MCP server Ink Studio AI

inkstudioai

AI tattoo generator for your terminal and your AI agents.

One free design for new accounts, no card needed.

inkstudioai is the official command line tool for Ink Studio AI. Describe a tattoo in words and get a finished design as an image file. It also runs as an MCP server, so Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and other AI agents can create tattoo designs for you.

• Create tattoo designs from text in styles such as fine line, Japanese, traditional, and realism.
• Search the public gallery of tattoo designs for ideas, with no account.
• Check your plan and credits, and buy a plan from the terminal.
• Zero dependencies. Node.js 18.17 or newer.

Install

Run it once with npx:

npx inkstudioai login

Or install it globally:

npm i -g inkstudioai

The package installs two command names, inkstudioai and the shorter inkstudio. They are the same tool.

Quick start

# 1. Sign in. No account yet? Create one in the browser. New accounts get one free design.
npx inkstudioai login

# 2. Create a design. The image is saved in the current directory.
npx inkstudioai generate "a fox sleeping inside a crescent moon" --style fine-line

# 3. Look for ideas in the public gallery.
npx inkstudioai gallery dragon

Output of generate with the free design of a new account:

✔ Design ready in 21s
  File      a-fox-sleeping-inside-a-crescent-moon.webp
  Image     https://cdn.inkstudioai.com/free-tattoo-designs/6718f0c2.webp
  Style     fine-line, black ink, white background
  Quality   free (0 free designs left)
  Saved to  https://inkstudioai.com/account?view=tattoos&utm_source=cli&utm_medium=referral

  Try it on your skin  https://inkstudioai.com/tools/try-tattoo?design=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.inkstudioai.com%2F...
  Make a stencil       https://inkstudioai.com/tools/tattoo-to-stencil?utm_source=cli&utm_medium=referral

The try-on link opens the website's tattoo simulator with the new design loaded. Links to website pages carry utm_source=cli, so Ink Studio AI can count visits from the CLI. Image, API, and checkout links have no such parameters.

Commands

Every command has --help, and inkstudioai help <command> shows the same text. Global options:

Option	What it does
--json	Print raw JSON for scripts and agents
--api-key <key>	Use this key instead of INKSTUDIO_API_KEY or the saved key
--no-color	Turn off colors. NO_COLOR also works
-h, --help	Show help
-v, --version	Show the version

login

Sign in with your browser. The terminal shows a code and opens a page. Check that the page shows the same code, then approve. The CLI saves an API key on your computer.

New to Ink Studio AI? Create an account on the same page. New accounts get one free tattoo design.

inkstudioai login
inkstudioai login --no-browser          # print the link, do not open a browser
inkstudioai login --key isk_...         # save a key from your account page
echo "$KEY" | inkstudioai login --with-key

In a terminal, --with-key asks you to paste the key and press Enter.

generate (alias: gen)

Create a tattoo design from a text prompt.

inkstudioai generate "a fox in a crescent moon"
inkstudioai gen "koi fish with waves" --style japanese --color
inkstudioai gen "rose and dagger" --skin --open
inkstudioai gen "minimal mountain range" --out designs/
inkstudioai gen "lotus flower" --out lotus.webp
inkstudioai gen "compass rose" --negative "text, letters" --no-save
inkstudioai gen "lotus flower" --out lotus.webp --force   # replace lotus.webp

Option	What it does
-s, --style <id>	Style id from inkstudioai styles. Default: minimal
-c, --color	Color ink. Default: black ink
--skin	Show the design on skin instead of a white background
--negative <text>	Things to leave out of the design
-o, --out <path>	File or directory for the image. Default: the current directory
--force	Overwrite the --out file if it exists
--no-save	Do not download the image, only print its URL
--open	Open the image when it is ready

Without --out, or with a directory, the file name comes from the prompt, for example a-fox-in-a-crescent-moon.webp. An existing file is never overwritten; the CLI adds -2, -3, and so on.

With --out <file>, the CLI refuses to overwrite an existing file unless you add --force. The extension always matches the image type that the server sends: --out lotus.png saves lotus.webp when the image is WebP, and the CLI tells you. The File line and the file field of --json show the real name.

If you have no free design left and no plan, generate shows the error and the plans. In an interactive terminal it then asks Open checkout for 7-day-access ($12.99)? [Y/n] for the cheapest plan, and opens Stripe checkout when you answer yes. It does not ask with --json, in CI (CI is set), or when stdin is not a terminal.

If the connection breaks after the server accepted the prompt, the design can still be finished and saved, and it can use a generation. The CLI then does not tell you to try again. Run inkstudioai designs to check if the design is in your account first.

styles

List the style ids for --style.

inkstudioai styles

designs

List the designs saved to your account, newest first.

inkstudioai designs
inkstudioai designs --limit 50 --page 2

gallery

Search the public gallery. No login needed.

inkstudioai gallery
inkstudioai gallery "minimalist wave" --limit 5

whoami (alias: status)

Show your plan, the time left on it, free designs, premium credits, and API use today. When less than 2 days are left, whoami tells you how to extend the plan.

inkstudioai whoami

  Account          ana@example.com (Ana)
  Plan             Active, 8 days left (ends Nov 1, 10:00 UTC)
  Free designs     0
  Premium credits  28 (8 plan, 20 purchased) for the image tools on the website
  Designs made     14
  API today        3 of 50 generations
  Next design      Paid quality
  API key          isk_AbCdEfGh… (config file)

pricing

Show the plans and credit packs.

inkstudioai pricing

buy

Open Stripe checkout for a plan or credit pack. The purchase is added to the signed-in account.

inkstudioai buy 7-day-access
inkstudioai buy 7-day-access --no-browser   # only print the checkout link

open

Open a page of the website.

inkstudioai open account
inkstudioai open pricing
inkstudioai open developers

logout

Remove the saved key from this computer. The key still works on the server until you revoke it on your account page.

inkstudioai logout

Use with AI agents (MCP)

inkstudioai mcp runs a Model Context Protocol server over stdio. It gives an agent these tools:

Tool	What it does
login	Sign in from the chat: returns a link and code to approve in the browser
generate_tattoo	Create a design from a prompt, style, color, and background. Returns the image, so the client can show it in the chat
list_styles	List the style ids
get_account	Show the plan, free designs, credits, and usage
search_gallery	Search the public gallery
get_pricing	List plans and credit packs
create_checkout	Create a Stripe checkout link for the user to open. It charges nothing by itself

There are three ways to sign in:

• No terminal needed: ask the agent to sign you in. It calls the login tool and gives you a link and a code. Approve the code in the browser (or create an account there), then tell the agent. It calls login again, which saves the API key on your computer.
• Run npx inkstudioai login in a terminal. The MCP server uses the same saved key.
• Create a key on your account page and put it in INKSTUDIO_API_KEY in the client config. This key takes precedence over the saved key.

The server reads the saved key on each tool call, so a login while the client runs needs no restart.

generate_tattoo returns the image URL as text. It also returns the image itself (when it is smaller than 1.5 MB) and, on protocol 2025-06-18, a resource_link to the image. If the download fails, the result has only the text. It sends notifications/progress messages when the client gives a progressToken. Links to website pages carry utm_source=mcp. The server supports MCP protocol versions 2025-06-18 and 2024-11-05.

Claude Code

claude mcp add inkstudioai --env INKSTUDIO_API_KEY=isk_... -- npx -y inkstudioai mcp

If you ran npx inkstudioai login, or want to sign in with the login tool, you can leave out the key:

claude mcp add inkstudioai -- npx -y inkstudioai mcp

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "inkstudioai": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "inkstudioai", "mcp"],
      "env": { "INKSTUDIO_API_KEY": "isk_..." }
    }
  }
}

Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json or .cursor/mcp.json in a project)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "inkstudioai": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "inkstudioai", "mcp"],
      "env": { "INKSTUDIO_API_KEY": "isk_..." }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf and other MCP clients use the same command, arguments, and environment variable. In every client you can leave out env and sign in with the login tool instead.

Scripts and JSON output

Add --json to any command to get the raw API response on stdout. Errors are JSON too, with error, code, and hints, and the exit code is not 0. A wrong command or option has "code": "usage".

If the design is ready but the image file could not be saved, generate --json prints the full result with "file": null and a saveError message, and exits with 3. The design is in your account, so do not generate it again.

inkstudioai generate "a paper crane" --json | jq -r .imageUrl

Exit codes: 0 success, 1 error, 2 wrong command or options, 3 design created but the image file not saved.

Configuration

Setting	Where
API key	--api-key, then INKSTUDIO_API_KEY, then the saved key
Saved key	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/inkstudioai/config.json, default ~/.config/inkstudioai/config.json, on Windows %APPDATA%\inkstudioai\config.json. Only your user can read it
API URL	INKSTUDIO_API_URL, default https://inkstudioai.com/api/v1
Do not open a browser	INKSTUDIO_NO_BROWSER=1
No colors	NO_COLOR=1 or --no-color

Pricing

Every new account gets one free design, and no card is needed for it. A plan gives unlimited text-to-tattoo designs (up to 50 a day through the API) and premium credits for the image tools on the website. Credit packs add premium credits to an active plan. See current prices with inkstudioai pricing or on the pricing page.

API

The CLI uses the public Ink Studio AI API. You can call it from any language.

• Developer docs: https://inkstudioai.com/developers
• OpenAPI spec: https://inkstudioai.com/api/v1/openapi.json

Privacy

Designs you create are saved privately to your account, in your design history on the website. The CLI sends your prompt and options to the Ink Studio AI API and stores only your API key on your computer.

Support

Questions or problems: help@inkstudioai.com, or open an issue at https://github.com/ciroartz/inkstudioai-cli/issues. Report security problems by email, not in an issue (see SECURITY.md).

License

MIT