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How to connect Pexels to Claude

Connect Claude Web, Desktop and Cowork to Pexels MCP. Find free stock photos of beaches, get trending pexels videos this week, and more using natural language, with authentication handled for you.

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Pexels is a free stock library offering high-quality photos and videos via API. Instantly boost your app or website with stunning visuals for any use case.

9 Tools

Introduction

Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant, available on the web, in the desktop app, and on mobile. Cowork is its agent for knowledge work, and it runs on all of those surfaces too. Connected to your apps, Claude can work with your files and services to accomplish complex tasks on your behalf.

This guide walks you through the easiest and most secure way to connect your Pexels account to Claude via Composio Connect, enabling it to find free stock photos of beaches, get trending Pexels videos this week, list featured photography collections, and more such actions on your behalf without compromising your account security.

Setup is the same on Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork, and you only need to do it once. The connector is tied to your account, so it's available in all three.

Also integrate Pexels with

ChatGPT WorkAntigravityOpenAI Agents SDKClaude Agent SDKClaude CodeCodexGrok BuildCursorVS CodeOpenCodeOpenClawHermesGoogle ADKLangChainVercel AI SDKMastra AILlamaIndexCrewAIPydantic AIAutoGen

Connecting Pexels to Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork

1. Open Customize

In Claude Desktop, click Customize in the left sidebar, then select Connectors and click the + icon at the top.

Claude Desktop connectors screen with Add custom connector selected

2. Add the Composio MCP server

Click Add custom connector and paste in the Composio MCP server URL:

bash
https://connect.composio.dev/mcp
Add custom connector dialog with Composio MCP server URL

3. Authorize in your browser

Click Connect. You'll be redirected to a browser window where you can authorize Composio to continue.

Composio authorization screen for Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork

4. Connect your Pexels account

Back in Claude, ask it to connect to Pexels or give it any Pexels-related task.

For example, ask Claude to:

  • "Find free stock photos of beaches"
  • "Get trending Pexels videos this week"
  • "List featured photography collections"

It will prompt you to authenticate and authorize access.

That's it. Composio's tools are now available in Claude, and your Pexels account is ready to use.

What is the Pexels Claude Connector, 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.

Troubleshooting

1. Why does Claude not use the Composio connector for Pexels?

The connector can show as connected, but Claude must use it in each Pexels conversation.

  • Click + at the lower left of the chat, or type /.
  • Hover Connectors.
  • Turn on Composio.
  • Ask Claude to connect to Pexels again.

2. Why does Claude show an MCP server error before Pexels connects?

Claude can show Couldn't reach the MCP server or Authorization with the MCP server failed when you add the connector for Pexels.

  • Check that the connector URL is https://connect.composio.dev/mcp.
  • Connectors run from Anthropic's cloud, so your device network is usually not the problem.
  • Add the connector again from Customize > Connectors, then ask Claude to connect Pexels.
  • If it fails again, send the error and the ofid_ reference id to support@composio.dev.

3. Why does the Pexels authorization link not work?

The Composio connector is one server. Your Pexels account connects separately when Claude asks for it.

  • If the browser does not open, or the link expires, ask Claude to retry the Pexels connection.
  • Composio creates a fresh Pexels authorization link.
  • Open that link in your browser and finish the Pexels sign-in.

4. Why do Pexels actions fail after they worked before?

The Pexels connection can expire or lose permission.

  • Ask Claude to inspect the Pexels connection.
  • If the connection is unhealthy, disconnect it when Claude prompts you.
  • Reconnect the Pexels account and retry the action.
  • If Claude shows a permission prompt, approve it before Claude changes data in Pexels.
  • If the action still fails with a permission error, check that the connected account has that permission in Pexels itself.

5. How do I switch to a different Pexels account?

Claude can manage the Pexels connection for you.

  • Ask Claude to disconnect or delete the current Pexels account.
  • Ask Claude to connect Pexels again.
  • Open the new Composio authorization link for Pexels.
  • Sign in with the other Pexels account in the browser.
  • After the account connects, ask Claude to retry the Pexels task.

6. Why is my Pexels connection missing in Claude Desktop or on a Team plan?

The connector belongs to your Claude account, so your Pexels connection works in Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork.

  • In Claude Desktop, open Customize > Connectors.
  • Next to Composio, click ⋮ and click Clear cache.
  • If Pexels tools still do not appear, click ⋮, disconnect, remove the connector, and add it again.
  • On Team or Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner must enable the connector before you can connect Pexels.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Pexels action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Get Collection Media

Tool to get all media within a collection by its ID.

Get Curated Photos

Tool to get real-time curated photos.

Featured Collections

Tool to get featured collections.

Get Photo

Tool to retrieve detailed information about a specific photo.

Get Video by ID

Tool to retrieve detailed information about a specific video from Pexels.

Get My Collections

Tool to get all of the user's collections on Pexels.

Get Popular Videos

Tool to retrieve current popular Pexels videos.

Search Photos

Tool to search for photos on Pexels.

Search Videos

Tool to search for videos on Pexels by query and optional filters.

FRAMEWORKS

How to build Pexels MCP Agent with another framework

ChatGPT Work logo

ChatGPT Work

Use Pexels MCP with ChatGPT Work

Antigravity logo

Antigravity

Use Pexels MCP with Antigravity

OpenAI Agents SDK logo

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Pexels MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK logo

Claude Agent SDK

Use Pexels MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code logo

Claude Code

Use Pexels MCP with Claude Code

Codex logo

Codex

Use Pexels MCP with Codex

Grok Build logo

Grok Build

Use Pexels MCP with Grok Build

Cursor logo

Cursor

Use Pexels MCP with Cursor

VS Code logo

VS Code

Use Pexels MCP with VS Code

OpenCode logo

OpenCode

Use Pexels MCP with OpenCode

OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

Use Pexels MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use Pexels MCP with Hermes

Google ADK logo

Google ADK

Use Pexels MCP with Google ADK

LangChain logo

LangChain

Use Pexels MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK logo

Vercel AI SDK

Use Pexels MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI logo

Mastra AI

Use Pexels MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex logo

LlamaIndex

Use Pexels MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI logo

CrewAI

Use Pexels MCP with CrewAI

Pydantic AI logo

Pydantic AI

Use Pexels MCP with Pydantic AI

AutoGen logo

AutoGen

Use Pexels MCP with AutoGen

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

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.

Yes, you can. Claude Cowork 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.

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.

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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