Best Design MCP open the library

prompt topic

Design MCP for Codex CLI and Gemini CLI

By the uberdesigner team · reviewed

Answer in brief

In a terminal agent, a design MCP is connected with two commands: one adds the server by its address and one signs you in through the browser. Codex CLI and Gemini CLI both follow that pattern for uberdesigner's server, with slightly different wording.

Terminal agents tend to be given a task and left to finish it. That makes the wait-for-my-pick step more important here than anywhere else: without it, the agent picks a design for you and you find out at the end.

Codex CLI

Add the server with the first command in the block below, then run the login command. The login opens uberdesigner in your browser; sign in and return to the terminal. From then on, a Codex session on that machine can call the server's tools.

If your repository has an AGENTS.md, it is a good place for one standing line about design sources, such as which server to use for design work and that a browse comes before any build. The agent reads that file at the start of a task.

Gemini CLI

Gemini CLI takes the address with an add command that names the transport, as shown in the block. The sign-in is started from inside a session with /mcp auth followed by the server's name. The browser step is the same as in every other client: you sign in to your own uberdesigner account.

Write the request as a task with a stop in it

A terminal agent works best from a request that reads like a small task card: the goal, the inputs, the stop, the checks. The stop is the line that says "report the options and wait". Put it in its own sentence so it is not read as a preference.

After you pick, the second message can be long-running: fetch the template, build it, run it, check it, report. Name the commands that count as done, such as a clean build and a preview that opens, because a terminal agent treats named commands as the finish line.

Before you hand a terminal agent a design task

A prompt to start from

Codex CLI, Gemini CLI: setup and first request
# Codex CLI
codex mcp add uberdesigner --url https://uberdesigner.ai/api/mcp
codex mcp login uberdesigner

# Gemini CLI
gemini mcp add --transport http uberdesigner https://uberdesigner.ai/api/mcp
# then, inside Gemini CLI:
/mcp auth uberdesigner

# First request:
Task: choose a design for [what it is, e.g. the launch page of a field recorder that costs 240 and ships in March], using the uberdesigner MCP server.

Step 1. Call the library browse tool once. Report three candidates: name, link, free or Pro, and one sentence each on how my product would sit in that design. Then stop and wait for my choice. Do not fetch a template in this step.

Step 2, after I choose. Fetch that template by name. Build it in ./site as Vite + React + TypeScript, plain CSS. Keep its type, spacing, colours and motion. Replace the subject with mine: copy in ./brief/copy.md, [number] product photos in ./brief/photos, specs in ./brief/specs.json. Use real values only; leave a visible TODO where something is missing.

Done means: npm run build exits clean, the preview opens, the page holds at 390px and 1440px wide, and reduced motion shows a still version. Report what you ran and what you changed from the template.

Needs Codex CLI or Gemini CLI with the uberdesigner MCP server added and signed in. Run only the pair of commands for your tool.

Templates that suit a task handed to a terminal agent

Whole pages and hero sections from uberdesigner with a clear beginning and end, which is what a task-style request needs. Five are free.

Questions and answers

Does the login need repeating for every project?

The server is registered with the tool on your machine, not with one repository, so one login normally covers your projects. How long a sign-in lasts is up to the client and the server; if the agent reports that it is not authorised, run the login step again.

Can I use the same server from a cloud or CI run?

A browser sign-in assumes a person at a browser. For unattended runs, check your tool's documentation for how it handles MCP sign-ins. We don't describe a setup for that here.

Keep reading

Who makes this site

Best Design MCP is written and run by the ubernatural team, the designers who make uberdesigner. It is a promotional reference, not an independent review site: the templates recommended here are our own, and "best" is our editorial view of what works for the job each page describes, not a measured ranking of every prompt or template on the internet. Product names such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, ChatGPT and Figma belong to their owners; this site is not affiliated with them.

Cite this page: Best Design MCP, “Design MCP for Codex CLI and Gemini CLI”. Reviewed 11 November 2026. https://bestdesignmcp.com/design-mcp-for-codex/