openart-mcp

MCP server + Claude skill for OpenArt.ai. OpenArt has no public API, so this drives their web UI as a logged-in user via Playwright.

What's in this repo

• MCP server (src/) — exposes 5 tools that automate OpenArt character + video workflows
• Claude skill (skills/openart/SKILL.md) — tells Claude when and how to call the MCP tools

Tools

Tool	Purpose
openart_list_characters	List every character in your OpenArt account
openart_get_character	Get details for one character by ID
openart_create_character	Create a new character from a local image
openart_generate_video	Generate a video of a character speaking a script
openart_get_video_status	Check render status + URL of a generated video

Install

1. Install the MCP server

git clone https://github.com/jbertus/openart-mcp.git
cd openart-mcp
npm install
npx playwright install chromium
npm run build
npm run login   # opens browser, log in to OpenArt, press Enter when done

The login step saves a Playwright storageState JSON to ~/.openart-mcp/auth.json (or %USERPROFILE%\.openart-mcp\auth.json on Windows). The server reuses that session for every subsequent tool call.

2. Register the MCP with your client

Claude Code / Claude Desktop — add to your MCP config (~/.claude/mcp.json or equivalent):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openart": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["<absolute-path-to-cloned-repo>/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Other MCP clients — point to node <repo>/dist/index.js with stdio transport.

3. Install the companion skill (optional but recommended)

npx skills add https://github.com/jbertus/openart-mcp --skill openart

The skill teaches Claude when to call which tool and how to format arguments. Without it, Claude can still use the MCP but you'll have to spell out intent more explicitly.

Configuration

Environment variables (all optional):

Var	Default	Purpose
OPENART_STORAGE_STATE	~/.openart-mcp/auth.json	Path to Playwright session JSON
OPENART_HEADLESS	true	Set to false to see the browser during automation

Selector setup (one-time)

The tools in src/tools.ts ship with placeholder DOM selectors marked TODO. OpenArt's UI changes over time, so the selectors need to be captured against the live site:

npx playwright codegen https://openart.ai/suite/characters-and-worlds

Click through the UI for each tool's flow. Playwright generates real selectors. Paste them into the TODO spots in src/tools.ts, rebuild (npm run build), and the tools work.

If the selectors break later (OpenArt redesigns), repeat this step.

Risks

• Fragile to UI changes. Every OpenArt redesign may break selectors. Re-run codegen and re-patch.
• Slower than a real API. Each tool call launches a browser session and waits on page loads.
• Session can expire. Re-run npm run login when prompted.
• OpenArt may block automation. Anti-bot detection could rate-limit or ban your account. Use sparingly. No recourse if banned.

Testing

npm run inspect    # launches MCP Inspector against the server

Contributing

PRs welcome. If OpenArt's UI changes and the selectors break, open an issue with the new selectors and a brief description of which tool flow needs updating.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.