MCPlace

A minimal r/place-inspired pixel canvas with MCP tools, built on Next.js. Uses Upstash Redis for storage and event logging.

Running locally

1. Install deps

bun install

1. Set Upstash Redis env vars (create a .env.local)

UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL=...
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN=...

If using Vercel, add the Upstash Redis integration and vercel link + vercel env pull to populate these automatically.

1. Start dev server

bun run dev

Open http://localhost:3001 and paint.

API

• GET /api/canvas → returns full canvas state { meta, pixelsBase64 }.
• GET /api/canvas/events?limit=100 → returns { events: CanvasEvent[] } for replay/analytics.

Write operations happen exclusively through MCP tools (no POST writer route). On first access, the canvas is initialized automatically if no state exists.

MCP Tools

The server exposes tools in app/mcp/route.ts:

• get_canvas: returns the current state, optionally as an embedded UI
• set_pixel: set one pixel by coordinates using a color string (e.g. #ff0000)
• get_events: fetch recent event log entries

All MCP tool invocations are recorded in the event log for auditing/replay.

Implementation notes

• Canvas state is stored as { meta, pixelsBase64 } in Redis at canvas:v1.
• Pixels are stored as base64-encoded Uint8Array of palette indices for compactness.
• Event log is an append-only Redis list at canvas:events:v1 with two event kinds:
  • tool_used → { type, toolName, argsJson, timestampMs }
  • pixel_set → { type, x, y, color, colorIndex, source, timestampMs }
• Default canvas is 64x64 with a small palette; adjust as needed.

Examples

Fetch latest 100 events:

curl "http://localhost:3001/api/canvas/events?limit=100"

Set a pixel via MCP tool invocation (from an MCP client):

{"tool":"set_pixel","args":{"x":1,"y":2,"color":"#ff0000"}}