retroprint-mcp

An MCP server for RETROPRINT: any MCP client — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor — can turn a photo on disk into a riso-style print, look at the result, and iterate on the design.

A thin wrapper over the public headless API (/v1), the same way PostHog's and Figma's servers wrap theirs: the server holds no rendering logic, just an API key and four tools. It runs locally over stdio because that is where the photos are — tools take file paths in, write finished prints back to disk, and inline a preview the model can actually see.

Tools

| tool | what it does | | --- | --- | | create_print | Photo in (path or URL), finished print out, saved to disk. No options = the server designs the print from the photo. Small results come back inline so the model can look and iterate. Follows the job queue automatically for big prints. | | list_presets | The built-in 2–3 ink designs, with their ink chips. | | get_design_guide | The full DesignState schema — fields, ranges, ink catalog, paper stocks — served on demand instead of bloating every tool description. | | get_print_job | Collect a job that outlived create_print's polling window. |

Setup

You need an API key: retro-print.com → Settings → API keys. Prints spend plan units by output size (≤4 MP = 1 unit … >24 MP = 8).

Claude Code:

claude mcp add retroprint --env RETROPRINT_API_KEY=rp_… -- npx -y retroprint-mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor (claude_desktop_config.json / .cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "retroprint": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "retroprint-mcp"],
      "env": { "RETROPRINT_API_KEY": "rp_…" }
    }
  }
}

RETROPRINT_API_URL points the server at a different backend (a local stack on http://127.0.0.1:8080, say); it defaults to the live site. It must be https, or plain http to this machine: your API key goes to it on every call.

Try it

Turn ~/Pictures/dog.jpg into a retro print.

Give it two inks — black shadows and fluorescent pink midtones — on kraft paper, 4:5, and push the misregistration until it looks hand-fed.

The model drafts at width 800, looks at the inline preview, adjusts the design, and renders the final at full size.

Design notes

• Few tools, strong descriptions. The schema lives behind get_design_guide, fetched only when the model writes a custom design.
• Errors teach. The server's own messages pass through untouched (402 says what the print would have cost), plus one line on what to do next.
• Previews are capped at 1.5 MB — above that the print is on disk and the model is told to draft smaller, not handed a context-blowing blob.
• Annotations mark list_presets/get_design_guide read-only so clients can skip confirmation prompts.