photos with attribution + download tracking.
Nothing serious here today
Today is the operative word: we check Unsplash 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 unsplash-mcp-server -e 'UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY=<UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY>' -- npx -y @hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server{
"mcpServers": {
"unsplash-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "<UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY>"
}
}
}
}[mcp_servers.unsplash-mcp-server]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server"]
env = { UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY = "<UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY>" }{
"mcpServers": {
"unsplash-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "<UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY>"
}
}
}
}{
"servers": {
"unsplash-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@hanoak/unsplash-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "<UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Put your own value in place of
<UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY> (Your Unsplash API access key (sent as Authorization: Client-ID)).
The author’s registry entry marks it as required.
Optional settings from the registry entry, left out of the block above:
UNSPLASH_APP_NAME (Registered Unsplash app name, used as the attribution utm_source), LOG_LEVEL (Log verbosity; all logs go to stderr).
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Unsplash MCP Server — questions
Answers built from our own checks of this server.