@slickfast/mcp

SlickFast — charts & dashboards for AI agents

⚡ Live — SlickFast’s own project pulse, updating on a cron. Same trick works in your README:

JSON in → chart or whole Page out. No browser, no Puppeteer. Same spec, same picture, every time. Runs as an MCP tool — 100% local, nothing leaves your machine until you ask to share or publish.

47 types (bar, line, pie, KPI, funnel, gauge, heatmap, calendar…) plus multi-chart dashboards in one call. Also: Pages (designed docs), News, and Get started — all as live Pages, not baked copy.

render_chart({ type: "bar", data: { labels: ["Q1","Q2","Q3"], series: [{ values: [12,19,8] }] } })
  → retina PNG (or SVG) on your machine

More pictures: slickfast.com · start here: slickfast.com/start · what’s shipping: slickfast.com/news

Install

Renders locally and privately for free. Public URLs / live embeds need a free API key at slickfast.com (no card).

One-click:

Or add to your MCP config and restart:

{ "mcpServers": { "slickfast": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@slickfast/mcp"] } } }

• Claude Desktop — claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config)
• Claude Code — claude mcp add slickfast -- npx -y @slickfast/mcp
• Cursor — Settings → MCP, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json
• claude.ai — Connectors → custom → https://mcp.slickfast.com (free key or demo)

First clicks (prompts in clients that show them): Get started → Try SlickFast → Build a dashboard. Also: SlickFast News, Update / refresh SlickFast, Make a Page, Share / publish, Report a SlickFast issue.

Or say: "Show me what SlickFast can do" · "what's new" · "get me started".

Stuck? Restart the client · Node 18+ · one stray comma breaks JSON · open an issue.

Tools

• render_chart(spec) → PNG (default) or SVG. Dashboards: type: "dashboard" with tiles: [{ chart, span }] — one image, one call.
• describe_type(type) → data shape, minimal spec, gotchas. Call when unsure.
• gallery() → curated demos (images + specs). board:"comparison" / board:"all" for boards.
• list_palettes() → every valid palette name and colors.
• share_chart(spec, name?) → public / live embed URL via the hosted API (free key). Rendering stays local; offer only when asked to share.
• read_chart(url) → spec twin of any SlickFast chart URL.
• push_to_trmnl(spec, webhook_url) → e-ink PNG to a TRMNL display.
• describe_pagespec() → Pages contract (hero, prose, charts, themes, drill-downs).
• render_page(pagespec) → self-contained HTML, local. Optional outputPath.
• publish_page(pagespec) → public Page URL + .json twin (free = short TTL + watermark; paid = permanent).
• news() → live twin behind slickfast.com/news. Keyless.
• get_started() → live onboarding Page behind slickfast.com/start. Keyless. Best first tool after install.
• mcp_status() → this package version + how to refresh (facts only, no nag).
• report_issue(summary, spec?) → draft GitHub / email links. SlickFast sends nothing.

Why agents pick it

• Cheap tokens — a few dozen tokens of JSON beat hundreds of matplotlib / SVG retries.
• One-field edits — swap type, palette, size; re-render. No code rewrite.
• No headless browser — pure in-memory SVG → PNG.
• Deterministic — same spec, same bytes. Cacheable. Testable.
• Loud errors — bad enum / unknown palette lists the valid options.
• Local by default — nothing phones home from this package.

Seeing the picture

• Prefer format:"svg" when the chat supports artifacts (claude.ai / Claude Desktop) — most reliable inline path.
• format:"png" needs a client that paints MCP image blocks (inconsistent).
• Local disk: pass outputPath. Hosted/sandbox MCP often can’t show that file — use SVG or share_chart / publish_page for a URL.

If values came back but no picture, it rendered — display surface gap, not a broken engine. Re-ask for SVG into an artifact, or open a Share URL.

Share & live embeds

Ask to share or publish. Needs SLICKFAST_API_KEY in the MCP config (free at slickfast.com). The live board at the top of this README is that pattern: one public URL, push new data, every embed updates.

License

AGPL-3.0-only. Local / self-host / embed under AGPL is fine. Closed-source product or hosted service → open the AGPL’d source, or a commercial license: slickfast.com/license.html · [e-mail].

Feedback

• GitHub issues
• [e-mail]
• Or: "report this as a SlickFast issue" → report_issue drafts the links (nothing auto-sent).

Developing locally

cd apps/mcp
npm install
node test-client.mjs

Point a client at a checkout: "command": "node", "args": ["…/apps/mcp/server.mjs"].