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Colour Memory

io.github.DigbyO/colour-memory · v2.3.5

Measured by MCP Station

Description written by the publisher, not verified

Colour meaning, history and evidence for AI: 45,000+ source-graded colour records and 91 tools.

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claude mcp add --transport http colour-memory https://api.colourmemory.com/mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "colour-memory": {
      "url": "https://api.colourmemory.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Tools as reported by the server

• query_conceptual
  Ask a cultural, historical, or material colour question. Returns named archive colours with provenance and cultural context. Works for abstract queries like 'grief' (returns Ophelia Violet, Titan's Grief), 'toxic Victorian pigments' (returns Nightshade Poison Berry Purple, Victorian Arsenic Mirror S
• extract_image_colours
  Extract dominant colours from a photograph using Colour Memory's proprietary k-means++ algorithm. Requires either a public image_url, or an image_id. If you only have a raw uploaded file with no public URL (e.g. a local file path or a ChatGPT file attachment without a usable download_url), call inge
• query_hex
  Find the closest named archive colours to a hex value using CIEDE2000 perceptual distance.
• palette_specify
  Generate a complete interior specification from 2-8 hex values. Returns surface assignments, 60-30-10 proportions, lighting behaviour, and archive colour names. The result already carries the rendered palette and its PNG, PDF, ASE, JSON and CSS downloads -- show them to the customer. Never present t
• colour_metrics
  Returns numeric metrics derived from a single display colour: an estimated light reflectance value (LRV) and band, relative luminance, CIELAB lightness, chroma and hue angle, and Bradford corresponding colours under two standard illuminants. It also lists what a hex cannot support, such as thermal p
• colour_harmonies
  Return complementary, triadic, analogous, and split-complementary harmonies matched to named archive colours. Also available: 'hay_contrast' -- D.R. Hay's (1838) documented contrast pairing between six named hues (yellow/purple, orange/blue, red/green), with Field's proportional power for the pair.
• accessibility_check
  Evaluates contrast for a single foreground/background pair. For palettes or multiple colours, use accessibility_matrix instead, it replaces multiple accessibility_check calls in one response.
• accessibility_matrix
  Accept a palette array and return every foreground/background combination with contrast ratio, AA normal, AA large, AAA normal, AAA large pass/fail grades, and a summary. Use this instead of calling accessibility_check multiple times for a palette.
• accessibility_rules
  Convert a palette WCAG matrix into actionable design-system rules. Returns safe pairs, AA-only pairs, large-text-only pairs, decorative-only pairs, best text colour per background, and component usage rules. Deterministic, no LLM cost.
• colour_slugs
  Return every developer token format for a hex value: CSS variable, kebab-case, camelCase, PascalCase, Tailwind class, TypeScript const, SCSS variable. Archive-grounded name source with dE2000 distance.
• palette_light_dark
  Generate light-mode and dark-mode role maps from a palette. Analyses LRV, assigns background/surface/text/accent roles for each mode, checks body text contrast safety, and flags missing neutrals. The result already carries the rendered palette and its PNG, PDF, ASE, JSON and CSS downloads -- show th
• accessibility_font
  Given a background hex and a palette of candidate foreground colours, return them ranked by contrast ratio with WCAG grades and specific recommendations for body text, large text, and UI components.
• archive_search
  Full-text keyword search across all archive colour names and notes. Find colours by name fragment, material, cultural reference, pigment type, or historical period. Complements conceptual embedding search with exact keyword matching. Examples: 'cerulean' (28 matches, e.g. Bourton Cerulean), 'Prussia
• colour_combination
  Assess 2-5 colours as a combination for a given context (UI, data viz, fashion, interior, print, branding). Returns harmony type, clash warnings, contrast summary, and specific deployment rules for the context.
• palette_strict
  Like palette_concept but with archive filtering and relevance controls. Use allowed_archives to restrict results to specific cultural traditions e.g. ['Japan'] for Japanese only. Use min_relevance to filter weak concept matches. Fixes cross-archive drift when cultural specificity matters. The result
• archive_report_document
  Create a designed, full-colour Word (.docx) report from Colour Memory records. Use this whenever the user asks for a document, report, write-up, handout or Word file built from archive findings, instead of writing a plain document yourself. Pass the records by the record_id or slug exactly as archiv
• palette_pdf
  Generate a premium branded PDF specification sheet from a palette of archive entries. Returns a downloadable PDF with full-bleed colour panels, archive names, provenance notes, RAL nearest match, LRV, chroma, WCAG contrast data, and Colour Memory branding. Use this to create client deliverables, spe
• palette_audit
  Full palette quality audit. Scores on accessibility, cultural risk, tonal balance, colour diversity, and archive naming strength. Returns overall score 0-100, grade, and prioritised fix list. Enterprise quality gate -- use before shipping any palette. Deterministic, no LLM cost. The result already c
• brand_system
  Complete brand colour system in one call. Returns colour roles with archive names, light and dark mode role maps, typography guidance, usage rules per colour, design tokens (CSS, Tailwind, Figma), and citation cards. Deterministic. No LLM cost. The result already carries the rendered palette and its
• brand_asset_pack
  Complete brand asset pack. Returns CSS variables, Tailwind config, Figma tokens JSON, citation cards, and a Markdown brand guide. Everything a brand team needs to ship. Deterministic. No LLM cost.
• accessibility_simulate
  Return simulated hex values for full-severity protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia only, using the Machado, Oliveira & Fernandes (2009) model (severity 1.0, linear sRGB), with a flag when a simulated colour had to be clipped to sRGB. Anomalous trichromacy and partial severities are not simulated.
• colour_match_paint
  Find the nearest named colour in commercial paint systems including Farrow and Ball and Little Greene.
• colour_card
  Look up a named colour and return its hex, archive, provenance, and cultural notes.
• meta_capabilities
  Return a live inventory of all active endpoints and MCP tools. Use this first to discover what the API can do before making calls. Returns tool count, endpoint list, MCP-exposed tools, and usage notes. Deterministic -- no LLM cost.
• system_status
  Zero-argument diagnostic call: returns exactly what build is live right now (build_sha, schema_version, schema_hash, archive_revision, tool_count, generated_at, server_environment). Use this to confirm you're seeing the current deployed schema -- e.g. if a tool you expect (like house_specify) seems
• colour_story
  Given a hex value, returns a rich narrative about that colour's cultural journey — where it has appeared in history, what it has meant to different civilisations, and what archive names it carries. Essential for image generation prompts, brand storytelling, and creative briefs. Example: '#DC143C' re
• palette_concept
  Generate a historically grounded colour palette from a cultural concept or theme. Returns 4-6 coordinated archive colours with hex values, proportions, and provenance. Examples: 'Victorian mourning', 'Ottoman court', 'Japanese wabi-sabi', 'Scandinavian winter', 'West African kente', 'Renaissance Flo
• colour_mix
  Simulate perceptually modelled subtractive mixing of two colours in CIE Lab space (not RGB screen blending). Returns the resulting mixed hex value and its nearest archive match with cultural context. Uses CIE Lab subtractive model for perceptual accuracy. Example: mixing Prussian Blue and Yellow Och
• colour_timeline
  Given a concept or colour name, traces its documented appearances across cultures and centuries in chronological order. Returns a dated sequence of archive entries showing when and where the colour appeared, with primary sources. Use for historical research, provenance chains, and understanding why
• image_palette
  Upload an image (base64 encoded) and extract its dominant colour palette, with each colour matched to its nearest named archive entry with full cultural provenance. Uses K-means++ extraction; sRGB pixels are read as D65 CIELAB for matching. Returns up to 5 dominant colours, each with archive name, c
• colour_compare
  Deep perceptual and semantic comparison between any two hex values. Returns quantified differences in LRV, chroma, hue angle, warmth, and CIEDE2000 distance, plus cultural context on both — which is more authoritative, more saturated, more stable under different illuminants, and what each has histor
• colour_cultural_risk
  Cultural risk assessment for a hex value or palette (symbolic weight, regional taboos, religious associations, market flags). This is one component of colour_passport for single colours. Use colour_passport for a general profile; call this directly for palette-level risk checks or when cultural risk
• design_session
  One-call compound tool. Submit a concept, medium, audience, and constraints — receive a complete design package: historically grounded palette, cultural narrative, commercial paint matches, WCAG accessibility check, illuminant behaviour, and a ready-made image generation prompt. Replaces chaining qu
• image_personal
  Upload a portrait photo and receive a full personal colour analysis. Determines your seasonal type (Spring, Summer, Autumn, or Winter), colour depth (light, medium, or deep), and undertone (warm, cool, or neutral). Returns a curated palette of archive colours that genuinely suit you — each with full
• style_match
  The colour question every stylist gets asked: does this bag go with this outfit? Submit your outfit items as hex values with labels (dress, bag, shoes, coat, belt, scarf, etc.) and receive a verdict on what works, what clashes, what is missing, and what to add. Pairs are judged on hue relationship a
• interior_specify
  Generate a complete interior colour specification from a concept or brief. Input a room concept, type, and style — receive a professionally structured colour scheme with 60/30/10 surface assignments, archive colour names with full cultural provenance, Farrow and Ball and Little Greene paint matches,
• house_specify
  Generate a complete multi-room house colour scheme from a single archive. Where the retrieved evidence supports it, rooms are grouped by documented provenance (same object, same pattern colourway, same source citation, same designer, same period+institution); where it does not, they are grouped by p
• palette_generate
  Send a palette of up to 12 slots, locking some with hex values and leaving others empty. Empty slots are filled with the nearest CIEDE2000 archive match, interpolated from the locked anchors. Optional archive filter restricts fills to one archive. Returns full citation — name, archive, primary sourc
• palette_gradient
  Generate a perceptually smooth gradient between 2-5 archive anchor colours. Each interpolated stop snaps to the nearest real archive colour by CIEDE2000. Anchor stops are kept true to their source. Choose linear (physically accurate Lab interpolation) or chroma_preserved (LCh interpolation, short-ar
• palette_translate
  Map any list of hex values into a target archive using CIEDE2000 nearest-neighbour matching. Each input hex is matched to the closest named colour in the chosen archive, with a delta-e relevance band (exact / close / approximate / loose) and full provenance. Use to translate a client's paint colours
• archive_cliche
  Find the most surprising archive colour for a concept and generate a memorable one-liner subverting the obvious expectation. Supply a concept (e.g. 'love', 'grief', 'luxury', 'power') and optionally the expected colour (e.g. 'red' for love). The archive finds the contradiction and Claude writes the
• colour_verdict
  Evaluate a hex colour for a specific use case, market, and medium. Returns a decisive verdict: use_with_confidence, use_with_caution, or avoid. Includes strengths, risks, avoid-if scenarios, and better alternatives where needed. Backed by CIEDE2000 archive matching and Claude cultural intelligence.
• palette_verdict
  Evaluate a palette of 2-8 hex values for a use case, market, and medium. Returns a verdict (strong / strong_with_adjustment / weak / avoid), a score 0-100, the role of each colour, the single biggest weakness, and a concrete suggestion for what to add to fix it. Each colour is matched to the nearest
• agent_brief
  Generate a complete colour direction package for another AI agent or image generation model. Fetches a historically grounded archive palette from the concept, then produces: an agent brief (colour direction in prose), colour tokens with hex values and roles, a model-specific image generation prompt,
• colour_strategy
  Single-call commercial colour strategy report. Combines archive grounding, verdict, brand fit, market risk, category cliche check, material behaviour, copy hooks, and usage rules. Input: hex + brand_context (category, positioning, audience, channels) + constraints (avoid, must_work_on) + markets + m
• archive_report_brief
  One-call complete archive research package for a document, PDF, or editorial brief. Input: title, audience, themes, archives to draw from, things to avoid, number of colours. Output: ranked colour cards with full provenance, story order, source confidence flags, pull quote, CTA line, CSS tokens, ima
• palette_heritage
  Given a legacy palette, generate an archive-grounded premium support system. For each existing colour: identifies its historical archive anchor, names it, and scores its provenance confidence. Detects palette gaps and fills them from the archive. Returns full palette with roles, confidence scores, C
• archive_coverage_gap
  Given a list of themes, report which are well-evidenced in the archive and which are under-evidenced or missing. Returns a coverage matrix: for each theme, entries found, coverage grade (strong/moderate/weak/missing), best match with claim strength, and what source type would be needed to improve co
• archive_cultural_anachronism
  Check a list of colour entries for anachronism risk. Detects whether the primary source date falls outside the requested period, whether the archive is a known modern source (RacingSilks, FootballStrips), and returns a period_relevance score and safe phrasing. Essential for historical documents: pre
• session_brief
  Single-call forensic colour brief generator. Runs coverage gap analysis, pulls best archive colours, checks for anachronisms, scores claim roles (anchor/support/analogue/provocation/reject), auto-rejects stubs, generates editorial argument, act structure, pull quote, closing line, and image prompt v
• index_resonance
  Colour Memory's proprietary semantic metric. Score how tightly the material origin of a colour aligns with its social consequence. 1.00 = material and consequence are indistinguishable (blood as prognosis, ash as finality). 0.80 = institution mediates the colour (paint as deterrence, flag as authori
• archive_evidence_gap
  Given a hex value and a proposed claim about it, return whether the archive supports that claim, what is missing, what kind of source would be needed, and safe agent wording. This is Colour Memory's anti-hallucination endpoint. It turns the absence of evidence into a forensic finding rather than a g
• brand_collision
  Can this brand own this colour against these competitors in this market? Input: brand hex, brand name, competitor hexes and names, market, region. Returns CIEDE2000 distance to each competitor, archive context for each colour, a distinctiveness score (0-100), an ownership verdict (strong/viable/cont
• brand_report
  One-call complete brand colour intelligence report. Input: hex + brand context + markets + medium + product type. Output: archive anchor, cliche contradiction, colour DNA, strategy verdict, commercial signals, market reading per market, usage rules, palette roles, ecommerce copy, memory hooks, Insta
• brand_audit
  Fast, fully deterministic brand colour audit. Accepts a palette array plus market, use_case, medium and brand_category. COMPUTED SYNCHRONOUSLY, no model call of any kind: colour roles with archive names, the full WCAG accessibility matrix, cultural risk per colour, CSS variables, Tailwind config, de
• agent_verify
  Verify that an AI-generated image actually used the colours specified in an agent_brief call. Supply the generated image (URL or base64) and the target palette from agent_brief colour_tokens. Returns a fidelity score 0-100, dE2000 distance per colour, match quality per colour (accurate/acceptable/dr
• colour_passport
  Canonical single-call colour truth object. Returns everything known about a hex value: colour science (Lab, LCh, hue, chroma, depth, temperature, LRV), archive anchor with dE2000, claim_strength, do_not_say and evidence grade, hex provenance (status, confidence, spectrophotometric flag), physics (il
• colour_passports
  Batch version of colour_passport. Submit up to 20 hex values in one call. Returns a full Colour Passport for each unique hex: colour science, archive anchor, evidence grade, do_not_say constraints, hex provenance, accessibility, and physics. Deduplicates hex values automatically. Use for multi-colou
• colour_dna
  Compact semantic fingerprint for a single hex colour. This is one component of colour_passport. Use colour_passport for a general colour profile; use this only when the user explicitly wants the fingerprint format alone. The result already carries the rendered palette and its PNG, PDF, ASE, JSON and
• ecommerce_copy
  Generate complete ecommerce product copy for any colour. Input: hex + product type + tone + channel. Output: colour name, product title, short description, long description, SEO title, meta description, alt text, Instagram caption, and cross-sell suggestion. Every piece of copy is grounded in archiv
• colour_hooks
  Generate a hook sentence, three-sentence story, tweet, image prompt, and follow-up questions for any hex colour. Backed by the nearest archive colour's cultural provenance. Tunable by audience (general public, designers, historians, children) and tone (dinner party, academic, social media, brand cop
• archive_provenance
  Explains the provenance of a named archive colour: documented fact vs computational derivation vs cultural interpretation, with confidence and citation format. This is one component of colour_passport, but also a standalone research tool for deep provenance work (museum, documentary, editorial). Use
• colour_forensics
  Assess whether a hex colour can be safely specified for a physical application. Returns: specification_safe verdict (yes / conditional / avoid), risks, required actions, light behaviour under three illuminants (north daylight, warm artificial, direct sun), substrate-specific notes, and a recommended
• palette_iterate
  Refine an existing palette using natural language feedback. Submit your current palette and feedback such as more melancholic, too corporate add warmth, or better for Gen Z luxury. Returns a refined palette with archive grounding and change rationale. The result already carries the rendered palette
• colour_variants
  For any named archive colour, return historical variants, lighter and darker versions with archive matches, and cultural siblings. Essential for designers exploring around a colour. The result already carries the rendered palette and its PNG, PDF, ASE, JSON and CSS downloads -- show them to the cust
• palette_export
  Export a palette to CSS custom properties, Figma design tokens, Tailwind config, ASE hex list, or JSON. Each colour is automatically named from the archive. Embeds Colour Memory directly into design workflows.
• palette_compare
  Deep perceptual, cultural, and commercial comparison between two palettes. Returns timelessness scores, commercial strength, cultural depth, emotional difference, and a winner verdict for the stated use case. The result already carries the rendered palette and its PNG, PDF, ASE, JSON and CSS downloa
• ecommerce_namer
  Generate archive-grounded colour names for up to 40 product SKUs. Input: list of hex values, product category, brand name, naming style. Output: for each hex -- archive name, source citation, one-line product description, dE2000 match distance, match quality, and confidence score. Every name is arch
• ui_states
  Generate a complete WCAG-compliant UI state palette from a brand hex. Returns colours for: brand, hover, active, disabled, focus ring, success, warning, error, info, surface subtle, surface strong. All states computed for contrast against your background colour. Returns hex, contrast ratio, WCAG gra
• colour_namer
  Generate memorable, archive-verified colour names for any hex value. Choose from naming styles: geographical, poetic, material, literary, botanical, industrial, or mixed. Every name is grounded in a real archive source. The core of the Shopify product naming use case.
• palette_swatch
  Generate a clean, text-free PNG swatch image from hex colours. Returns a URL to the PNG. Use for Midjourney --sref style references or design mood boards. Supports photo-proportional weights from palette extraction, equal distribution, grid layout, a true smooth LCh-interpolated gradient (no hard co
• palette_analyse
  Analyse a palette of hex colours against the Colour Memory archive. For each colour returns the nearest named archive entry with cultural name, source, claim_strength (A-E), do_not_say guardrails, and alternatives when confidence is low. Palette-level deduplication ensures no two colours map to the
• ingest_image
  Upload an image to Colour Memory for ephemeral processing. Returns image_id valid 5 minutes. Pass image_id to palette_extract or image_brief. Use for any image over 50 KB.
• palette_extract
  Extract dominant colours from an image using k-means++ clustering. Accepts a public image URL or base64-encoded image. Returns hex values with proportional weights sorted by luminance. Optionally runs palette_analyse on the results. Use this instead of image_palette when you need hex values with pro
• image_brief
  Compound endpoint: one image in, full creative brief out. Extracts dominant colours, matches them to the Colour Memory archive with coherent cultural naming, understands the scene, identifies the style period, suggests product directions by category (textiles, interiors, fashion), generates an image
• project_get
  Retrieve summary metadata for a durable house project you own -- title, project type, current version number, schema/archive revision, created/updated timestamps, and the content hash of the requested version. Requires an API key; the project must belong to the calling key. Does NOT return the full
• project_list
  List durable house projects owned by the calling API key, most recently updated first. Anonymous (keyless) calls always return an empty list -- temporary anonymous projects are never listable, only resolvable directly by their house_ref. Requires an API key.
• project_versions
  List every stored version of a durable house project you own, oldest first, with each version's content hash, build/schema/archive revision, and creation time. Version 1 is always immutable and always present. Earlier versions remain renderable via palette_pdf's project_version input even after a ne
• project_delete write/delete
  Soft-delete a durable house project you own. Idempotent -- deleting an already-deleted, unknown, or not-owned project_id returns the same successful-shaped response either way, and never discloses which case occurred. Version rows are never physically erased. Once deleted, a project can no longer be
• project_export
  Export the same house-flagship content palette_pdf renders as a genuinely editable Word document or Excel workbook -- for a client who needs to annotate the scheme, or a contractor building a materials/procurement schedule from it. Accepts exactly one of house_ref or project_id -- an inline house ob
• brand_guideline_specify
  Generates the case for a brand's colours, not just the colours themselves: three genuinely different, archive-grounded candidate palettes from a brand brief, each scored for distinctiveness against named competitors, checked for accessibility, and labelled with exactly what each colour can and canno
• brand_guideline_status
  Resolves a brand_job_ref returned by brand_guideline_specify when its race-to-complete window elapsed before generation finished. Read-only, in-process lookup -- never re-runs generation. Returns {"status": "processing"} if still running, {"status": "complete", "brand_ref": ..., "project_id": ..., "
• brand_guideline_select
  Records which brand_guideline_specify candidate was chosen, which colours should be locked for future iteration, and which claims should be suppressed -- produces a revised brand_ref (same reference, a new version underneath it, exactly like a versioned house_ref). No accounts or reviewer states yet
• brand_guideline_pdf
  Renders a client-facing brand colour standard from an existing brand_ref. The document covers the direction carried forward and its assessment, the colour system in proportion, the argument for the palette, packaging and digital application, a full pairwise WCAG accessibility matrix computed upstrea
• brand_guideline_claims
  Resolves claim_id values (returned inline on every colour by brand_guideline_specify and brand_guideline_select) into their full claim record: source title/locator/citation, the exact permitted claim text, do_not_say restrictions, and claim_role (anchor/analogue/reject). Read-only -- reads the alrea
• render_colour_result
  Show a finished colour result to the customer AS COLOUR. Call this last, once the palette, house scheme, brand system or audit you are going to hand over has been decided -- it presents what you already have and chooses nothing. Do not call it for a single contrast figure, a colour history question
• palette_finalize
  Package a palette YOU HAVE ALREADY CHOSEN into a professional, visible, downloadable deliverable. Call this ONCE, after you have decided the final colours for the customer -- it verifies and packages your decision and returns the palette image plus PNG, SVG, PDF, ASE, JSON and CSS. It does not searc
• tool_guide
  Deterministic tool-routing lookup -- not an LLM call, always instant, never consumes archive or LLM credit. Give it a goal in plain words (e.g. 'I have a brand colour and want to check it against competitors', 'I want to paint a whole house', 'I have a photo and want the colours from it') and it ret
• historical_colour_query
  Ask a question about how historical colour authorities actually reasoned, and get evidence with provenance rather than a summary. Covers seven validated source builds -- Jennings (paint recipes, 1902), Bradley (rotating-disc apparatus, 1895), Vanderpoel (quantified object analyses, 1902), Beaumont (
• colour_relationships
  What is this archive record connected to, and why? One-hop lookup over Colour Memory's stored relationship graph -- today populated for PigmentLineage, whose 348 design_combination nodes are Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations plates. Returns edges in separate blocks by relationship_class s
• why_connected
  Are these two specific archive records connected -- and if so, exactly why? Traces the real path between them through Colour Memory's stored relationship graph (e.g. two Wada colours that share membership in the same published combination) and returns the actual path, not just a yes/no. States plain
• vanderpoel_pairing
  Emily Noyes Vanderpoel's documented 'good' dyad/triad hue groupings (Color Problems, 1902, Plate XXXVI 'Good Dyads or Pairs' and Plate XXXVII 'Good Triads'), served from the build artefacts vanderpoel_dyads.json and vanderpoel_triads.json. Snaps an input hex to the nearest of Vanderpoel's eleven rea

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