memeplotlib 0.2.0

Memes with Python's matplotlib

Memes with Python's matplotlib. Create image macro memes using matplotlib for rendering and the memegen API for template discovery.

Installation

pip install memeplotlib
# or
conda install -c conda-forge memeplotlib

For the Model Context Protocol server (use memes from Claude Desktop / Claude Code / any MCP client):

pip install "memeplotlib[mcp]"

Quick start

import memeplotlib as memes

fig, ax = memes.meme("buzz", "memes", "memes everywhere")
fig.savefig("buzz.png")

The function returns (Figure, Axes) — same convention as seaborn, pandas.plot, and other matplotlib extensions. It does not call plt.show() implicitly. Pass show=True if you want auto-display.

Features

Memegen IDs, file paths, or URLs as templates:

memes.meme("drake", "writing tests", "shipping to prod", color="yellow")
memes.meme("/path/to/image.jpg", "top text", "bottom text")
memes.meme("https://example.com/image.png", "from a URL")

Object-oriented Meme builder, chainable:

from memeplotlib import Meme

Meme("buzz").top("python").bottom("python everywhere").save("buzz.png")

Memify existing matplotlib figures:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 9])
memes.memify(fig, "stonks")

RcParams-style scoped configuration:

with memes.rc_context({"font": "comic", "color": "yellow"}):
    memes.meme("buzz", "scoped style", "no leakage")
# defaults are auto-restored here

# Or set globally:
memes.config["fontsize"] = 96

Forward **kwargs to Axes.text:

memes.meme("buzz", "rotated", rotation=15, alpha=0.8)

Use from agents

pip install "memeplotlib[mcp]"
memeplotlib-mcp                                 # boot the MCP server (stdio)
memeplotlib meme buzz "hello" "world" -o /tmp/  # CLI render

The MCP server exposes meme, search_templates, and list_templates tools. The CLI is useful even without MCP — agent harnesses can shell out, and CI scripts can render directly.

Documentation

Full docs including a tutorial, user guide, conventions reference, and API reference: brianckeegan.github.io/memeplotlib.

Build locally:

pip install -e ".[docs]"
sphinx-build -W docs docs/_build

How it works

1. Templates are fetched from the memegen API (blank background images + metadata) and cached locally.
2. Text is rendered with matplotlib's text system using patheffects.Stroke for the classic outlined meme look.
3. The bundled Anton font (Impact-like, SIL OFL licensed) is used as a fallback for systems where Impact isn't installed.

Related projects

• matplotlib — the rendering engine.
• memegen — the template registry and blank-image source (api.memegen.link).
• seaborn — the API conventions for ax=None, **kwargs forwarding, and (fig, ax) returns are modeled on seaborn.

Dependencies

• matplotlib >= 3.8
• numpy, requests, Pillow, platformdirs

Requires Python 3.10+.

License

MIT. The bundled Anton font is licensed under the SIL Open Font License v1.1.