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MCP Bench Router

Official registry Media and design

Routes design tasks to designarena.ai's top-ranked model via OpenRouter across 14 categories.

Source code Documentation

Install

Add this to your client's MCP configuration (Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json; Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json; VS Code and others use the same "mcpServers" shape).

NPM package mcp-bench-router
Claude Code 
claude mcp add mcp-bench-router -e 'OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<your openrouter_api_key>' -- npx -y mcp-bench-router@1.0.1
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) 
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp-bench-router": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "mcp-bench-router@1.0.1"
            ],
            "env": {
                "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "<your openrouter_api_key>"
            }
        }
    }
}

Environment variables

  • OPENROUTER_API_KEY required secret OpenRouter API key for query_design_model and query_specific_model tools. Get one at https://openrouter.ai/keys

Documentation

From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.

Contents
  1. mcp-bench-router
  2. Why?
  3. Tools
  4. Setup
  5. Categories
  6. Usage Examples
  7. How It Works
  8. License

mcp-bench-router

MCP server that delegates design tasks to whichever model currently tops designarena.ai's crowdsourced leaderboard, via OpenRouter.

Why?

AI coding assistants produce mediocre frontend/design output. designarena.ai maintains a live leaderboard of the best design models, updated every 2 hours. This MCP server lets Claude (or any MCP client) automatically route design tasks to the current best model.

Tools

ToolDescription
get_best_design_modelGet the current #1 design model, optionally by category
get_leaderboardBrowse full rankings with category filter and pagination
query_design_modelSend a prompt to the best available model via OpenRouter
query_specific_modelSend a prompt to a specific model via OpenRouter

Setup

Prerequisites
  • Node.js >= 18
  • An OpenRouter API key (required for query_design_model and query_specific_model)
Claude Code (CLI)
claude mcp add mcp-bench-router -s user -e OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-... -- npx -y mcp-bench-router
Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-bench-router": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-bench-router"],
      "env": {
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "sk-or-..."
      }
    }
  }
}
Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-bench-router": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-bench-router"],
      "env": {
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "sk-or-..."
      }
    }
  }
}
Other MCP clients
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-... npx -y mcp-bench-router
From source
git clone https://github.com/K1ta141k/mcp-bench-router.git
cd mcp-bench-router
npm install
npm run build

Categories

Filter by design category: allcategories, website, gamedev, 3d, dataviz, uicomponent, image, logo, svg, video, imagetoimage, slides, graphicdesign, tts.

Usage Examples

Check who's #1:

"Use get_best_design_model to see the current top design model"

Browse rankings:

"Show me the top 20 design models for websites"

Generate a design:

"Use query_design_model to create a landing page for a SaaS product"

Use a specific model:

"Use query_specific_model with claude-sonnet-4-5 to design a dashboard"

How It Works

  1. Fetches live rankings from designarena.ai's API (cached 2hr)
  2. Maps arena model names to OpenRouter IDs (static + dynamic + fuzzy matching)
  3. Skips codename/unreleased models and picks the best available one
  4. Routes the prompt through OpenRouter's API

License

MIT

Frequently asked questions

What is MCP Bench Router?

Routes design tasks to designarena.ai's top-ranked model via OpenRouter across 14 categories.

How do I install MCP Bench Router?

It runs on your machine. In Claude Code: claude mcp add mcp-bench-router -e 'OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<your openrouter_api_key>' -- npx -y mcp-bench-router@1.0.1. For other clients, paste the JSON configuration from this page into their MCP settings.

Does MCP Bench Router need an API key?

Yes. It expects OPENROUTER_API_KEY, which you set in its configuration.

Is MCP Bench Router open source?

Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.

Who maintains MCP Bench Router?

It is published by K1ta141k. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.

From the official MCP Registry. Listing is not an endorsement: review a server's code and permissions before giving it access to your data.