Pexels with Vercel AI SDK

How to integrate Pexels MCP with Vercel AI SDK v6

Introduction Also integrate Pexels with TL;DR What is Vercel AI SDK What is the Pexels MCP server Supported Tools & Triggers Creating MCP Server - Stand-alone vs Composio SDK Step-by-step Guide Complete Code Conclusion How to build Pexels MCP Agent with another framework Explore Other Toolkits FAQ

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Pexels to Vercel AI SDK v6 using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Pexels agent that can find free stock photos of beaches, get trending pexels videos this week, list featured photography collections through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Vercel AI SDK agent real control over a Pexels account through Composio's Pexels MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Pexels with

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:

How to set up and configure a Vercel AI SDK agent with Pexels integration
Using Composio's Tool Router to dynamically load and access Pexels tools
Creating an MCP client connection using HTTP transport
Building an interactive CLI chat interface with conversation history management
Handling tool calls and results within the Vercel AI SDK framework

What is Vercel AI SDK?

The Vercel AI SDK is a TypeScript library for building AI-powered applications. It provides tools for creating agents that can use external services and maintain conversation state.

Key features include:

streamText: Core function for streaming responses with real-time tool support
MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol via @ai-sdk/mcp
Step Counting: Control multi-step tool execution with stopWhen: stepCountIs()
OpenAI Provider: Native integration with OpenAI models

What is the Pexels MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Pexels MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Pexels account. It provides structured and secure access to the Pexels media library, so your agent can search photos and videos, fetch curated collections, explore trending media, and retrieve detailed asset information on your behalf.

Photo and video search: Instantly find high-quality photos and videos from Pexels based on keywords, categories, or filters using natural language queries.
Curated and trending media discovery: Let your agent fetch the latest curated photos or surface popular videos to keep your content pipeline fresh and engaging.
Collection management and exploration: Access your own collections or featured Pexels collections, and pull all media from any collection with ease.
Detailed asset retrieval: Retrieve metadata, dimensions, and direct image or video URLs for any specific photo or video asset by ID.
Content integration for creative workflows: Seamlessly pull media assets into your applications, presentations, or creative projects with minimal effort.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools

Get Collection MediaTool to get all media within a collection by its id.

Get Curated PhotosTool to get real-time curated photos.

Featured CollectionsTool to get featured collections.

Get PhotoTool to retrieve detailed information about a specific photo.

Get My CollectionsTool to get all of the user's collections on pexels.

Get Popular VideosTool to retrieve current popular pexels videos.

Search PhotosTool to search for photos on pexels.

Search VideosTool to search for videos on pexels by query and optional filters.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Node.js and npm installed
A Composio account with API key
An OpenAI API key

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key

Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
Keep the API key safe.

Composio API Key

Log in to the Composio dashboard.
Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.

Install required dependencies

bash

npm install @ai-sdk/openai @ai-sdk/mcp @composio/core ai dotenv

First, install the necessary packages for your project.

What you're installing:

@ai-sdk/openai: Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider
@ai-sdk/mcp: MCP client for Vercel AI SDK
@composio/core: Composio SDK for tool integration
ai: Core Vercel AI SDK
dotenv: Environment variable management

Set up environment variables

bash

OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's needed:

OPENAI_API_KEY: Your OpenAI API key for GPT model access
COMPOSIO_API_KEY: Your Composio API key for tool access
COMPOSIO_USER_ID: A unique identifier for the user session

Import required modules and validate environment

typescript

import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});

What's happening:

We're importing all necessary libraries including Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider and Composio
The dotenv/config import automatically loads environment variables
The MCP client import enables connection to Composio's tool server

Create Tool Router session and initialize MCP client

typescript

async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["pexels"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

What's happening:

We're creating a Tool Router session that gives your agent access to Pexels tools
The create method takes the user ID and specifies which toolkits should be available
The returned mcp object contains the URL and authentication headers needed to connect to the MCP server
This session provides access to all Pexels-related tools through the MCP protocol

Connect to MCP server and retrieve tools

typescript

const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
  transport: {
    type: "http",
    url: mcpUrl,
    headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
  },
});

const tools = await mcpClient.tools();

What's happening:

We're creating an MCP client that connects to our Composio Tool Router session via HTTP
The mcp.url provides the endpoint, and mcp.headers contains authentication credentials
The type: "http" is important - Composio requires HTTP transport
tools() retrieves all available Pexels tools that the agent can use

Initialize conversation and CLI interface

typescript

let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
console.log(
  "Ask any questions related to pexels, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
);

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();

What's happening:

We initialize an empty messages array to maintain conversation history
A readline interface is created to accept user input from the command line
Instructions are displayed to guide the user on how to interact with the agent

Handle user input and stream responses with real-time tool feedback

typescript

rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const stream = streamText({
      model: openai("gpt-5"),
      messages,
      tools,
      toolChoice: "auto",
      stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
      onStepFinish: (step) => {
        for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
          console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});

What's happening:

We use streamText instead of generateText to stream responses in real-time
toolChoice: "auto" allows the model to decide when to use Pexels tools
stopWhen: stepCountIs(10) allows up to 10 steps for complex multi-tool operations
onStepFinish callback displays which tools are being used in real-time
We iterate through the text stream to create a typewriter effect as the agent responds
The complete response is added to conversation history to maintain context
Errors are caught and displayed with helpful retry suggestions

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Pexels and Vercel AI SDK:

typescript

import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});

async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["pexels"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
    transport: {
      type: "http",
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
    },
  });

  const tools = await mcpClient.tools();

  let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

  console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
  console.log(
    "Ask any questions related to pexels, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
  );

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
    const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

    if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log("\nGoodbye!");
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!trimmedInput) {
      rl.prompt();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
    console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

    try {
      const stream = streamText({
        model: openai("gpt-5"),
        messages,
        tools,
        toolChoice: "auto",
        stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
        onStepFinish: (step) => {
          for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
            console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Pexels agent using the Vercel AI SDK with streaming capabilities! This implementation provides a powerful foundation for building AI applications with natural language interfaces and real-time feedback.

Key features of this implementation:

Real-time streaming responses for a better user experience with typewriter effect
Live tool execution feedback showing which tools are being used as the agent works
Dynamic tool loading through Composio's Tool Router with secure authentication
Multi-step tool execution with configurable step limits (up to 10 steps)
Comprehensive error handling for robust agent execution
Conversation history maintenance for context-aware responses

You can extend this further by adding custom error handling, implementing specific business logic, or integrating additional Composio toolkits to create multi-app workflows.

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TOOLKIT MARKETPLACE

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Pexels MCP?

With a standalone Pexels MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Pexels tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Pexels and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Vercel AI SDK v6?

Yes, you can. Vercel AI SDK v6 fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Pexels tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Pexels while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Pexels scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Pexels data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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Harsha GaddipatiCo-founder, Slashy

Karan skipped his own birthday party to fix our critical issue. It was 10 pm and he diverted his Waymo to help us instead. This really sets the bar, shows you the commitment you need to have when users rely on your software.

Abhi AryaCo-founder, Opennote

A lot of students tell us that the moment their connected tools start talking to each other inside Opennote feels almost magical. The agent just knows them, and it has immensely helped in keeping new users on the platform.

Nirman DaveCEO, Zams

We chose Composio over Pipedream because it delivered depth where it mattered. It supported niche tools and tricky edge cases that other platforms simply ignored. Giving us confidence to scale without compromising.

Ryan YuFounder, Extra Thursday

As a solo builder, shipping fast is life or death. The only way I can outcompete incumbents is by outmanoeuvring them. Getting bogged down in the complexities of managing agent auth would have been a death sentence for Extra Thursday.

Tomisin JenrolaFounder & CEO, SwarmZero

Before partnering with Composio, adding tool integrations was a slow, resource-intensive process. Each integration could take weeks or months of engineering time, and maintaining them meant constantly keeping up with API changes.

Jerome LeclancheCo-Founder, Ingram Technologies

With hands-on help from their founder, we integrated Gmail and Google Drive in just 30 minutes. This level of personal support and commitment is exactly what startups should strive for.

Harsha GaddipatiCo-founder, Slashy

Abhi AryaCo-founder, Opennote

Nirman DaveCEO, Zams

Ryan YuFounder, Extra Thursday

Tomisin JenrolaFounder & CEO, SwarmZero

Jerome LeclancheCo-Founder, Ingram Technologies

With hands-on help from their founder, we integrated Gmail and Google Drive in just 30 minutes. This level of personal support and commitment is exactly what startups should strive for.

Harsha GaddipatiCo-founder, Slashy

Abhi AryaCo-founder, Opennote

Nirman DaveCEO, Zams

Ryan YuFounder, Extra Thursday

Tomisin JenrolaFounder & CEO, SwarmZero

Jerome LeclancheCo-Founder, Ingram Technologies

With hands-on help from their founder, we integrated Gmail and Google Drive in just 30 minutes. This level of personal support and commitment is exactly what startups should strive for.

How to integrate Pexels MCP with Vercel AI SDK v6

Table of Contents

Connect Pexels without Auth hassles

Introduction

Also integrate Pexels with

TL;DR

What is Vercel AI SDK?

What is the Pexels MCP server, and what's possible with it?

Supported Tools & Triggers

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

How the Composio SDK works

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

Install required dependencies

Set up environment variables

Import required modules and validate environment

Create Tool Router session and initialize MCP client

Connect to MCP server and retrieve tools

Initialize conversation and CLI interface

Handle user input and stream responses with real-time tool feedback

Complete Code

Conclusion

How to build Pexels MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code

Codex

OpenClaw

CLI

Google ADK

LangChain

Mastra AI

LlamaIndex

CrewAI

Explore Other Toolkits

Abyssale

Alttext ai

Bannerbear

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Pexels MCP?

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Vercel AI SDK v6?

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Pexels while using Tool Router?

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

Used by agents from

Never worry about agent reliability