OpenRouter MCP Multimodal

The MCP server for multimodal AI agents.

One install · 14 tools · 300+ OpenRouter models · text, vision, audio & video — analysis and generation.

---

What is this?

OpenRouter MCP Multimodal is a production-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) server — listed on the official MCP Registry as io.github.stabgan/openrouter-multimodal. It connects AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline, and others) to OpenRouter's unified LLM API over stdio.

Unlike text-only MCP servers, one install covers the full multimodal surface:

Capability	Tools	Highlights
Chat	`chat_completion`	300+ models, `:nitro` / `:exacto` suffixes, provider routing, web search, response caching, reasoning tokens
Vision	`analyze_image`, `generate_image`	OCR, captioning, VQA, image generation with reference inputs
Audio	`analyze_audio`, `generate_audio`	Transcription, speech/music generation
Video	`analyze_video`, `generate_video`, `generate_video_from_image`, `get_video_status`	Clip understanding, Veo / Sora / Seedance / Wan generation with progress notifications
Catalog	`search_models`, `get_model_info`, `validate_model`, `rerank_documents`, `health_check`	Model discovery, validation, reranking, ops health

Production hardening: input/output path sandboxes (including analyze\_\* local files as of v4.5.2), SSRF guards, structured errors with _meta.code, MCP 2025-06-18 structured outputs, async video progress notifications, and 650+ automated tests (unit, mock, regression, and live integration).

Quick start

1. Get an API key (free tier works) → openrouter.ai/keys

2. Run the server

bash

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...
npx -y @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal

3. Add to your MCP client (Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, etc.) — see Install below.

No credits required to start. Free models such as google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free work for chat and vision. Video/audio generation typically needs credits.

Install

MCP servers are distributed through several packaging models. This server is implemented in Node.js/TypeScript; the table below maps each ecosystem method to how you run it here.

Method	Runtime	Best for	This server
npx	Node.js 20+	Most MCP clients (default)	✅ `@stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal`
uvx / pipx	Python 3.10+ and Node.js 20+	Python-first workflows, same pattern as PyPI MCP servers	✅ [`mcp-server-openrouter-multimodal`](https://pypi.org/project/mcp-server-openrouter-multimodal/)
npm global	Node.js 20+	Pin a version without re-downloading	✅
node (local)	Node.js 20+	Contributors / air-gapped builds	✅
Docker Hub	Docker	Isolation, no Node on host	✅ `stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal`
GHCR	Docker	GitHub-native OCI pulls	✅ `ghcr.io/stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal`
Smithery CLI	Node.js (via installer)	Interactive install into Claude/Cursor/etc.	✅
MCP Registry	npm or OCI	Official discovery (`io.github.stabgan/openrouter-multimodal`)	✅ listing
One-click deeplinks	Node.js	Cursor, VS Code, Kiro	✅
Claude Code CLI	Node.js	Terminal-first Claude Code users	✅
MCP Inspector	Node.js	Debug / list tools locally	✅
Windows `cmd /c npx`	Node.js	Claude Desktop / Cursor when `npx` not on GUI PATH	✅ see below
pip / uv (direct)	—	Native Python MCP servers only	— use uvx row above
DXT desktop extensions	—	Bundled Claude Desktop `.dxt`	not yet
Remote HTTP / SSE	—	Hosted Smithery / Cloudflare endpoints	via Smithery

uvx vs npx: In the MCP ecosystem, **npx runs npm (Node) packages and uvx runs PyPI (Python) packages**. Because this server is Node-based, uvx uses a thin Python launcher that execs npx -y @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal — you still need Node installed.

One-click

Cursor

VS Code

Kiro

Claude Desktop / Windsurf / Cline (pick any method below)

Smithery

MCP Registry — npm + OCI packages

Paste your OPENROUTER_API_KEY when prompted — deeplinks use placeholders so secrets never appear in URLs.

Manual config

npx (recommended)

bash

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...
npx -y @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal"],
      "env": {
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "sk-or-v1-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Pin a release: "args": ["-y", "@stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal@4.5.3"]

uvx / pipx (Python launcher)

Install uv (includes uvx), ensure Node.js 20+ is also on your PATH, then:

bash

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...
uvx mcp-server-openrouter-multimodal
# pin npm version: OPENROUTER_MCP_NPM_VERSION=4.5.3 uvx mcp-server-openrouter-multimodal

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-openrouter-multimodal"],
      "env": {
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "sk-or-v1-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

pipx equivalent: pipx run mcp-server-openrouter-multimodal

Optional: OPENROUTER_MCP_NPM_VERSION=4.5.3 pins the underlying npm package.

npm global

bash

npm install -g @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "command": "openrouter-multimodal",
      "env": { "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "sk-or-v1-..." }
    }
  }
}

node (local clone)

bash

git clone https://github.com/stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal.git
cd openrouter-mcp-multimodal
npm ci && npm run build

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/openrouter-mcp-multimodal/dist/index.js"],
      "env": { "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "sk-or-v1-..." }
    }
  }
}

Docker

bash

docker run --rm -i -e OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-... stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal:latest

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "-e",
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...",
        "stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Use -i (interactive stdio). Avoid -t (TTY corrupts MCP framing on some hosts).

GHCR (GitHub Container Registry)

bash

docker run --rm -i -e OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-... \
  ghcr.io/stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal:4.5.3

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "--rm", "-i",
        "-e", "OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...",
        "ghcr.io/stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Smithery

Interactive install (writes config for your client):

bash

npx -y @smithery/cli install @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal --client claude
# or: --client cursor | vscode | windsurf | ...

Listing: smithery.ai/server/@stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal

MCP Registry

Official name: io.github.stabgan/openrouter-multimodal

Registry: registry.modelcontextprotocol.io
npm package: @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal
OCI image: docker.io/stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal

Clients that support registry-driven install will offer npm or Docker; otherwise use the JSON blocks above.

Claude Code CLI

bash

claude mcp add openrouter -- npx -y @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal
# project scope:
claude mcp add --scope project openrouter -- npx -y @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal

Set OPENROUTER_API_KEY in your shell or client env before starting Claude Code.

MCP Inspector

Debug tools/list and tool calls against a live OpenRouter key:

bash

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx -y @stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal

Windows npx

When Claude Desktop or Cursor cannot find npx (GUI apps often miss shell PATH), wrap with cmd:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal"],
      "env": { "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "sk-or-v1-..." }
    }
  }
}

If still failing, use the full path from where npx as the command.

Why this server?

Capability	This server	Typical MCP LLM servers
Text chat (300+ models)	✅	✅
Image analysis + generation	✅	partial
Audio analysis + TTS	✅	❌
Video analysis + generation	✅	❌
Model search / validate / rerank	✅	❌
Path sandbox + SSRF protection	✅	rare
MCP 2025 structured outputs	✅	rare
Async video + progress notifications	✅	❌

Tools

14 MCP tools. Each description includes Use when, Good/Bad examples, Fails when, and Works with so agents pick the right tool and recover from errors.

Tool	Purpose
`chat_completion`	Text chat, web search, provider routing, caching, reasoning
`analyze_image`	Vision — local path, URL, or data URL + `question`
`analyze_audio`	Transcribe / analyze audio files
`analyze_video`	Describe / Q&A over video files
`generate_image`	Text-to-image with optional reference images
`generate_audio`	Text-to-speech / music
`generate_video`	Text-to-video (async, resumable)
`generate_video_from_image`	Image-to-video (narrower schema)
`get_video_status`	Poll / resume video jobs
`search_models`	Paginated model catalog search
`get_model_info`	Pricing, context, modalities
`validate_model`	Cheap model ID existence check
`rerank_documents`	Relevance ranking for RAG
`health_check`	API key + reachability probe

Errors use a closed _meta.code taxonomy: INVALID_INPUT · UNSAFE_PATH · UPSTREAM_* · MODEL_NOT_FOUND · JOB_STILL_RUNNING · and more.

Examples

Chat (free model)

json

{
  "tool": "chat_completion",
  "arguments": {
    "model": "google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free",
    "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Summarize MCP in one sentence." }]
  }
}

Analyze an image

json

{
  "tool": "analyze_image",
  "arguments": {
    "image_path": "diagram.png",
    "question": "List every label in this diagram."
  }
}

Use image_path and question — not image / prompt.

Search models (vision + free)

json

{
  "tool": "search_models",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "gemma",
    "capabilities": { "vision": true },
    "limit": 10,
    "offset": 0
  }
}

Generate video (async)

json

{
  "tool": "generate_video",
  "arguments": {
    "model": "google/veo-3.1",
    "prompt": "Ocean waves at sunrise, cinematic drone shot",
    "duration": 4,
    "save_path": "river.mp4"
  }
}

If the job is still running when max_wait_ms elapses, the response succeeds with _meta.code: JOB_STILL_RUNNING and a video_id — call get_video_status to resume. This is not an error.

More examples: docs/plans/tool-description-improvement.md

Security

Input path sandbox — analyze_* and reference images must stay inside OPENROUTER_INPUT_DIR
Output path sandbox — save_path must stay inside OPENROUTER_OUTPUT_DIR
SSRF protection — private/reserved IPs blocked on URL fetches
Untrusted content — analyze outputs tagged _meta.content_is_untrusted: true

Override sandboxes only with OPENROUTER_ALLOW_UNSAFE_PATHS=1 (discouraged).

Configuration

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	Yes	—	OpenRouter API key
`OPENROUTER_DEFAULT_MODEL`	No	`nvidia/nemotron-nano-12b-v2-vl:free`	Default when tools omit `model`
`OPENROUTER_INTEGRATION_MODEL`	No	`google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free`	Model used by live integration tests
`OPENROUTER_OUTPUT_DIR`	No	`cwd`	Sandbox root for `save_path`
`OPENROUTER_INPUT_DIR`	No	—	Sandbox root for local input files
`OPENROUTER_LOG_LEVEL`	No	`info`	`error` / `warn` / `info` / `debug`

See [.env.example](./.env.example) for the full list (provider routing, image/audio/video limits, caching, video polling).

Development

bash

git clone https://github.com/stabgan/openrouter-mcp-multimodal.git
cd openrouter-mcp-multimodal
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # add OPENROUTER_API_KEY
npm run build

Testing

Command	What it runs
`npm test`	652 unit + mock tests (no API key, <2s)
`npm run test:regression`	Security + schema regression guards
`npm run test:integration`	16 live OpenRouter scenarios (requires `.env` key)
`npm run test:e2e`	Full MCP stdio smoke (`scripts/live-e2e.mjs`)
`npm run ci`	lint + format + build + all of the above except e2e

Free models for CI / zero-credit accounts: integration tests default to google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free (override with OPENROUTER_INTEGRATION_MODEL). GitHub Actions requires the OPENROUTER_API_KEY repository secret.

Mock tests live under src/__tests__/mock/ and cover handlers, path sandboxes, SSRF blocks, model-cache pagination, tool descriptions, and structured outputs — 330+ additional cases beyond the core suite.

bash

npm run lint
npm run format:check

FAQ

Do I need paid OpenRouter credits?

No, to get started. Free models work for chat and vision. Audio/video generation usually requires credits; analysis may return 402 on some models — the server surfaces that as a structured error.

Which MCP clients are supported?

Any MCP-compatible client over stdio: Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code Copilot, Windsurf, Cline, Kiro, and custom agents.

How is this different from calling OpenRouter directly?

This server adds MCP tool schemas, security sandboxes, error taxonomy, model caching, async video polling with progress notifications, and agent-oriented tool descriptions — so LLMs invoke the right capability without custom HTTP glue.

Where is the security advisory for path traversal?

Fixed in 4.5.2+ — see GHSA-3q7p-736f-x44v and docs/solutions/security-issues/.

Compatibility

Works with any MCP client. Protocol: MCP 2025-06-18. Node ≥ 20 (Docker image uses Node 22).

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. For large changes, open an issue first. Run npm run ci before submitting.

Openrouter Mcp Multimodal

Documentation

What is this?

Quick start

Install

One-click

Manual config

Why this server?

Tools

Examples

Chat (free model)

Analyze an image

Search models (vision + free)

Generate video (async)

Security

Configuration

Development

Testing

FAQ

Do I need paid OpenRouter credits?

Which MCP clients are supported?

How is this different from calling OpenRouter directly?

Where is the security advisory for path traversal?

Compatibility

License

Contributing

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