# Cloudinary MCP connector

The Cloudinary connector lets Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and the Elaichi Agent upload, search, organize and transform the images, videos and files in your Cloudinary product environment, with each person signed in as themselves.

Source: https://elaichi.ai/connectors/cloudinary/

## Facts

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Application | Cloudinary |
| Category | Cloud Storage |
| Authentication | Connects over OAuth |
| Bring your own OAuth app | No |
| Native MCP | Yes. Cloudinary builds and runs this MCP server. Elaichi adds sign-in, access controls and an audit log on top |
| Support for its tools | support.cloudinary.com/hc/en-us/requests/new |
| MCP endpoint | https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp |
| Works with | Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, any MCP client, and the Elaichi Agent |
| Tools advertised by name | No. Connected tools are never listed one by one, however few there are. The endpoint advertises `search_tools` and `execute_tool` instead |

## What you can ask once Cloudinary is connected

- Find every product image tagged spring campaign in the marketing folder
- Upload these hero images to the homepage folder and tag them launch
- Which videos in the brand folder were added this week?

## Connect Cloudinary in Elaichi

This happens once for the organization, before any client is involved.

1. Open Connections, choose Add connection, and pick Cloudinary.
2. Optionally set Share with, then press Connect.
3. Approve it in Cloudinary. Cloudinary's own window opens. Whoever approves it decides what this connection can reach.

Credentials are vaulted and nobody, including the AI, reads them back. The connection becomes a toolbox immediately, so you can curate which Cloudinary tools are exposed, rename them, or freeze arguments before anyone points a client at it.

## Cloudinary MCP connector for Claude

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open Customize, then Connectors.
2. Press Add.
3. Name it, paste the MCP server URL, then Continue.
4. Sign in and approve.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds it once. Everyone else turns it on for themselves.

## Cloudinary MCP connector for ChatGPT

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open Plugins, then press the + button.
2. Name it and paste the endpoint into Server URL.
3. Leave Authentication on OAuth, then tick the risk acknowledgement.
4. Press Create, then sign in and approve.

Works on the web today. The plugin directory lives at chatgpt.com/plugins.

## Cloudinary MCP connector for Cursor

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open `~/.cursor/mcp.json`.
2. Add the endpoint under `mcpServers`.
3. Reload Cursor, then sign in and approve.

Set up per machine, so repeat it on each computer you work from.

## Connect Cloudinary to any MCP client

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Add the endpoint as a remote MCP server.
2. Sign in and approve.

The Elaichi Agent already has these tools, with nothing to set up.

## What the consent screen decides

Only Read is granted by default, which is not enough to call a Cloudinary tool. Over MCP there is no trusted place to confirm a write in the moment, so the consent screen is the standing approval rather than a formality. Grant Read and Run tools. Think hard before granting Delete, which reaches into connected apps and cannot be undone.

## What teams do with Cloudinary through Elaichi

### Pull campaign images together in one ask

Marketing. Ask for every image tagged with a campaign name and get the list back with folders and formats, ready to hand to the agency or drop into a brief.

### Upload and tag new assets from a chat

Design. Send the latest hero images into the right Cloudinary folder, tag them for the launch, and have the agent confirm what landed where.

### Resize product photos for every storefront

E-commerce. Ask for the square, banner and thumbnail versions of a product image and get the transformed URLs without opening Cloudinary.

### Find the video you half remember

Content. Describe a video by subject, length or when it was uploaded and let the agent search Cloudinary and bring back the matches.

### Tidy folders before a site refresh

Web. Move stale images into an archive folder, rename files to match the new page structure, and keep the live folders clean.

### Check that assets carry the right tags

Brand. Ask which images in the brand folder are missing a usage tag or a region tag, then fix them in the same conversation.

## Elaichi vs Zapier MCP vs Composio for Cloudinary

All three can connect Cloudinary to an AI assistant, and all three have admin controls. They differ in where access lives and how you pay.

| What to check | Elaichi | Zapier MCP | Composio |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Where the AI connects | One address for the whole organization. Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp | A server per member, created at sign-in. | An MCP endpoint per team, or an SDK. |
| Control over Cloudinary tools | Allow or restrict single Cloudinary tools, per role or user. | App and action restrictions on the account. | Role permissions, down to the action. |
| Record of calls | One audit entry per Cloudinary call. | A History tab of tool calls. | A log of every tool call. |
| Single sign-on | SAML or OIDC, plus SCIM, on Gold. | SAML on Enterprise. | SAML and OIDC on Enterprise. |
| Price | $15 per user per month. | 2 tasks per successful call. | Billed per tool call. |

Sources: Zapier MCP [docs](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/get-started/quickstart), [security](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/manage/security), [usage](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/features/usage); Composio [docs](https://docs.composio.dev/docs/composio-connect), [gateway](https://composio.dev/mcp-gateway), [enterprise](https://composio.dev/enterprise), [pricing](https://composio.dev/pricing). Checked September 2026.

Longer take: [Zapier MCP alternative](/blog/zapier-mcp-alternative/) and [when you don't need an MCP gateway](/blog/when-you-dont-need-an-mcp-gateway/).

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I connect Cloudinary to Claude?

Connect Cloudinary in Elaichi first: you sign in to your Cloudinary account over OAuth, and there is no OAuth application to register and no client ID or secret to generate. Then in Claude go to Customize, then Connectors, then Add, and paste the Elaichi endpoint, https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp. From there Claude can work with the images, videos and folders your Cloudinary login already allows.

### Does Cloudinary work with ChatGPT and Cursor as well as Claude?

Yes. Once Cloudinary is connected in Elaichi, the same endpoint, https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp, works in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, the Elaichi Agent and any other MCP client. You connect Cloudinary once and every client sees it.

### What can an AI agent actually do with my Cloudinary assets?

An agent can upload images, videos and files into your Cloudinary folders, search for assets by tag, folder or name, move and rename them, and produce transformed versions such as a resized or cropped image. Short, concrete asks work best, such as asking for every image tagged with a campaign rather than describing the whole project. What is available depends on what your Cloudinary account has set up.

### Does connecting Cloudinary give the AI access to my whole product environment?

No. Every call into Cloudinary runs as the person who signed in, so the agent sees only the folders and assets that person can already reach in Cloudinary. Elaichi can narrow that access further with roles and restrictions, but it can never widen it beyond what Cloudinary itself grants.

### Can my team share one Cloudinary connection?

Yes. One person connects Cloudinary in Elaichi and shares it with a team, and nobody else ever handles a Cloudinary credential. Each teammate still signs in to Elaichi as themselves, so the audit log names the actual person behind every upload or change.

### Can I stop an agent from deleting or changing things in Cloudinary?

Yes. Restrictions in Elaichi apply per action, so you can allow searching and uploading in Cloudinary while blocking deletes or renames. A restricted action is never advertised to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, so no prompt can reach it.

### What happens to a Cloudinary connection when someone leaves?

Offboarding that person in Elaichi ends their access to Cloudinary through every client at once. A shared Cloudinary connection keeps working for everyone else on the team. If you later disconnect Cloudinary in Elaichi, it disappears from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and every other client in one step.

### Does the Cloudinary MCP connector work with Gemini, Codex, Claude Code or other MCP clients?

Yes. Cloudinary is reached over the same MCP endpoint every client uses, so anything that speaks MCP can call it — Gemini, Codex, Claude Code, Windsurf, Cline, Zed and OpenCode among them — alongside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and the Elaichi Agent. The tools on offer and the access behind them are identical whichever client asks. Only the setup screen differs.

### Is Elaichi an alternative to Zapier MCP for Cloudinary?

Yes. Both let Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use Cloudinary. Zapier MCP fits a team that already automates in Zapier, since each person signs in and acts as themselves in that account. Elaichi fits when IT wants one address for the whole company, per-tool rules by role, and a record of every Cloudinary call.

### How is Elaichi different from Composio for Cloudinary?

Composio gives AI agents tools and sign-in handling across 1,000+ apps, for developers building agents or people using an assistant, billed per tool call. Elaichi gives a company's own people governed access to Cloudinary: one address, restrictions per role or user, and $15 per user per month. Both have role permissions and a log of every call.