Hugging Face MCP Server

Connect to Hugging Face Hub and thousands of Gradio AI Applications

Tools

Last Updated

Apr 13, 2026

What is the Hugging Face MCP Server?

The Hugging Face MCP server gives AI agents structured, permission-aware access to Hugging Face through the Model Context Protocol. With 10 pre-built actions, agents can read, create, and update Hugging Face data on behalf of authorized users.

Willow ships the Hugging Face MCP server as part of an enterprise control plane. Every call runs behind SSO (Okta, Azure AD), enforces RBAC and least-privilege at runtime, writes to a full audit trail, and integrates with Splunk and Loki for SIEM visibility. Connect from Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code, n8n, or any custom agent. Install once, distribute org-wide, and see exactly how Hugging Face is being used by every AI agent in your stack.

Tools

hf_whoami

Hugging Face tools are being used by authenticated user 'Sandboxw'

space_search

Find Hugging Face Spaces using semantic search. IMPORTANT Only MCP Servers can be used with the dynamic_space toolInclude links to the Space when presenting the results.

hub_repo_search

Search Hugging Face repositories with a shared query interface. You can target models, datasets, spaces, or aggregate across multiple repo types in one call. Use space_search for semantic-first discovery of Spaces. Include links to repositories in your response.

paper_search

Find Machine Learning research papers on the Hugging Face hub. Include 'Link to paper' When presenting the results. Consider whether tabulating results matches user intent.

hub_repo_details

Get details for one or more Hugging Face repos (model, dataset, or space). Auto-detects type unless specified.

hf_doc_search

Search and Discover Hugging Face Product and Library documentation. Send an empty query to discover structure and navigation instructions. Knowledge up-to-date as at 8 April 2026. Combine with the Product filter to focus results.

hf_doc_fetch

Fetch a document from the Hugging Face or Gradio documentation library. For large documents, use offset to get subsequent chunks.

dynamic_space

Perform Tasks with Hugging Face Spaces. Use "discover" to view available Tasks. Examples are Image Generation/Editing, Background Removal, Text to Speech, OCR and many more. Call with no arguments for full usage instructions.

hf_hub_query

Read-only Hugging Face Hub navigator for discovery, lookup, filtering, ranking, counts, field-constrained extraction, and relationship questions across users, orgs, models, datasets, spaces, collections, discussions, daily papers, recent activity, followers/following, likes, and likers. Good for structured raw outputs and compact results. Generated helper calls can explicitly bound limit, scan_limit, max_pages, and ranking_window for brevity or broader coverage, and the tool can also be asked about its supported helpers, canonical fields, defaults, and coverage behavior.

gr1_z_image_turbo_generate

Generate an image using the Z-Image model based on the provided prompt and settings. This function is triggered when the user clicks the "Generate" button. It processes the input prompt (optionally enhancing it), configures generation parameters, and produces an image using the Z-Image diffusion transformer pipeline. Returns: tuple: (gallery_images, seed_str, seed_int), - seed_str: String representation of the seed used for generation, - seed_int: Integer representation of the seed used for generation (from mcp-tools/Z-Image-Turbo)

Customize Tools

Edit descriptions, modify arguments, select tools, or add new ones

Set Up Your Hugging Face MCP Server in Minutes

Add the following configuration to your MCP client. Authentication is handled via OAuth. Compatible with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code, n8n, and any MCP-compatible agent.

Claude Desktop

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "willow-hugging-face": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp/mcp/hugging-face"
    }
  }
}

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "willow-hugging-face": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp/mcp/hugging-face"
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

CLI

claude mcp add willow-hugging-face --transport http https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp/mcp/hugging-face

n8n

HTTP Request Node

{
  "url": "https://<org>.mcp-s.com/mcp/mcp/hugging-face",
  "method": "POST"
}

Or click "Install with Willow" above to set up automatically with SSO and RBAC preconfigured.

Enterprise Governance for Hugging Face

Willow adds the layer Hugging Face and every other SaaS doesn't ship out of the box: every call runs behind SSO (Okta, Azure AD), enforces RBAC and least-privilege at runtime, writes to full audit logs, and detects shadow AI usage across your stack. One MCP gateway. Any agent. Every tool.

Hugging Face MCP Server FAQ

What is the Hugging Face MCP server?

The Hugging Face MCP server is a Model Context Protocol implementation that lets AI agents like Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT read and write Hugging Face data through a standardized interface. Willow hosts and governs this server so enterprises can roll it out without a security review backlog.

How is Willow's Hugging Face MCP server different from the official one?

The official Hugging Face MCP server is scoped to a single user's account and does not include enterprise governance. Willow's version adds SSO, RBAC, audit logging, shadow AI detection, and centralized control over which actions agents can take across the entire org.

Which AI clients work with the Hugging Face MCP server?

Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code with MCP support, n8n, and any custom agent built with OpenAI Agents SDK, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK, or Anthropic SDK.

Is the Hugging Face MCP server secure? How does Willow handle authentication?

Every call runs behind your existing SSO (Okta, Azure AD). Per-user OAuth scopes the agent to exactly what that user can do in Hugging Face, nothing more. No credentials reach the LLM. Every action writes to an audit trail.

Can I limit which Hugging Face actions agents can take?

Yes. Willow lets you scope agents to specific actions, specific projects, or specific environments. Toggle actions on or off in the dashboard, or enforce policy via infrastructure-as-code through GitHub.

How do I detect shadow Hugging Face MCP servers in my org?

Willow's browser extension and discovery service surface unmanaged MCP servers, skills, and AI agents across the org. If a developer installed an unapproved Hugging Face MCP locally, you'll see it.

What does the Hugging Face MCP server cost?

Pricing depends on org size and deployment model (SaaS, dedicated cloud, self-host). See withwillow.ai/pricing or contact sales for a quote.

How do I install the Hugging Face MCP server with Willow?

Install via the Willow Connect Panel in one click, or paste the JSON snippet above into your Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Claude Code config. SSO and RBAC inherit from your existing Willow setup.