retro-diffusion-mcp

Retro Diffusion MCP Server

Generate real pixel art — sprites, characters, animations, and tilesets — from any MCP-capable AI assistant.

Grid-aligned pixels, controlled palettes, transparent backgrounds. Not "pixel-art style" images. The real thing.

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This is a hosted, remote MCP server — nothing to install or run locally. Point your client at the endpoint, add your API key, and your assistant can browse 90+ pixel art styles, estimate costs for free, generate game-ready art, and repair enlarged or softened pixel art.

Endpoint:  https://mcp.retrodiffusion.ai/mcp     (Streamable HTTP)
Auth:      Authorization: Bearer    (keys start with rdpk-)

The hosted MCP endpoint remains backward compatible and defaults to Retro

Diffusion API v2. Its server-side version policy is described in

API compatibility; MCP clients do not change their

endpoint or authentication settings.

Get an API key (2 minutes)

1. Create a free account at retrodiffusion.ai — new accounts include free starter credits.

2. Open Developer Tools and click Create API Key.

Pricing is pay-per-generation (from ~$0.01 per image), prepaid, no subscription, and credits never expire. Cost estimation is always free, so your agent can check the price of anything before spending.

Setup by client

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http retro-diffusion https://mcp.retrodiffusion.ai/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer rdpk-YOUR-KEY"

Or install the plugin (bundles the server plus a pixel-art workflow skill):

/plugin marketplace add Retro-Diffusion/retro-diffusion-mcp
/plugin install pixel-art@retro-diffusion

Cursor

Click the Add to Cursor badge above, then replace `YOUR_API_KEY` — or add to `~/.cursor/mcp.json`:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "retro-diffusion": {
      "url": "https://mcp.retrodiffusion.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer rdpk-YOUR-KEY" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Add to `mcp.json` (Command Palette → "MCP: Add Server" → HTTP):

{
  "servers": {
    "retro-diffusion": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.retrodiffusion.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer rdpk-YOUR-KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "retro-diffusion": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.retrodiffusion.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer rdpk-YOUR-KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Use `mcp-remote` in `claude_desktop_config.json`:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "retro-diffusion": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.retrodiffusion.ai/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer rdpk-YOUR-KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Anything else

Any MCP client that speaks Streamable HTTP works: URL `https://mcp.retrodiffusion.ai/mcp`, header `Authorization: Bearer rdpk-YOUR-KEY`.

Tools

Generate

Generation is non-idempotent and may charge before a client timeout or delivery problem is visible.

If `create_inference` succeeds but its `output_urls` are missing or expired, call

`get_inference_result(request_id)`. Never repeat the generation automatically. The MCP omits raw

generation base64 to keep Cursor and other tool contexts compact, and uses short-lived hosted URLs

for delivery instead.

Edit — post-process any image

Styles

Account

`fix_pixel_art` accepts PNG or JPEG as raw base64 or a data URL. Images must be at least 16×16 and

no more than 4 megapixels. Standard and neural share a 10 requests/minute limit per API key;

request JSON is capped at 900,000 bytes and successful response JSON at 850,000 bytes. Use the

standard engine for native Rust grid detection or the neural engine with optional target width and

height values.

What you can make

• Sprites & characters — 90+ styles: portraits, game assets, isometric, top-down, platformer, 1-bit, Minecraft items/textures, UI elements, item sheets, character turnarounds
• Animations — walk/idle/jump/crouch/attack cycles from a start frame, four-angle walk cycles, 8-direction rotations, VFX, battle sprites; GIF or sprite-sheet output
• Tilesets — Wang/blob tilesets, tile variations, single tiles, scene objects
• Consistent characters — generate once with RD Pro, then pass the output as a reference image in follow-up generations (up to 9 references)
• Edits — img2img, seamless tiling, transparent backgrounds, palette-constrained output
• Pixel repair — reconstruct enlarged or softened pixel art at its detected native resolution

Example prompts to try once connected:

> "List the available pixel art styles for animations, then estimate what a 64×64 walking animation would cost."

> "Generate a 128×128 pixel art knight resting by a campfire, RD Pro default style, transparent background."

> "Create a 16×16 Wang tileset: grey stone path tiles blending into lush grass."

> "Fix this enlarged sprite back to its native pixel grid using the standard Pixel Fixer."

Prompting tips (important)

• Describe the subject only — never write "pixel art" in the prompt; the style handles the rendering.
• Sizes run 16×16 to 384×384 depending on style; `list_available_styles` gives exact per-style limits.
• Costs range from ~$0.015 (RD Fast) to $0.18/image (RD Pro); animations $0.07–$0.25; tilesets $0.10. `estimate_inference_cost` is always free — use it first.
• Reuse a seed to iterate on the same composition while changing only the prompt.

Who makes this

Retro Diffusion is built by Astropulse — a pixel artist with seven years of freelance experience before building the tool — and is used in production by studios and platforms including Replicate, Poe (Quora), and Scenario. It's designed by artists and held to artist-grade quality standards.

Support

• Discord community — fastest answers, the founder is active daily
• Full API reference and runnable examples
• API v1/v2 compatibility — v2 default, v1 support, error contract, request IDs, and retry rules
• Service status (no auth required)

License

The contents of this repository (documentation and manifests) are MIT licensed. The Retro Diffusion service itself is governed by its Terms of Service.