# Let an AI agent find and license images for your project > Add the MCP server (claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp) and ask for what you need: 'a hero image of a mountain lake and three feature icons for the landing page'. The agent calls search_images or build_image_set, which only return commercial-safe images by default, downloads the files and writes the credit lines into ATTRIBUTION.md. AI agents guide, updated 2026-11-03. Connect Claude Code, Cursor or another MCP client to Image Asset Server so your agent finds free images, checks the licence and writes the credits. ## What the agent sees Every result carries its pixel size, orientation, kind (photo, painting, vector, icon…), a thumbnail URL, the licence with its verdict, an editorial flag and a ready-to-paste credit line. The server's instructions tell the agent never to present a non-commercial, unverified or editorial image as cleared for advertising. ## A whole page in one call `build_image_set` takes a list of slots: ```text hero: misty forest at sunrise, landscape (1920px) 3 icons: upload, share, settings background: paper texture portrait of a potter at the wheel ``` It returns one pick per slot with alternatives, the file to use (the smallest at least as wide as the slot), suggested alt text, and exports: `images.json`, `credits.html` with `
` captions, `download.sh` and `ATTRIBUTION.md`. Try it in the browser on the [image set builder](https://image.shep.bot/build). ## Without MCP The same features are a REST API: `GET /v1/search?q=…`, `GET /v1/images/{id}/download?width=1920` (a redirect to the file) and `POST /v1/sets`. See the [API guide](https://image.shep.bot/docs/api). ## Step by step 1. **Connect the server.** Run claude mcp add --transport http images https://image.shep.bot/mcp, or add the same URL in Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client. For local file writes, run npx -y image-asset-server mcp instead. 2. **Describe the images.** Say what each image shows, its shape and its use: 'a wide hero image of a misty forest', 'a vertical poster of a Hokusai wave', 'SVG icons for upload, share and settings'. 3. **Let it pick and check.** The agent searches every source, keeps commercial-safe licences, and for a whole page calls build_image_set, which picks one image per slot with alternatives. 4. **Review the credits.** Check ATTRIBUTION.md or credits.html, and any image flagged editorial, before you publish. ## Questions **Will the agent use images I can't use commercially?** Not by default: search_images and build_image_set return only 'yes' and 'yes-with-credit' verdicts unless the agent sets commercial_only=false because you said the project is non-commercial. **Does the hosted server download files for the agent?** No. It returns direct links to the files on the sources; the agent downloads them with curl. The local MCP server (npx) can save files itself with download_image. **Which tools does the server offer?** search_images, get_image, build_image_set and list_sources, plus download_image when it runs locally. ## Try it - [Commercial-safe hero images](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=forest+mist&orientation=landscape&commercial=true) - [Icons](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=settings+icon) ## Collections - [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds. - [Free 4K nature photos: mountains, lakes, coasts](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-4k-nature-photos.md): Free high-resolution nature photos, at least 4K on the short side: mountains, lakes, coasts and forests, with the licence and credit line on every image. ## Related guides - [Free images for commercial use: what you can actually use](https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use.md): Which free image licences allow commercial use (CC0, public domain, CC BY, free stock licences), which don't, and what still needs a release. - [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): The credit line a CC BY image needs (title, author, source, licence, changes) and where to put it on a web page, a slide, a social post or in print. - [Free SVG icons and transparent PNGs: finding and using them](https://image.shep.bot/guides/transparent-png-and-svg-icons.md): Find free SVG icons and transparent cut-outs, check their licences (MIT, Apache, OFL, CC BY), and use them on any background, in any colour and size. ## Sources - [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) - [Claude Code: MCP](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/mcp) This guide is practical information, not legal advice. --- Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/ai-agent-find-and-license-images