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MCP Image Tools in Claude Code

Resize, convert, compress and watermark images, pure JavaScript. It reads PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF and TIFF, resizes with inside, cover or exact fit, converts formats, compresses with a byte report, crops, batches thumbnails, strips metadata by re-encoding, and watermarks with the shared business name or custom text.

Preparing images for a repository's docs or a release asset is a build step you already run from here, so `claude mcp add image -- npx -y @theluckystrike/mcp-image --scope project` keeps the tool scoped to the project whose images it is touching.

What you get in Claude Code

You say	Tool
Make this 1200 px wide and under 300 KB.	`image_compress`
Thumbnail these five and watermark them.	`image_thumbnails then image_watermark`
Strip the GPS coordinates before I send this.	`image_strip_metadata`

Quantizing a 300x220 noisy PNG to 16 colours was measured against the original: 115,451 bytes against 39,262, 2.9 times larger, because quantizing destroys the row similarity PNG's own compression depends on. That is why quality only applies to a JPEG output and the extension of out_path picks the codec.

Install it in Claude Code

The file is .mcp.json, and the key inside it is mcpServers.

Scope	Path
local (default)	`~/.claude.json, this project only`
project	`.mcp.json at the repository root`
user	`~/.claude.json, every project`

claude mcp add image -- npx -y @theluckystrike/mcp-image
claude mcp list    # health-check it before the first prompt

# or --scope project, committed to .mcp.json for the team

No restart. The entry is picked up in the next session, and `/mcp` reconnects one on demand.

The npm publish of @theluckystrike/mcp-image is pending; until then use the .mcpb bundle or a clone and build from the latest release.

No install: the hosted endpoint

There is no hosted endpoint for this one yet. MCP Image Tools runs locally over stdio with the config above, which is also the only form in which it reads and writes files on your own disk. Three of the servers in this collection are served at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/<name> over MCP streamable HTTP: time-tracker, price-tracker and invoice.

Claude Code notes worth knowing first

The `--` is load-bearing: it separates Claude Code's own options, such as --transport, --env and --scope, from the command that runs the server. And the default scope is local, private to you and to the directory you ran it in, so adding it in the wrong folder leaves the tools absent with no error at all.

Free: info, resize, convert, compress, crop and strip-metadata on images up to 4 MP; batches of 5. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.

Questions

Which scope should I use for MCP Image Tools?

Local, the default, writes ~/.claude.json and is private to you and that directory. --scope project writes .mcp.json at the repository root, shared through version control. --scope user loads it everywhere.

Why did my first prompt ignore the server?

Measured, not documented: of three fresh projects, one first prompt made zero tool calls although initialize answered in 1.05 seconds. Run claude mcp list once first: it prints Connected, and the next run used the tool.

Can I use MCP Image Tools without installing anything?

Not yet. MCP Image Tools runs locally over stdio, which is also how it reads and writes files on your disk. The hosted endpoints at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp currently cover time-tracker, price-tracker and invoice.

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