How do I install Tesserai?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Tesserai need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does Tesserai use?

Tesserai runs locally over stdio.

When was Tesserai last checked?

Last checked 2026-11-08. Your project's design system for coding agents: tokens, components, contrast checks, guidelines.

Tesserai MCP server

Power your agent

Add this server

The publisher's own command. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Run on PlugMCP

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Local command

npx -y @tesserai/[email protected]

Claude Code has no install link for a local command. Copy the command below and run it in a terminal.

shClaude Code

1claude mcp add design.tesserai-tesserai -- npx -y @tesserai/cli@0.2.2

Run in a terminal.

jsonClaude Desktop

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "design.tesserai-tesserai": {4      "command": "npx",5      "args": [6        "-y",7        "@tesserai/[email protected]"8      ]9    }10  }11}

claude_desktop_config.json

Local · npmPublisher installStep-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

Run on PlugMCP

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

A new server you create. It is not this listing's official endpoint. Use the publisher install when you want their URL and their credentials.

Launch

Server facts

Local

Transport: stdio
Version: 0.2.2
Last checked

Tools

No tool list yet. Remote servers get one after the first health check.

FAQ

Questions

tesserai

Your design system, in your repo, followed by your coding agent.

tesserai turns your site's look (its colors, type and corners) into a design system. You see it on real screens, checked against WCAG and Apple's and Material's guidelines. Then one command installs it into your project as components you own. This repository is the part that runs in your project: the token engine, the component templates, and the CLI with its MCP server. It's MIT licensed.

npx @tesserai/cli init https://tesserai.design/s/<your-share-link>

React (Base UI, Radix or React Aria), Vue (Reka UI) and Svelte 5 (Bits UI) components, a Tailwind CSS 4 theme, and W3C DTCG tokens. Exports for SwiftUI, Jetpack Compose, Flutter, SCSS, MUI, Mantine, Chakra, Panda and StyleX.

For coding agents

init registers the MCP server for Claude Code and Cursor. The agent reads the system's tokens, components, contrast checks and design guidelines, and changes the system rather than hand-styling a screen. To add it yourself:

claude mcp add tesserai -- npx -y @tesserai/cli mcp

Installed from an editor, the server asks the editor which folder it has open and serves that project. This repository is also a Claude Code and Cursor plugin, with a skill that tells the agent how to use the system, and npx skills add tesseraihq/tesserai adds the skill to other agents.

Tool	What it does
`outline`	The whole system in brief: palettes, meanings, type, spacing, radius, every component and its options
`component_guide`, `example_page`	How to use a component, and whole forms and pages written with the components
`get_tokens`, `get_component`, `explain`, `usage`	Read tokens and components, follow a token to its value, see what depends on it
`check_contrast`, `guidelines`	Failing color pairs with fixes; the design guidelines themselves
`list_operations`, `describe_operation`, `apply_changes`	Change the system (colors, type, spacing, a component's look) and regenerate
`scan`	How the app uses the system: uses, overrides, never-used components and options, hard-coded values
`sync`, `import_design_system`, `list_overrides`, `upload_scan`	Pull the latest design; bring an existing look in; what's been customised; keep a scan with the system

Commands

Command	What it does
`init <link or bundle>`	Install a system into the project
`sync [link or bundle]`	Pull the latest version and regenerate, keeping files you changed
`scan`	How the app uses its system, and what to change in it (`--fix` replaces exact matches)
`import`	Bring the project's existing look in, from its stylesheets, token files and Tailwind config
`doctor`	Check the project, the system and the link it follows
`export <format>`	The system for another stack
`storybook`	A Storybook with a story per component, light and dark, with accessibility checks
`mcp`	Serve the system to coding agents over stdio

Full reference: tesserai.design/docs.

In this repository

Package	What
`packages/core`	The design-system model, OKLCH color scales, generators, operations, contrast and guideline checks, emitters
`packages/templates`	Every component, once per library
`packages/cli`	`@tesserai/cli` on npm, and the MCP server
`packages/vue-fixture`, `packages/svelte-fixture`	Projects that compile every generated component, to prove the templates

The builder at tesserai.design (the editor, AI editing, sharing, teams) is a separate, hosted product. You don't need it to use what's here with a system you already have, and a system you install keeps working if you stop using it.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. In short: pnpm install && pnpm build && pnpm verify.

License

MIT. The components and CSS the CLI writes into your project are yours. The tesserai name and logo are covered by TRADEMARK.md.

Add this server

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Server facts

Tools

Questions

How do I install Tesserai?

Does Tesserai need an API key?

What transport does Tesserai use?

When was Tesserai last checked?

Documentation

tesserai

For coding agents

Commands

In this repository

Contributing

License