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🎨 Connect an AI assistant

Paint Rack speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Point Claude or another MCP-capable assistant at your shelf and it can answer things like "can I paint this scheme with what I own?", "what's the closest thing I have to Mephiston Red?", or "which Army Painter set fills the most gaps?"

MCP server URL
…/mcp

Claude.ai and Claude Desktop

  1. Open Settings → Connectors and choose Add custom connector.
  2. Paste the MCP server URL above. Leave the OAuth client fields blank — the connector registers itself.
  3. Claude will send you to Paint Rack to sign in (same GitHub or Google account you use here) and click Allow.

That's it. Start a chat and ask about your paints. You can disconnect at any time from the Connectors page.

Claude Code

Either sign in through the browser:

claude mcp add --transport http paint-rack …/mcp

Then run /mcp inside Claude Code and choose Authenticate for paint-rack. Or create a personal token from your profile (click your name in the header) and use it directly:

claude mcp add --transport http paint-rack …/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer prk_…"

Other MCP clients

Any client that supports the streamable HTTP transport works. Authenticate with OAuth 2.1 (dynamic client registration and PKCE are supported, discovery at /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server) or send a personal token as a bearer token in the Authorization header.

What the assistant can do

ToolWhat it does
get_collection_overviewTotals by brand, type and range, favourites, shopping-list size
list_owned_paintsYour paints with quantities, notes and favourites, filterable
search_catalogSearch all ~4,500 catalog paints, showing which you own
get_paintOne paint in detail, including the closest paints you own
find_alternatives"What can I use instead of X?" ranked by colour distance
match_colourClosest owned and catalog paints to a hex colour
check_recipePaste a painting guide's paint list and see what you own and what to substitute
list_paint_sets / get_paint_setOfficial boxed sets and ranges, with how complete yours are
get_shopping_listPaints you've flagged to buy
update_shopping_listAdd, remove, or mark paints as bought (write)
update_inventoryAdd or remove bottles (write)
set_paint_note / set_favouriteNotes like "nearly empty" and favourite stars (write)

Read-only personal tokens block the write tools. OAuth connections get read and write access to your own collection only; the shared catalog is never modified.