# Excalidraw MCP server > Draw hand-drawn Excalidraw diagrams that render live in the chat, with checkpoints and export to excalidraw.com. - Listing: https://mcp.tc/i/excalidraw - Connect: use the server's own URL `https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp` (no sign-in); clients connect to it directly. The listing link is a page, not an MCP endpoint. - Type: remote (Streamable HTTP) - Auth: none - Category: [Design, Websites & CMS](https://mcp.tc/c/design) - Vendor: Excalidraw - Homepage: - Repository: ## About Renders hand-drawn Excalidraw diagrams from element definitions your assistant writes. Elements stream in one by one with draw-on animations, and the diagram appears inline in clients that support MCP Apps. You can edit it in fullscreen, restore saved checkpoints for iterative changes, and export the result to excalidraw.com as a shareable link. The hosted endpoint at https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp uses streamable HTTP and needs no sign-in or API key. A local build is also available as an MCPB extension or from source with Node and pnpm. Clients without MCP Apps support may not display the rendered diagram. ## What it can do - Draw hand-drawn diagrams with streaming draw-on animations - Read the Excalidraw element format reference with palettes and examples - Edit diagrams interactively in fullscreen - Save and restore checkpoints for iterative edits - Export a diagram to excalidraw.com and get a shareable URL ## Tools (5) - `read_me`: Returns the Excalidraw element format reference with color palettes, examples and tips. (read-only) - `create_view`: Renders a hand-drawn diagram from Excalidraw elements with draw-on animations. (read-only) - `export_to_excalidraw`: Uploads a diagram to excalidraw.com and returns a shareable URL. - `save_checkpoint`: Updates a checkpoint with user-edited diagram state. - `read_checkpoint`: Reads checkpoint state so a diagram can be restored. ## Example prompts - "Draw a cute cat using Excalidraw" - "Draw an architecture diagram of a user, an API server and a database" - "Sketch a flowchart of a login process with Excalidraw" - "Export this diagram to excalidraw.com and give me the link" ## Install ### Claude Code 1. Run this in a terminal, in your project folder: ```bash claude mcp add --transport http excalidraw https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp ``` 2. Start Claude Code and type `/mcp`. **excalidraw** should show as connected. Add `--scope user` to make it available in every project, not just this one. ### Claude Desktop 1. Open **Settings → Connectors** and click **Add custom connector**. 2. Name it **Excalidraw** and paste this URL: ```url https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp ``` 3. Click **Add**. Its tools appear in the chat’s tools menu. Claude Desktop’s JSON config file only starts local servers. Remote servers go through Connectors, and connectors you add on claude.ai show up here too. ### claude.ai 1. Open the connector form on claude.ai. This button fills in the name and URL for you: [Add to claude.ai]() (opens connector settings) 2. Check that the URL reads `https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp` and click **Add**. 3. Turn it on in a chat from the tools menu. Free plans allow one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it under **Organization settings → Connectors**. ### ChatGPT 1. On chatgpt.com, open **Settings → Security and login** and turn on **Developer mode**. 2. Go to `chatgpt.com/plugins` and click **+** to create an app for a remote MCP server. 3. Paste `https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp` as the server URL and choose **No authentication**. Developer mode is available on the web for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts. ### Cursor [Add to Cursor]() (opens Cursor) Or add it by hand to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` (all projects) or `.cursor/mcp.json` (this project): `mcp.json`: ```json { "mcpServers": { "excalidraw": { "url": "https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp" } } } ``` ### VS Code [Install in VS Code]() (opens VS Code) Or from a terminal: ```bash code --add-mcp '{"name":"excalidraw","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp"}' ``` Or commit it to the repo in `.vscode/mcp.json`: `.vscode/mcp.json`: ```json { "servers": { "excalidraw": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp" } } } ``` ### Devin Desktop 1. Add it to `~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json` (macOS and Linux) or `%APPDATA%\devin\mcp_config.json` (Windows): `mcp_config.json`: ```json { "mcpServers": { "excalidraw": { "serverUrl": "https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp" } } } ``` 2. Refresh the MCP server list in Cascade. Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf. It reads `serverUrl` (or `url`) for remote servers. ### Codex ```bash codex mcp add excalidraw --url https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp ``` Or edit `~/.codex/config.toml` directly: `config.toml`: ```toml [mcp_servers.excalidraw] url = "https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp" ``` ### Gemini CLI ```bash gemini mcp add --transport http excalidraw https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp ``` This adds it to the current project. Add `-s user` to use it everywhere. ### Any client Most clients accept this shape. Some name the URL field differently: `serverUrl` in Devin Desktop, `httpUrl` in Gemini CLI’s settings file. ```json { "mcpServers": { "excalidraw": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp" } } } ``` Zed puts servers under `context_servers` in its settings. Cline needs `"type": "streamableHttp"`, or it assumes SSE. Client only starts local servers? Bridge it with `npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.excalidraw.com/mcp`. ## Details - Server version: 1.0.0 - MCP protocol version: 2025-11-25 - Last checked: 2026-10-03 (reachable) - Listed: 2026-10-03 - Updated: 2026-10-04 --- Source: https://mcp.tc/i/excalidraw (mcp.tc is an independent directory, not affiliated with this server's publisher). Corrections: https://mcp.tc/report