PickShade MCP server

Color tools for AI assistants: convert any color, find colors by name, check and fix WCAG 2 and APCA contrast, audit palettes for accessibility and color blindness, build gradients, scales and full design systems, export tokens for CSS, Tailwind v4, SCSS and DTCG.

All math follows CSS Color 4 (OKLCH, OKLab, Display P3, Rec. 2020) and runs locally and deterministically. No API key, no account, no telemetry.

Website and docs: pickshade.com/mcp

Use the hosted server

No install. Streamable HTTP endpoint:

https://pickshade.com/api/mcp

Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http pickshade https://pickshade.com/api/mcp

Cursor, VS Code and other clients that read mcpServers:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "pickshade": { "url": "https://pickshade.com/api/mcp" }
    }
}

Run locally over stdio

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

Requires Node.js 20 or newer.

Tools

Every tool accepts colors as HEX, rgb(), hsl(), oklch(), CSS names like navy, common names like royal blue or бордовый, and Tailwind classes like sky-500.

Tool	What it does
parse_color	Every format, the closest name and Tailwind class, gamut and the better text color for any color
convert_color	HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, HWB, CMYK, Lab, LCH, OKLab, OKLCH, Display P3, Rec. 2020, XYZ, SwiftUI, Flutter
find_colors	Turns words like "sage" or "dusty rose" into real HEX values
check_contrast	WCAG 2 ratio with AA and AAA levels, and APCA Lc with the usage it allows
fix_contrast	The closest color that reaches a contrast target, changing only OKLCH lightness so the hue stays
audit_palette	Checks every text and background pair, color blindness conflicts and out-of-gamut colors in a palette
check_gamut	Whether a color fits sRGB, Display P3 and Rec. 2020
nearest_names	Closest named colors, CSS keywords and Tailwind classes by perceptual distance
compare_colors	CIEDE2000 and deltaE OK difference with a plain verdict, lightness, chroma and hue shift
generate_scale	An 11-step 50–950 scale in OKLCH with even perceived lightness, the shape of Tailwind palettes
tints_shades	Tints, shades and tones of a color
harmonies	Complementary, split-complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, square and monochromatic in OKLCH
mix_colors	Mixes two colors in a chosen space, like CSS color-mix()
make_gradient	CSS gradients interpolated in OKLab or OKLCH, without the gray middle
generate_palette	Harmonious palettes in OKLCH, repeatable with a seed
simulate_cvd	Protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia and achromatopsia, with pairs that become hard to tell apart
export_tokens	CSS variables, Tailwind v4 @theme, SCSS, JSON, DTCG tokens, JS arrays or an SVG swatch strip
build_system	A full color system from one brand color: scales, light and dark roles, shadcn/ui and Tailwind export

Prompts

• accessible_theme: light and dark themes from a brand color with every text pair checked
• audit_colors: readable pairs, color blindness conflicts and gamut for a list of colors
• describe_color: a color explained in plain words with its values, name, contrast and matches

REST API

The same tools over HTTP, JSON in and out: pickshade.com/api, OpenAPI 3.1 at https://pickshade.com/api/v1/openapi.json.

What is inside

Package	Purpose
packages/color	Color math: parsing every CSS color syntax, conversions between sRGB, Display P3, Rec. 2020, Lab, LCH, OKLab and OKLCH, gamut mapping, WCAG 2 and APCA contrast, CIEDE2000 and deltaE OK, scales, harmonies and color vision simulation
packages/data	Color names (CSS keywords, common names in 30 languages, an extended list), the Tailwind CSS palette
packages/exports	Code generators: CSS variables, Tailwind v4 @theme, SCSS, JSON, DTCG tokens, SVG
packages/tools	The 18 tools with their input schemas, shared by the MCP server and the REST API
packages/mcp	The MCP server (@pickshade/mcp)

Develop

pnpm install
pnpm check
pnpm build

The bundled server is written to packages/mcp/dist.

License

MIT. Color names include data from meodai/color-names (MIT); Tailwind palette values are from Tailwind CSS (MIT).