MCP Server

The OpenFlowKit MCP server gives AI clients diagramming skills without adding another AI provider. Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and other MCP clients already have an LLM; OpenFlowKit supplies the local tools that make that model good at diagrams.

The package is @openflowkit/mcp-server. It runs locally over the standard MCP stdio transport.

Install and run

Use it directly with npx:

npx -y @openflowkit/mcp-server

Or install it globally:

npm install -g @openflowkit/mcp-server
openflowkit-mcp

The server requires Node 18 or newer.

Claude Desktop setup

Add the server to your Claude Desktop config:

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

For Cursor, Windsurf, and other MCP clients, use the same command and args in that client’s MCP settings.

How generation works

OpenFlowKit MCP is agent-native:

The agent reads openflowkit://docs/dsl-cheatsheet.
The agent writes OpenFlow DSL itself.
The agent calls find_icon when it needs exact cloud or developer icon slugs.
The agent calls validate_openflow_dsl.
The agent fixes any diagnostics.
The agent calls create_viewer_url.
The agent returns editable DSL and a viewer link.

No API keys are required for MCP diagram generation.

Tools

The current server exposes 8 provider-free tools:

Tool	What it does
`validate_openflow_dsl`	Lint DSL with structured diagnostics
`create_viewer_url`	Create a shareable OpenFlowKit viewer URL from DSL
`analyze_codebase`	Detect platforms, services, top-level structure, and language mix from a local repo
`find_icon`	Search 1,600+ provider and developer icons for exact `archProvider` and `archResourceType` values
`list_starter_templates`	Browse built-in templates
`get_starter_template`	Fetch a template’s DSL
`list_diagram_node_types`	Return DSL node and edge reference data
`server_info`	Return version and capability metadata

Resources and prompts

The server exposes five resources:

URI	Description
`openflowkit://docs/dsl-cheatsheet`	OpenFlow DSL syntax reference
`openflowkit://templates`	Starter template catalog
`openflowkit://templates/{name}`	DSL for a named starter template
`openflowkit://icons`	Full architecture icon catalog
`openflowkit://icons/{provider}`	Icons for one provider pack (`aws`, `azure`, `gcp`, `cncf`, or `developer`)

Clients can also surface three prompt templates: flowchart_from_description, convert_mermaid_to_openflow, and architecture_from_codebase.

Try it

Paste this into a connected MCP client:

Using the openflowkit MCP server: read openflowkit://docs/dsl-cheatsheet, then write an OpenFlow DSL flowchart for a checkout flow (cart → shipping → promo-code decision → payment → Stripe webhook → confirm). Call validate_openflow_dsl on your output, fix any errors, then call create_viewer_url. Show me the final DSL and viewer URL.

For codebases:

Using openflowkit: call analyze_codebase on /path/to/project, read openflowkit://docs/dsl-cheatsheet, use find_icon for exact architecture icons, write OpenFlow DSL, validate it, then create a viewer URL.

Privacy model

The server does not store diagrams, require an OpenFlowKit account, ask for provider keys, or phone home. Local tools run on your machine. Codebase analysis only reads the directory you explicitly pass to analyze_codebase.