How to connect Pexels to Cursor

Trusted by teams atAWSGleanZoomAirtable
GET STARTED FOR FREEGET A DEMO

30 min · no commitment · see it on your stack

Pexels logo
Cursor logo
divider

Introduction

Cursor is one of the leading AI-powered code editors. It is built to help developers write, understand, and refactor code faster with AI assistance built directly into the editor.

And in this guide, I will explain the easiest and most secure way to connect your Pexels account to Cursor via Composio Connect, so it can find free stock photos of beaches, get trending Pexels videos this week, list featured photography collections, and more without ever putting your account credentials at risk.

Also integrate Pexels with

Why Composio?

  • 1,000+ SaaS toolkits out of the box. Skip the work of building and maintaining integrations, Composio gives you instant access to a vast catalog of pre-built connectors.
  • One MCP server for every app. Connect any of your applications on demand through a single endpoint, rather than juggling a separate server for each app.
  • Smart, context-aware tool loading. Unlike traditional MCP servers that dump every available tool into the LLM context window, Composio searches for and loads only the tools relevant to the task at hand. A remote CLI workbench lets LLMs compose these tools into workflows for complex automation.

Connect Pexels to Cursor

Option 1

Click on this button.

↗Install in Cursor

Option 2

Add to your Cursor mcp.json

If option 1 does not work, do it manually.

Open .cursor/mcp.json in your project root (or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for global config) and add the following configuration:

bash
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "composio": {
      "url": "https://connect.composio.dev/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Authorize in your browser

Restart Cursor, then click "Connect" next to Composio in MCP Tools settings.

Cursor MCP Tools settings with Connect button next to Composio

A browser window will open to authorize.

Composio authorization browser window

Connect your Pexels account

Back in Cursor, ask the agent to connect to Pexels or give it any Pexels-related task.

For example, ask it 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 to Pexels.

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

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.

Conclusion

You have successfully connected Pexels to Cursor using Composio Connect. Your agent can now use Pexels securely without exposing credentials in prompts or local scripts.

How to build Pexels MCP Agent with another framework

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

Claude Cowork logo

Claude Cowork

Use Pexels MCP with Claude Cowork

Codex logo

Codex

Use Pexels MCP with Codex

OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

Use Pexels MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use Pexels MCP with Hermes

CLI logo

CLI

Use Pexels MCP with CLI

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

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 Cursor?

Yes, you can. Cursor 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.

Used by agents from

Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai

Never worry about agent reliability

We handle tool reliability, observability, and security so you never have to second-guess an agent action.

Get started for freeGet a demo↗