---
title: "mcp tools"
description: "The ignaru-studio MCP server and the canvas tools agents use most."
url: https://ignaru.com/docs/mcp-tools
---

# mcp tools

## run the server

the mac app is the canvas. you can also run the canvas tools headless, with no app open, from any project:

terminal, in your project:

```
npx -y ignarucli mcp --root .
```

that serves the ignaru-studio mcp server over stdio from ignarucli on npm. it reads and writes .ignaru in the folder you pass as --root.

## the tools

anything you can do in the app, an agent can do without it. the ignaru-studio server serves the canvas tools over the same .ignaru files; these are the ones agents use most.

| tool | does |
| --- | --- |
| `canvas` | a summary of the board: pages, nodes, links |
| `get_node` | one node's html, comments, drawing and links |
| `create_node` | a new node, with html, a page, a size or a preset (phone 390, tablet 820, desktop 1440) |
| `update_node` | edit a node's html, brief, title or status |
| `move_node` | place, size, radius, opacity and stacking |
| `link_nodes` | join two nodes |
| `group_nodes, ungroup_nodes` | group and dissolve |
| `delete_node` | soft delete into .ignaru/.trash |
| `list_pages, create_page` | the canvas pages |
| `comment, resolve` | pin and close comments |
| `annotate` | draw on a node |
| `approve` | approve or reject a direction |
| `get_selection` | what the person has selected, and where they are looking |
| `list_elements, select_element` | the elements inside a node, and selecting them |
| `get_styles, update_styles` | read and write an element's styles |
| `list_versions, restore_version` | a page's git history |
| `screenshot_node` | a still of a node |
| `export` | png, svg, react or a prompt |
| `deploy_node` | a preview with your own vercel or cloudflare login |
| `get_usage` | your claude plan usage |