Swift Tarot is an MCP server that provides tarot card drawing functionality, spread generation, and card asset access for AI assistants such as Claude Desktop. Large language models frequently struggle with generating uniformly distributed pseudo-random numbers, leading to repetitive or biased outcomes in divination scenarios. This server connects external Swift-based card management logic to an MCP client over standard input/output, ensuring reliable card shuffling and retrieval from the standard 78-card deck. Users interested in entertainment, creative writing, divination, or symbolic reflection can use this server to request single card draws, multi-card readings of any size up to 78 cards, or entire deck listings. In addition to returning structured card data—including card names and tarot URIs representing both Major and Minor Arcana—the server allows clients to retrieve base64-encoded card images for visual presentation during conversations. Developers and enthusiasts can build, run, and test the server natively on macOS using Swift tools, taking advantage of deterministic seeding for repeatable tests alongside robust input validation.
Category: Other & General Purpose
Tags: cards, divination, entertainment, tarot
Follow these steps to build and configure Swift Tarot on macOS: 1. Ensure Swift 5.9+ and macOS 13.0+ are installed. 2. Clone the repository and navigate to the project directory: bash git clone https://github.com/junebash/swift-tarot-mcp cd swift-tarot-MCP 3. Build and install the binary using just or manual Swift commands: bash just install Or manually: bash swift build -c release sudo cp .build/release/swift-tarot-MCP /usr/local/bin/ 4. Add the server to your Claude Desktop configuration file at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json: json { "mcpServers": { "tarot": { "command": "swift-tarot-MCP", "args": [] } } } 5. Restart Claude Desktop to enable the tarot tools.
Part of MCP Servers
You need macOS 13.0 or later and Swift 5.9 or higher. Clone the repository, then run just install to compile and install the executable to /usr/local/bin/swift-tarot-MCP. Alternatively, you can run swift build -c release and manually copy the binary to your /usr/local/bin directory before adding the executable to your MCP configuration file.
Swift Tarot provides tools for Model Context Protocol clients to handle tarot operations. It supports drawing between 1 and 78 cards with reliable random distribution, listing all 78 cards in the deck, and retrieving base64-encoded card images via card URIs. This enables AI assistants to perform detailed readings, multi-card spreads, and visual presentations without relying on LLM-generated randomness.
Swift Tarot functions with any MCP-compliant client that supports local standard input and output communication, including Claude Desktop. Once the compiled swift-tarot-MCP binary is registered in your client configuration file under the mcpServers section, the client can call tarot tools such as draw_cards and get_full_deck directly in conversation.
Large language models are not designed for true randomness and often repeat patterns or exhibit bias when attempting to shuffle or select cards. Swift Tarot delegates card drawing to a native Swift runtime with proper random number generation and validation, ensuring fair, non-duplicative card selections across all 78 cards in the deck.
Yes, Swift Tarot is open source software published under the MIT License. The complete source code, tests, and build tooling are available on GitHub, allowing developers to inspect the implementation, contribute improvements, or modify the server to support custom card decks and spreads.