Car Image API

Install

One command

The Car Image plugin gives your coding agent studio-quality vehicle renders, VIN decoding and 3D models — seven skills and the hosted MCP server with all thirty-nine tools (eleven core tools, plus make logos, 3D models, image options, the API reference, pricing, help and billing links), and a catalog server that looks cars up and previews them before you sign in. Nothing to run, nothing to keep up to date.

  1. Install the plugin

    Pick your agent. Two lines, once.

  2. Ask for a car

    Start a new session and describe the vehicle you want. Lookups and previews work before you sign in.

  3. Sign in for the image

    When you want the image itself, sign in with your browser: the agent can open the link for you. No API key needed for the plugin.

New to Car Image?

Sign in with your email when the plugin opens your browser. Every account starts with 100 free credits — no card.

Open dashboardSee pricing
Install the plugin
/plugin marketplace add MeterApp/car-image-plugins
/plugin install car-image@meterapp

Type these in a Claude Code session.

Looking cars up and previewing them needs no account. For the image itself, sign in when the agent asks: in Claude Code it can start the sign-in for you, or open /mcp, select the Car Image server and authenticate in your browser. In Codex or Cursor, use the host’s MCP sign-in controls. After updating an older plugin, restart the host and sign in again. Skills-only installs need a separate MCP connection or SDK/CLI setup.

Then ask for a car
Add a red 2024 Porsche 911 side view to the hero section.

What the plugin adds

Seven skills that teach your agent when and how to use the API, plus the hosted MCP server.

car-image-support

Source-linked product answers, live pricing and browser-confirmed billing links

car-image

Fetch a render: costs, auth, which call to make, error handling

car-image-urls

Signed URLs for pages, emails and documents — no key in the browser

vehicle-catalog

Free text to an exact make, model and year

car-3d

3D models (GLB, USDZ, FBX) of any vehicle in any paint: cost, waiting, webhooks, embedding

car-image-sdk

The TypeScript SDK, the CLI, and plain REST

car-image-mcp

Connecting over MCP, and fixing it when tools do not appear

11 core MCP tools, 39 with ?toolset=all

4 cost credits

get_car_image and create_car_image_urls cost 1 credit; get_make_logo costs 1 and create_3d_model 100. Lookups (resolve, search, decode_vin, check_vehicles), account, options, pricing, help and the API reference are free. The plugin registers the server with ?toolset=all, which adds the make logo, 3D, options, reference, pricing, help and billing tools its skills use. See the tools.

Claude or ChatGPT chat: no key, no install

Chat clients have nowhere to put an API key, so they connect over OAuth instead. Paste one URL, sign in, approve — images are billed to your credits and you can disconnect any time.

Connector URL
https://carimage.dev/api/mcp

In Claude, that is Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. The client registers itself and opens carimage.dev, where the consent screen names exactly what it will be able to do. Details in the MCP docs.

Just the MCP server

If you only want the MCP tools and none of the skills, skip the plugin — one command connects the hosted server with its eleven core tools, and you sign in with your browser; append ?toolset=all to the URL for all thirty-nine.

Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http car-image https://carimage.dev/api/mcp

Then open /mcp, select car-image and authenticate in your browser. No API key needed.

Claude Code with an API key (CI, no browser)
claude mcp add --transport http car-image https://carimage.dev/api/mcp --header "X-Api-Key: $CAR_IMAGE_API_KEY"

The key goes in X-Api-Key: Claude Code turns browser sign-in off whenever an Authorization header is set, even an empty one. Added the server with an Authorization header before? Run claude mcp remove car-image and add it again.

For Cursor, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT or a generic host, npx @meterapp/car-image agent-config --host cursor prints the configuration. The full reference is in the MCP docs; the plugin source is on GitHub.