photon

by portel-dev · Cloud & Infra · ★ 100

photon is an MCP server by portel-dev. Define intent once. Photon turns a single TypeScript file into CLI tools, MCP servers, and web interfaces. It has 100 GitHub stars and ranks #272 of 1058 in Cloud & Infra by stars.

Category: Cloud & Infra
Author: portel-dev
GitHub stars: 100
This week: Tracking since 18 Oct 2026
Weekly downloads: 92
Language: TypeScript
License: MIT (open source)
Last update: 2026-10-19 (5 days ago)
Links: Source Website npm

ai-tools
beam
claude-code
claude-desktop
cli-tool
cloudflare-workers
cursor
developer-tools
marketplace
mcp
mcp-servers
model-context-protocol
+2 more

How to install photon

photon is published on npm as @portel/photon, and it depends on @modelcontextprotocol/sdk. These steps assume it runs as a local stdio server, which is the usual setup.

Check the README. Confirm the start command and note any API keys or environment variables it needs (pass them with -e KEY=value or an env block). You need Node.js for npx.

Add it to Claude Code from a terminal:

claude mcp add photon -- npx -y @portel/photon

Or add it to Cursor or Claude Desktop in .cursor/mcp.json or claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "photon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@portel/photon"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart the client and check it. Run claude mcp list, or open the client's MCP settings, and confirm photon and its tools are listed. The install guide covers VS Code and Codex.

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Maintain this project? Get it featured ($99/mo, pinned at the top of Cloud & Infra) or see what featuring includes.

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Frequently asked questions

What is photon?

photon is an MCP server by portel-dev in the Cloud & Infra category. Define intent once. Photon turns a single TypeScript file into CLI tools, MCP servers, and web interfaces. It has 100 GitHub stars and ranks #272 of 1058 in Cloud & Infra by stars. It is written in TypeScript. It is licensed under MIT. It was last updated 5 days ago.

Is photon free and open source?

Yes. photon is published under the MIT license, so you can run, modify and self-host it at no cost. If it connects to a paid service, that service's own pricing and API terms still apply. Check the repository for the exact license text before using it commercially.

What are the alternatives to photon?

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Data last updated 25 October 2026. Stars and downloads are refreshed every day from GitHub and npm.