# MCP Image (MCP server)

> MCP Image is an MCP server that adds search and knowledge tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. AI image generation and editing with prompt optimization and quality presets. It has 171 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and runs locally with npx -y mcp-image.

Generate and edit images from Codex, Cursor, Claude Code, or any MCP client. mcp-image adds visual direction to your request before sending it to Gemini, OpenAI, or BytePlus Seedream.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/shinpr/mcp-image |
| GitHub stars | 171 |
| License | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | npm: mcp-image |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | yes |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | AI & search |
| Latest release | v0.15.0 (Oct 5, 2026) |
| Last commit | Oct 6, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.shinpr/mcp-image |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-image": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-image"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "ARK_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env GEMINI_API_KEY=your-value --env OPENAI_API_KEY=your-value --env ARK_API_KEY=your-value --transport stdio mcp-image -- npx -y mcp-image
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-image": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-image"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "ARK_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "gemini_api_key",
      "description": "GEMINI_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "openai_api_key",
      "description": "OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "ark_api_key",
      "description": "ARK_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "mcp-image": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-image"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "${input:gemini_api_key}",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "${input:openai_api_key}",
        "ARK_API_KEY": "${input:ark_api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `IMAGE_PROVIDER`: Image provider to use: 'gemini' (default), 'openai', or 'seedream'
- `GEMINI_API_KEY` (secret): Google Gemini API key for image generation when IMAGE_PROVIDER=gemini (get from https://aistudio.google.com/apikey)
- `OPENAI_API_KEY` (secret): OpenAI API key for image generation when IMAGE_PROVIDER=openai. Requires OpenAI organization verification to access GPT Image 2.5…
- `ARK_API_KEY` (secret): BytePlus ModelArk AP region API key required when IMAGE_PROVIDER=seedream
- `IMAGE_OUTPUT_DIR`: Absolute or working-directory-relative path where generated images will be saved (defaults to ./output)
- `IMAGE_QUALITY`: Default quality preset: 'fast' (default), 'balanced', or 'quality'
- `SKIP_PROMPT_ENHANCEMENT`: Set to 'true' to disable automatic prompt optimization and use direct prompts

## Similar MCP servers

- [Context7](https://appsgit.com/mcp-servers/context7): Up-to-date code docs for any prompt. (62,752 stars, MIT, needs API key)
- [FunASR](https://appsgit.com/mcp-servers/funasr): Transcribe local audio with FunASR and SenseVoice using private, on-device inference. (20,596 stars, MIT)
- [Bifrost](https://appsgit.com/mcp-servers/bifrost): Fastest enterprise AI gateway (50x faster than LiteLLM) with adaptive load balancer, cluster mode, guardrails, 1000+ models support & <100 µs overhead at 5k RPS. (8,591 stars, Apache-2.0)
- [Honcho](https://appsgit.com/mcp-servers/honcho): Memory that reasons: continual learning for stateful agents. (7,494 stars, AGPL-3.0, needs API key)
- [Semble](https://appsgit.com/mcp-servers/semble): Fast and Accurate Code Search for Agents. (6,185 stars, MIT)
- [Exa](https://appsgit.com/mcp-servers/exa): Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research. (5,088 stars, MIT, official)

---

Canonical page: https://appsgit.com/mcp-servers/mcp-image
Source: appsgit (https://appsgit.com), the app store for github. Data from the GitHub API, refreshed nightly.
Machine access: JSON API https://appsgit.com/api/v1/apps (OpenAPI: https://appsgit.com/openapi.json), MCP server https://mcp.appsgit.com/mcp, full index https://appsgit.com/llms-full.txt.