How To Setup & Use a MCP Server for ArtCraft apps(PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, GridCraft)

One of the most powerful new capabilities of the ArtCraft apps is that a chat agent can control them. Keep your app open, keep a small chat beside it, and ask the agent to make a change, do a long repetitive job, or build something complicated. You can work by hand on the parts that need a designer's eye, hand the mundane or repetitive tasks to the agent, then carry on by hand. In this video we show real recordings of three examples: PhotoCraft fixes the white balance, exposure and colors of a photo and then a whole folder of photos, VectorCraft draws a 12 fold mandala and recolors it, and GridCraft builds a three month calendar. The waiting is sped up and a stopwatch shows the real time. HOW TO SET IT UP Step 1: start the app with its control port turned on. In PhotoCraft you can turn it on in Settings, AI Integrations (Allow agent control, applies at next launch). In GridCraft the Help menu has an Agent Control page that lists the commands. You can also start any app from the command line with a control port, for example: PhotoCraft --control 7878 --control-token-file photocraft-token --automation-read-root FOLDER --automation-write-root FOLDER The token file is a secret password, and the two root options are the only folders the agent may read from and write to. Step 2: tell your chat agent where the app is. In Claude Code, for example: claude mcp add photocraft -- photocraft-cli mcp --bridge 127.0.0.1:7878 --control-token-file photocraft-token claude mcp add vectorcraft -- vectorcraft-cli mcp --connect 127.0.0.1:7979 claude mcp add gridcraft -e GRIDCRAFT_CONTROL_TOKEN=YOUR_TOKEN -- gridcraft-cli mcp --connect 7980 Then start the agent, type /mcp, and each app should show as connected. If you see "connection closed": make sure the app is running with its control port open, and make the token file private to you (chmod 600 photocraft-token), because the connector refuses a password file that other people can read. Any chat agent that supports MCP works the same way. We used the command line version of Claude Code. The chat agent is a separate product with its own account or usage. THINGS TO KNOW Ask for the result you want and ask the agent to check its work with a preview. It can still get things wrong: in our testing it once reported a file as saved when the app had refused to save it, so always look at the result. The agent only reaches the folders you allow, every change is a step in the app's History so you can undo it, and nothing goes to the cloud. The agent could not list a folder through PhotoCraft's tools, so we named the files. One correction does not suit every photo equally, so a few photos in the batch stayed dark. COMMAND LINE PROGRAMS GridCraft command line program (gridcraft-cli) on the GridCraft release page: https://github.com/storytold/gridcraf... VectorCraft command line program (vectorcraft-cli) on the VectorCraft release page: https://github.com/storytold/vectorcr... CHAPTERS (normal speed video; the 1.1x video has its own list in the Notes below) 00:00 The hook 00:10 What this is 00:45 Work by hand and with the agent 01:14 Set it up 02:42 PhotoCraft: fix a photo 03:28 PhotoCraft: ask it, then delegate 04:13 VectorCraft: a mandala 04:42 VectorCraft: recolor and rebuild 05:18 GridCraft: a calendar 05:52 Tips and limits Recorded on PhotoCraft 0.20.1, VectorCraft 0.21.0 and GridCraft 0.16.0. These apps are early software and are advancing quickly, so expect rough edges. Photos in this video: Open Designer Cloud Stock Photos, royalty free. Download them free at https://opendesignercloud.com/stock/p... Open Designer Cloud (new website): https://opendesignercloud.com ArtCraft, MCP server, MCP, chat agent, AI agent, control apps with AI, Claude Code, PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, GridCraft, LightCraft, FilmCraft, DesignCraft, how to use MCP, AI automation, AI photo editing, AI vector graphics, AI spreadsheet, open source creative software, Open Designer Cloud