# Lucid API + MCP vs Mural MCP

> Lucid API + MCP scores 60.9 (C) on agent readiness against Mural MCP's 42 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Mural MCP leads on maintenance & community. Both do diagram create. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lucid-vs-mural-mcp
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lucid-vs-mural-mcp.md (~2,000 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lucid-vs-mural-mcp.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lucid-vs-mural-mcp.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-06

Lucid API + MCP scores 60.9 (C) on agent readiness against Mural MCP's 42 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Mural MCP leads on maintenance & community. Both do diagram create.

- Lucid API + MCP: grade C, 60.9/100, rank #242 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lucid.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lucid.json
- Mural MCP: grade E, 42/100, rank #422 of 460. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mural-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mural-mcp.json

## Which one, for what

### Lucid API + MCP (C)

Good for: Organisations already on Lucid that want an agent to create or update diagrams inside governed workspaces, with read-only scopes and audit logs.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 67 against 35
- Schema & documentation, 73 against 30
- Agent ergonomics, 62 against 26
- Security & auth, 80 against 72
- Payments & pricing, 25 against 10

Watch for: No public changelog for the API or the MCP server

### Mural MCP (E)

Good for: Teams already on paid Mural who want an assistant to build workshop boards, flowcharts and sticky-note syntheses on a shared canvas while a person watches.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 33

Watch for: Public preview, with Mural's service levels and support obligations excluded


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Lucid API + MCP | Mural MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 35 | Lucid API + MCP +32 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 30 | Lucid API + MCP +43 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 62 | 26 | Lucid API + MCP +36 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 80 | 72 | Lucid API + MCP +8 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 10 | Lucid API + MCP +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 33 | 75 | Mural MCP +42 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 63 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **60.9 · C** | **42 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Lucid API + MCP | Mural MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Lucid Software | Tactivos, Inc. (d/b/a Mural) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.lucid.co` | `https://mcp-canvas.mural.co/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | proprietary | Proprietary hosted service under Mural's Terms of Service. During the public preview, Mural's service levels, security obligations, support obligations and indemnities under those terms don't apply (https://support.mural.co/s/article/MCP-preview) |
| Tools exposed | 9 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | `app.lucid.mcp/lucid` | `co.mural/mural` |
| Last release | 2026-06-15 | 2026-10-05 |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 2/5 (1) |

## Verdicts

**Lucid API + MCP.** OAuth 2.0 scopes with `:readonly` variants, and audit log endpoints in the REST API. No public changelog for the API or the MCP server.

**Mural MCP.** Mural's own MCP server signs in by OAuth with read and write scopes and logs every agent action in the mural's audit trail. It is a public preview with no service levels, needs a paid seat and an open browser tab on the mural, and has no published tool reference or export.

## Before you call either

### Lucid API + MCP

1. Always send `Lucid-Api-Version: 1`, or prefix the path with /v1
2. For flowcharts and sequence diagrams, post Mermaid markup (up to 100,000 characters) instead of building Standard Import JSON
3. Request `:readonly` scopes when the agent only reads documents
4. On 429, wait 60 seconds or back off. Create Mermaid Diagram allows 60 calls a minute
5. Sharing and embed endpoints need an OAuth token. An API key won't work there

### Mural MCP

1. Ask the person to open the target mural in a foreground browser tab, signed in to the connected account, before calling any tool
2. Work on one mural at a time and name it explicitly when switching
3. Request only murals:read when the task only reads a board
4. Deletes go through without a server-side prompt. Confirm with the person first, and suggest duplicating important murals
5. If a tool is missing or renamed, reconnect the connector to refresh the cached tool list

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Lucid API + MCP or Mural MCP?

Lucid API + MCP scores 60.9 (C) on agent readiness against Mural MCP's 42 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Mural MCP leads on maintenance & community.

### Do Lucid API + MCP and Mural MCP need an API key?

Lucid API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Mural MCP uses an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Lucid API + MCP and Mural MCP without installing anything?

Yes. Lucid API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.lucid.co and Mural MCP at https://mcp-canvas.mural.co/mcp.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lucid-vs-mural-mcp.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lucid-vs-mural-mcp.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "lucid", "b": "mural-mcp"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare lucid mural-mcp`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lucid.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mural-mcp.json

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