Edit with AI agents

The GridCraft desktop app can hand an AI assistant a live view of the map you have open, and let it make changes. It speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so any MCP client (such as Claude Desktop) can connect and work alongside you. Ask it to lay out a room, fill a background, scatter props, or build a level, and the edits appear in the editor as it works.

How it works

When you turn it on, GridCraft runs a small server on your own machine (127.0.0.1) and nowhere else. A bundled bridge lets your MCP client reach it. Every change the agent makes goes through the same actions the editor uses, so it's undo-able, renders live, and syncs to collaborators. The agent is just another editor at the table.

Turn it on

1. Open the GridCraft desktop app and a map.
2. Go to Settings → AI agents and toggle on “Allow AI to edit this map”.
3. Copy the launch command it shows and add it as an MCP server in your client's config (for Claude Desktop, that isclaude_desktop_config.json).
4. Restart your client, then ask it to look at and edit your map.

The command is just node pointed at the bundled bridge. In Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json that looks like this. Use the exact path the app shows you:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gridcraft": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/GridCraft/mcp-bridge/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

The bridge finds the running editor on its own through a small discovery file, so there's no port or token to paste. Flip the toggle off and the server stops and that file is gone.

What an agent can do

To see the map:

• Read the map structure: dimensions, layers, and tilesets.
• Read a tile layer as a grid, and list objects.
• Render the map to a PNG and see the current state, so it can visually verify its edits.
• Look up tileset GID ranges so it paints with valid tiles.

To edit it:

• Paint individual tiles, fill a rectangle, or flood-fill a region.
• Add or remove layers, and place objects.
• Resize the map.

Privacy and safety

• The server is bound to your machine only. It runs only while you leave the toggle on, and it's gated by a random token GridCraft mints each time you enable it.
• It's off by default, and it's a desktop-only feature.
• Every edit is undo-able, so you can always step back.

Limits

• This is a desktop feature. The browser editor does not host the server.
• Tile reads and writes cover finite maps; infinite (chunked) maps are not edited over MCP yet.
• It is early. Tell us what tools you want the agent to have.