MCP OpenVision

Overview

MCP OpenVision is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides image analysis capabilities powered by OpenRouter vision models. It enables AI assistants to analyze images via a simple interface within the MCP ecosystem.

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install mcp-openvision for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @Nazruden/mcp-openvision --client claude

Using pip

pip install mcp-openvision

Using UV (recommended)

uv pip install mcp-openvision

Configuration

MCP OpenVision requires an OpenRouter API key and can be configured through environment variables:

OPENROUTER_API_KEY (required): Your OpenRouter API key
OPENROUTER_DEFAULT_MODEL (optional): The vision model to use

OpenRouter Vision Models

MCP OpenVision works with any OpenRouter model that supports vision capabilities. The default model is qwen/qwen2.5-vl-32b-instruct:free, but you can specify any other compatible model.

Some popular vision models available through OpenRouter include:

qwen/qwen2.5-vl-32b-instruct:free (default)
anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet
anthropic/claude-3-opus
anthropic/claude-3-sonnet
openai/gpt-4o

You can specify custom models by setting the OPENROUTER_DEFAULT_MODEL environment variable or by passing the model parameter directly to the image_analysis function.

Usage

Testing with MCP Inspector

The easiest way to test MCP OpenVision is with the MCP Inspector tool:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uvx mcp-openvision

Integration with Claude Desktop or Cursor

Edit your MCP configuration file:
- Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json
- macOS: ~/.cursor/mcp.json or ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openvision": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-openvision"],
      "env": {
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "your_openrouter_api_key_here",
        "OPENROUTER_DEFAULT_MODEL": "anthropic/claude-3-sonnet"
      }
    }
  }
}

Running Locally for Development

# Set the required API key
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="your_api_key"

# Run the server module directly
python -m mcp_openvision

Features

MCP OpenVision provides the following core tool:

image_analysis: Analyze images with vision models, supporting various parameters:
- image: Can be provided as:
  - Base64-encoded image data
  - Image URL (http/https)
  - Local file path
- query: User instruction for the image analysis task
- system_prompt: Instructions that define the model's role and behavior (optional)
- model: Vision model to use
- temperature: Controls randomness (0.0-1.0)
- max_tokens: Maximum response length

Crafting Effective Queries

The query parameter is crucial for getting useful results from the image analysis. A well-crafted query provides context about:

Purpose: Why you're analyzing this image
Focus areas: Specific elements or details to pay attention to
Required information: The type of information you need to extract
Format preferences: How you want the results structured

Examples of Effective Queries

Basic Query	Enhanced Query
"Describe this image"	"Identify all retail products visible in this store shelf image and estimate their price range"
"What's in this image?"	"Analyze this medical scan for abnormalities, focusing on the highlighted area and providing possible diagnoses"
"Analyze this chart"	"Extract the numerical data from this bar chart showing quarterly sales, and identify the key trends from 2022-2023"
"Read the text"	"Transcribe all visible text in this restaurant menu, preserving the item names, descriptions, and prices"

By providing context about why you need the analysis and what specific information you're seeking, you help the model focus on relevant details and produce more valuable insights.

Example Usage

# Analyze an image from a URL
result = await image_analysis(
    image="https://example.com/image.jpg",
    query="Describe this image in detail"
)

# Analyze an image from a local file with a focused query
result = await image_analysis(
    image="path/to/local/image.jpg",
    query="Identify all traffic signs in this street scene and explain their meanings for a driver education course"
)

# Analyze with a base64-encoded image and a specific analytical purpose
result = await image_analysis(
    image="SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=...",  # base64 data
    query="Examine this product packaging design and highlight elements that could be improved for better visibility and brand recognition"
)

# Customize the system prompt for specialized analysis
result = await image_analysis(
    image="path/to/local/image.jpg",
    query="Analyze the composition and artistic techniques used in this painting, focusing on how they create emotional impact",
    system_prompt="You are an expert art historian with deep knowledge of painting techniques and art movements. Focus on formal analysis of composition, color, brushwork, and stylistic elements."
)

Image Input Types

The image_analysis tool accepts several types of image inputs:

Base64-encoded strings
Image URLs - must start with http:// or https://
File paths:
- Absolute paths: full paths starting with / (Unix) or drive letter (Windows)
- Relative paths: paths relative to the current working directory
- Relative paths with project_root: use the project_root parameter to specify a base directory

Using Relative Paths

When using relative file paths (like "examples/image.jpg"), you have two options:

The path must be relative to the current working directory where the server is running
Or, you can specify a project_root parameter:

# Example with relative path and project_root
result = await image_analysis(
    image="examples/image.jpg",
    project_root="/path/to/your/project",
    query="What is in this image?"
)

This is particularly useful in applications where the current working directory may not be predictable or when you want to reference files using paths relative to a specific directory.

Development

Setup Development Environment

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/mcp-openvision.git
cd mcp-openvision

# Install development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Code Formatting

This project uses Black for automatic code formatting. The formatting is enforced through GitHub Actions:

All code pushed to the repository is automatically formatted with Black
For pull requests from repository collaborators, Black formats the code and commits directly to the PR branch
For pull requests from forks, Black creates a new PR with the formatted code that can be merged into the original PR

You can also run Black locally to format your code before committing:

# Format all Python code in the src and tests directories
black src tests

Run Tests

pytest

Release Process

This project uses an automated release process:

Update the version in pyproject.toml following Semantic Versioning principles
- You can use the helper script: python scripts/bump_version.py [major|minor|patch]
Update the CHANGELOG.md with details about the new version
- The script also creates a template entry in CHANGELOG.md that you can fill in
Commit and push these changes to the main branch
The GitHub Actions workflow will:
- Detect the version change
- Automatically create a new GitHub release
- Trigger the publishing workflow that publishes to PyPI

This automation helps maintain a consistent release process and ensures that every release is properly versioned and documented.

Support

If you find this project helpful, consider buying me a coffee to support ongoing development and maintenance.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.