generated: '2026-08-27'
method: searched
status: published
source: https://pexafy.com/mcp/
additional_sources:
- https://docs.pexafy.com/mcp
- https://github.com/Pexafy/pexafy-mcp
- https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=pexafy
- https://mcp.pexafy.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource
deployment:
  mode: both
  endpoint: https://mcp.pexafy.com/mcp
  install: git clone https://github.com/Pexafy/pexafy-mcp.git && cd pexafy-mcp && ./run.sh setup && ./run.sh
    dev
  package: https://github.com/Pexafy/pexafy-mcp
  auth: oauth
  verified: probed
  note: '`mode: both` because the provider ships a hosted remote endpoint AND a self-hostable server,
    but they are not equal offerings. The remote endpoint is the intended path and the only one an agent
    can reach unaided; the self-host path is documented as optional ("You don''t need to"), needs Python
    3.12+ and a Pexafy API key, and is NOT on a package registry — pypi.org/pypi/pexafy-mcp/json returns
    404 and npm has no such package, so there is no `npx`/`pip install` one-liner. Install is from git
    source or the repo''s Dockerfile. The console script `pexafy-mcp` defaults to stdio; PEXAFY_MCP_TRANSPORT=http
    switches it to Streamable HTTP.'
  probe_prior: (never probed)
  probe: gated
  probe_why: RFC 9728 challenge on the MCP path only
  checked: '2026-09-11'
  source: claimed-backlog re-probe 2026-09-11
server:
  name: com.pexafy/pexafy-mcp
  title: Pexafy
  transport: streamable-http
  url: https://mcp.pexafy.com/mcp
  version: 0.4.11
  liveness: https://mcp.pexafy.com/health
  implementation: Python, built on fastmcp>=3.4, which generates the MCP server from the Pexafy OpenAPI
    spec — the tool surface is a projection of the REST contract, not a hand-written one.
authentication:
  primary: oauth
  oauth:
    resource: https://mcp.pexafy.com/mcp
    authorization_servers:
    - https://pexafy.com/
    scopes_supported:
    - read
    bearer_methods_supported:
    - header
    resource_metadata: https://mcp.pexafy.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource
    dynamic_client_registration: true
    pkce: S256
  fallback:
    method: api-key
    header: 'Authorization: Bearer pexafy_api_...'
    alternative_header: x-api-key
    note: For MCP clients that do not implement OAuth.
listings:
- registry: Model Context Protocol registry
  id: com.pexafy/pexafy-mcp
  url: https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io
  status: active
  first_published: '2026-08-17'
  note: The registry's latest published entry lags the repo (registry versions run to 0.3.0; the repo
    and server.json are at 0.4.11 as of 2026-08-27).
- registry: Smithery
  url: https://smithery.ai/servers/pexafy/pexafy-mcp
  status: 200
tools_probe:
  method: POST https://mcp.pexafy.com/mcp {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}
  http_status: 401
  challenge: 'WWW-Authenticate: Bearer resource_metadata="https://mcp.pexafy.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp"'
  body: '{"error": "unauthorized", "error_description": "This MCP server needs to know who you are. ..."}'
  conclusion: The live tool schemas are auth-gated. The tools below are transcribed from the provider's
    own README parameter tables (github.com/Pexafy/pexafy-mcp) and the docs, NOT from a tools/list response
    — names and parameters are the provider's, but the exact JSON Schema types/required-arrays need authenticated
    introspection to confirm.
tools:
- name: search_photos
  description: Semantic text search. Describe the scene in a full sentence; sentences beat keywords.
  read_only: true
  parameters:
  - q
  - color_name
  - color_hex
  - color_tolerance
  - orientation
  - license_type
  - photographer
  - after_date
  - cursor
  source_operation: openapi/pexafy-api-openapi.json#search_photos_api_v1_search_photos_get
- name: search_photos_by_image
  description: Visual search from a reference image, optionally combined with text ("like this, but at
    night").
  read_only: true
  parameters:
  - image_url
  - image_file
  - image_base64
  - q
  - text_alpha
  - orientation
  - source
  - color_name
  - license_type
  - photographer
  - after_date
  - cursor
  source_operation: openapi/pexafy-api-openapi.json#search_photos_by_image_api_v1_search_photos_post
- name: get_similar_photos
  description: More photos like an existing one, by photo id.
  read_only: true
  parameters:
  - photo_id
  - cursor
  source_operation: openapi/pexafy-api-openapi.json#photo_similar_api_v1_photos__photo_id__similar_get
tool_count: 3
write_surface: none
write_surface_note: 'The README states it plainly: "Three read-only tools. No write scope, no account
  mutation." The REST API''s collection writes are deliberately not exposed as tools, and the protected-resource
  metadata asks for the read scope only.'
client_setup:
- client: Claude web / desktop
  method: Settings -> Connectors -> Add custom connector -> https://mcp.pexafy.com/mcp (OAuth sign-in)
- client: Claude Code
  method: claude mcp add --transport http pexafy https://mcp.pexafy.com/mcp
- client: any MCP client
  method: streamable-http transport pointed at https://mcp.pexafy.com/mcp
rendering:
  note: Results are returned as a numbered thumbnail grid rendered inline in the conversation, and in
    MCP Apps-capable clients a thumbnail opens a detail panel from data already in the tool result — no
    second call.