Using IconVectors with Codex CLI

Asking Codex CLI to write SVG by hand gives you detached markup that never touches your actual document. Wire Codex to the IconVectors MCP helper instead and your prompts run against the live editor: Codex calls tools that draw, edit, render, and export on the real icon, and you keep the editor's document, rendering pipeline, and undo history.

This guide configures that connection on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The helper that Codex launches is IconVectorsMcp.exe on Windows, /Applications/IconVectors.app/Contents/MacOS/IconVectorsMcp inside the macOS app bundle, and /usr/bin/IconVectorsMcp on packaged Linux installs.

Before you begin

• Start IconVectors before you launch Codex.
• Windows: confirm that C:\Program Files\Axialis\IconVectors\IconVectorsMcp.exe exists.
• macOS: confirm that /Applications/IconVectors.app/Contents/MacOS/IconVectorsMcp exists.
• Linux: confirm that /usr/bin/IconVectorsMcp exists.
• Use Help -> Open MCP Files Folder if you want the installed reference file codex-implementation-instructions.md.

1. Start the editor

Windows

& 'C:\Program Files\Axialis\IconVectors\IconVectors.exe'

macOS

open -a /Applications/IconVectors.app

Linux

/usr/bin/IconVectors

Leave the editor running while you work with Codex. In the standard setup Codex launches the helper with --port 61337; that port must match the bridge port set in IconVectors.

2. Configure Codex CLI

Add an MCP entry to one of these files:

• ~/.codex/config.toml
• .codex/config.toml inside your project

Windows example

[mcp_servers.iconvectors]
command = 'C:\Program Files\Axialis\IconVectors\IconVectorsMcp.exe'
args = ['--port', '61337']
cwd = 'C:\Program Files\Axialis\IconVectors'
startup_timeout_sec = 20
tool_timeout_sec = 120

macOS example

[mcp_servers.iconvectors]
command = '/Applications/IconVectors.app/Contents/MacOS/IconVectorsMcp'
args = ['--port', '61337']
cwd = '/Applications/IconVectors.app/Contents/MacOS'
startup_timeout_sec = 20
tool_timeout_sec = 120

Linux example

[mcp_servers.iconvectors]
command = '/usr/bin/IconVectorsMcp'
args = ['--port', '61337']
startup_timeout_sec = 20
tool_timeout_sec = 120

If you prefer the CLI helper, you can also run codex mcp add iconvectors -- /Applications/IconVectors.app/Contents/MacOS/IconVectorsMcp --port 61337 on macOS or codex mcp add iconvectors -- /usr/bin/IconVectorsMcp --port 61337 on Linux. If you changed the bridge port in IconVectors, use the same value here.

3. Verify the connection

Good first prompts:

• Use IconVectors to call app_ping and report whether the editor is connected.
• Use IconVectors to call app_getInfo and summarize the current document state.
• Create a new 32x32 document named "test icon", draw a centered blue circle, and export it as SVG.

Helper files

Use Help -> Open MCP Files Folder to open the installed helper bundle. Windows helper files are usually under %APPDATA%\Axialis\IconVectors\MCP. macOS helper files are usually under ~/Library/Application Support/Axialis/IconVectors/MCP. Linux helper files are usually under ~/.local/share/Axialis/IconVectors/MCP.

Next step

Once Codex can see the server, try the complete example in Create an Info Icon with Codex CLI. That walkthrough uses the exact prompt from the IconVectors MCP documentation and shows the result in both MP4 and GIF form.