io.github.arikusi/nakkas

Nakkas is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets AI assistants like Claude create animated SVG graphics from a declarative JSON config: logos, icons, loading spinners, GitHub README banners, badges, and generative art. It renders CSS @keyframes and SMIL animations with no JavaScript, so the output works inside GitHub READMEs and anywhere an <img> tag renders SVG. A built-in preview tool rasterizes the SVG to PNG so the AI can see its own work and iterate until the design is right.

nakkaş means painter/artist in Turkish (old).

"make a neon terminal logo with animated binary digits"
  → AI constructs JSON config
  → nakkas renders to animated SVG
  → AI previews the PNG, critiques, revises
  → clean animated SVG output

Why

• One tool, infinite designs. render_svg takes a JSON config. AI fills in everything.
• The AI sees its own work. preview rasterizes to PNG so the model can critique and revise instead of designing blind.
• Pure declarative SVG. CSS @keyframes + SMIL animations, no JavaScript. Survives GitHub's camo proxy.
• Zero external deps. No cloud API, no API keys. Runs locally.

Install

Claude Desktop

Add to your config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nakkas": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "nakkas@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add nakkas npx nakkas@latest

Cursor / Zed / Other MCP clients

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nakkas": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "nakkas@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/arikusi/nakkas
cd nakkas
npm install && npm run build
# Use dist/index.js as the command

Quick Start

Ask your AI (with Nakkas connected):

"Make an animated SVG: dark terminal frame (800×200), glowing cyan text 'NAKKAS', neon glow filter, fade-in on load."

"Create a loading spinner: a circle with a draw-on stroke animation that loops every 1.5 seconds."

"Data visualization: animated bar chart, 5 bars, each fading in with a staggered delay, gradient fills."

"Profile badge (400×120): blue-to-purple gradient, white username text, drop shadow, subtle pulse animation."

Tools

Nakkas provides three tools:

The intended workflow: render → preview → iterate → save. The save tool is separate from render_svg to encourage previewing and refining before saving.

The save Tool

{ "content": "<svg ...>...</svg>", "outputPath": "./design.svg", "format": "auto" }

Formats: auto (infers from extension), svg (text file), png (renders to raster first). If the file exists, a numeric counter is appended to prevent overwriting. The actual saved path is returned.

The render_svg Tool

Input: SVGConfig JSON object Output: Complete SVG XML string plus optional design analysis notes

After rendering, the response may include design warnings about common issues such as too many concurrent animations, missing transformBox, or group-level scale transforms.

SVGConfig Structure

{
  canvas: {
    width: number | string,   // e.g. 800 or "100%"
    height: number | string,
    viewBox?: string,          // "0 0 800 400"
    background?: string        // hex "#111111" or "transparent"
  },

  defs?: {
    gradients?: Gradient[],   // linearGradient | radialGradient
    filters?: Filter[],        // preset or raw primitives
    clipPaths?: ClipPath[],
    masks?: Mask[],
    symbols?: Symbol[],
    paths?: { id, d }[]       // for textPath elements
  },

  elements: Element[],         // shapes, text, groups, use instances

  animations?: CSSAnimation[]  // CSS @keyframes definitions
}

Element Types

Two field names differ from raw SVG on purpose: the string of a text element goes in content (on textPath it is text), and validation errors will point you to the exact field if you mix them up. Pattern groups rotate each copy to face outward by default; set rotateChildren: false when the child is text or any shape that should stay upright.

All Visual Elements (Shared Fields)

{
  id?: string,             // required for filter/gradient/clip references
  cssClass?: string,       // matches CSS animation names
  fill?: string,           // "#rrggbb" | "none" | "url(#gradId)"
  stroke?: string,
  strokeWidth?: number,
  strokeDasharray?: string, // "10 5", use for draw-on animation
  strokeDashoffset?: number,
  opacity?: number,        // 0–1
  filter?: string,         // "url(#filterId)"
  clipPath?: string,       // "url(#clipId)"
  transform?: string,      // "rotate(45)" "translate(100, 50)"
  transformBox?: "fill-box" | "view-box" | "stroke-box",  // set "fill-box" for CSS rotation
  transformOrigin?: string, // "center", works with fill-box
  smilAnimations?: SMILAnimation[]
}

Filter Presets

Reference as filter: "url(#myId)" on any element after defining in defs.filters:

{ "type": "preset", "id": "myGlow", "preset": "glow", "stdDeviation": 8, "color": "#ff00ff" }

CSS Animations

{
  "animations": [{
    "name": "pulse",
    "duration": "2s",
    "iterationCount": "infinite",
    "direction": "alternate",
    "keyframes": [
      { "offset": "from", "properties": { "opacity": "0.3", "transform": "scale(0.9)" } },
      { "offset": "to",   "properties": { "opacity": "1",   "transform": "scale(1.1)" } }
    ]
  }],
  "elements": [{
    "type": "circle",
    "cx": 100, "cy": 100, "r": 40,
    "cssClass": "pulse",
    "transformBox": "fill-box",
    "transformOrigin": "center"
  }]
}

CSS property keys: camelCase (strokeDashoffset) or kebab-case (stroke-dashoffset). Both work.

Animatable CSS properties: opacity, fill, stroke, transform, filter, clip-path, stroke-dasharray, stroke-dashoffset, font-size, letter-spacing and more.

SMIL Animations

Three SMIL types, defined inline on each element via smilAnimations: []:

{ "kind": "animate",          "attributeName": "d",       "from": "...", "to": "...", "dur": "2s" }
{ "kind": "animateTransform", "type": "rotate",            "from": "0 100 100", "to": "360 100 100", "dur": "3s" }
{ "kind": "animateMotion",    "path": "M 0 0 C ...",      "dur": "4s", "rotate": "auto" }

Path morphing (attributeName: "d"): from/to paths must have identical command types and counts. Only coordinates can differ.

Fonts

Prefer the CSS generic families: sans-serif, serif, monospace. They resolve to a real font on every platform, both in browsers and in nakkas previews. Named fonts like Arial or Helvetica only exist on some systems (not on most Linux machines), so a design that depends on them will render differently elsewhere. The safe pattern is a named font with a generic fallback: "Georgia, serif".

In preview and PNG save, generic families are resolved through the operating system's own font mapping (fontconfig on Linux), so what the AI sees matches what a browser on that machine would show. Custom font families are accepted and work when the font is available in the rendering environment.

Use Cases & Compatibility

Troubleshooting

"MCP error -32602: Input validation error"

This means the MCP SDK rejected the input before it reached the handler. It usually happens on the first attempt and works on retry. The most common triggers:

• Gradient type typo. Use "linearGradient" or "radialGradient", not "linear" or "radial". This is the single most frequent mistake.
• Keyframe offset as string. Write 0 or 100 (numbers) or "from" / "to". Writing "0%" or "100%" will fail.
• Named colors. Only hex values work: "#ff0000", not "red". No rgb() either.
• Missing type on elements. Every element object needs a type field.

Validation errors that reach the handler name the exact failing field (for example elements.1.content: Required) and append a field reference for the failing element type, so a retry usually succeeds on the first correction.

If you're building an MCP client integration and seeing this consistently, the issue is likely in how your client serializes arguments. See anthropics/claude-code#29104 for context on known serialization quirks.

Preview shows a blank or unexpected image

The preview tool renders a static snapshot at t=0. Animations are not captured. What you see is the SVG's initial state before any CSS or SMIL animation starts.

If the image is completely blank:

• Check that your elements have fill or stroke set. A shape without fill on a transparent canvas is invisible.
• Check coordinates. An element at x: 2000 on an 800px wide canvas is simply off-screen.
• If using filter: "url(#myFilter)", make sure myFilter is actually defined in defs.filters.

Animations not working on GitHub

GitHub READMEs render SVG through <img> tags, which strips JavaScript but keeps CSS and SMIL. If your animation works locally but not on GitHub:

• Avoid <script> or event handlers (onclick, onmouseover). These are removed.
• External fonts won't load. Stick to generic families (monospace, sans-serif, serif) or named fonts with a generic fallback.
• CSS @import for fonts is blocked. If you need a specific font, use inline <text> with a system fallback.

Large SVG output

If render_svg returns a warning about file size (over 50kb), the parametric curves or pattern groups are probably generating too many elements. Reduce steps on parametric curves or count on pattern groups. A grid-group with cols: 50, rows: 50 produces 2500 elements, which adds up fast.

Tech Stack

• TypeScript + Node.js 18+
• @modelcontextprotocol/sdk (MCP server)
• zod (schema validation and AI type guidance)
• No external SVG libraries, pure XML construction
• Vitest (296 tests)

License

MIT. Built by arikusi.