Karou is an MCP server that turns a single chat message into finished carousel slide images inside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP-capable assistants.
What is Karou?
Karou is a remote MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that renders social-media carousel images from the text your AI assistant writes. You ask your assistant for a carousel; it writes a hook, one idea per slide and a closing slide, then calls Karou, which lays that copy into a template and returns 1080-pixel-wide PNGs, a ZIP of every slide and a single PDF, shown as thumbnails in the same chat. It runs as a connector inside Claude.ai, the Claude desktop and mobile apps, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code. Karou runs no language model of its own — your AI, on your plan, does the writing.
What makes Karou stand out?
- MCP-native rendering — connect once per app, either as a custom connector in Claude or ChatGPT or as one block in an MCP settings file with an account key for Cursor and VS Code, and the assistant calls Karou by itself.
- No separate editor — the page positions it against Canva-style workflows: no template to drag text into, no paste-fix-overflow-export-rename loop per slide.
- Three built-in templates — Bold (dark ground, heavy type, one warm accent), Clean (white ground, thin accent bar) and Editorial (cream paper, serif headlines, hairline frame).
- Consistent output rules — every carousel renders 1080 pixels wide with safe margins, slide numbers and a swipe hint; text sizes itself to fit and Karou tells the AI when a slide carries too much copy.
- Multiple formats and files — 4:5, 1:1 and 9:16 layouts, returned as chat thumbnails plus a PNG ZIP for Instagram and TikTok and a PDF for a LinkedIn document post; every carousel is kept in your account.
- Edit by conversation — asking "make slide 3 shorter" makes the assistant re-render that carousel.
- Brand templates on Pro — set colors, headline font, an @handle on every slide, footer and alignment from one of the three base looks, preview it on the web, then tell your AI to use it (up to 20 custom templates).
How does Karou work?
- Connect once: add Karou as a connector in Claude or ChatGPT and sign in, or take a key into a Cursor / VS Code MCP settings block — one minute, once per app.
- Ask for a carousel: "make me a carousel on the three pricing mistakes I made." The AI writes the slides, picks a template and calls Karou.
- Post it: thumbnails, a PNG ZIP and a PDF come back in the chat, and further requests re-render the slides.
Who should use Karou?
- Creators posting daily carousels: turn a prompt into a six-slide Instagram or TikTok carousel as PNGs without opening a design tool.
- Founders and consultants on LinkedIn: generate a PDF document post from a single sentence and export it directly from the chat.
- Social media managers keeping a brand look: build one branded template on Pro and reuse it across accounts and posts with a fixed @handle and footer.
- Developers in Cursor, VS Code or Claude Code: render slide images from inside the editor through the same MCP connection.
What can you do with Karou?
- Solo marketers: produce a hook-and-CTA carousel about a pricing mistake or lesson in 4:5 for Instagram and 9:16 for TikTok, delivered as a ZIP of PNGs.
- Newsletter writers: repurpose a sent email into a slide-by-slide breakdown and export the PDF for a LinkedIn document post.
- Agencies: keep client carousels on-brand by setting colors, headline font and footer once, then asking the AI to render with that template.
- Product builders: draft educational carousels straight from the assistant session where the ideas were written, without copying text into another app.
Pricing
Karou uses a freemium model with a Free tier, a Pro subscription and a launch-only lifetime deal. Free renders 3 carousels a day in every format with a small karou.si watermark placed at random on each slide. Pro costs $12 per month or $97 per year (yearly saves $47) and removes the watermark, adds your own templates and allows unlimited carousels with a fair-use cap of 100 a day. The founder lifetime is $97 for the first 100 spots, stepping up to $147 and then $197 before closing for good.
Alternatives
Canva, which the page names as the workflow Karou replaces: a template-driven design editor where slides are pasted and exported by hand rather than rendered from inside a chat.
FAQ
Is Karou free?
Yes. The Free tier renders 3 carousels a day in every format with no card required, but each slide carries a small, nearly transparent karou.si mark placed at random. Pro removes the watermark, and upgrading then asking your AI to edit an earlier carousel re-renders it clean.
Which AI assistants does Karou work with?
Any assistant that supports MCP connectors: Claude.ai, the Claude desktop and mobile apps and Claude Code, ChatGPT through a custom connector in settings, and Cursor or VS Code through one block in the MCP settings file. Other AIs supporting remote MCP servers connect the same way.
Who writes the carousel copy?
Your AI does, from your prompt and context — Karou runs no model of its own. It takes the hook, one idea per slide and closing slide the assistant produced, lays them out in a template and renders the images. Nothing you write is sent to another AI.
Can I use my own colors and fonts?
On Pro, yes: start from Bold, Clean or Editorial and set colors, headline font, @handle, footer and alignment with a live preview, then tell your AI to use your brand template. Up to 20 custom templates are allowed.
What is the founder lifetime deal?
Pro forever for a single payment, sold only during the launch: $97 for the first 100 spots, then $147, then $197, after which it closes and Pro becomes subscription-only. Lifetime purchases can be refunded within 14 days.
