get_best_design_model
Get the current #1 design model from designarena.ai's crowdsourced leaderboard, optionally filtered by category. Returns model info and OpenRouter availability.
LABSCO SUMMARY
Model choice becomes a lookup against a public leaderboard instead of a string you update by hand.
The ranking is crowdsourced — Elo ratings and win rates from designarena.ai — and availability is checked against OpenRouter before a prompt goes out, so a model that tops the board but is not carried gets skipped rather than failing the call. query_specific_model accepts either naming scheme, which means a Design Arena name read off the leaderboard can be passed straight through without translating it into an OpenRouter ID.
What it is
A routing layer covering 4 tools, reading the designarena.ai crowdsourced rankings and sending prompts through OpenRouter.
What you get
- The current ranking as data: get_best_design_model returns the top-rated design model with its OpenRouter availability, and get_leaderboard pages through the full rankings with Elo ratings, win rates and a category filter.
- Prompting that follows the ranking: query_design_model selects the best available model automatically and skips any that OpenRouter does not carry.
- An explicit override: query_specific_model accepts either an OpenRouter model ID or a Design Arena model name, with temperature and max_tokens.
Requirements
An OpenRouter account and its key in OPENROUTER_API_KEY, which query_design_model and query_specific_model require.
Setup effort
One command plus a key — OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY> npx -y mcp-bench-router
USE CASES
01
Sending a UI prompt to whatever model is currently winning at design
Read the top-ranked model for the category, then send the prompt through OpenRouter to whichever available model that turns out to be.
02
Settling an argument about which model to use for design work
Page through the rankings with Elo ratings and win rates, then send the same prompt to the specific model someone is arguing for.
4 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
get_leaderboard
Browse the full designarena.ai design model rankings with optional category filter and pagination. Shows Elo ratings, win rates, and OpenRouter availability.
query_design_model
Send a design prompt to the best available model on OpenRouter, automatically selected from designarena.ai rankings. Skips models not available on OpenRouter. Requires OPENROUTER_API_KEY.
query_specific_model
Send a design prompt to a specific model via OpenRouter. Accepts either an OpenRouter model ID (e.g. 'anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250514') or a Design Arena model name (e.g. 'claude-sonnet-4-5'). Requires OPENROUTER_API_KEY.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
4 tools when we connected.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- Node.js >= 18
- OPENROUTER_API_KEY in your environment
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 4 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
Any MCP client
TERMINAL
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY> npx -y mcp-bench-routerMCP Clients
Claude Code
CLAUDE CODE · TERMINAL
claude mcp add mcp-bench-router -s user -e OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY> -- npx -y mcp-bench-routerClaude Desktop, Cursor
JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-bench-router": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-bench-router"
],
"env": {
"OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "<YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}
