gimp

This MCP server provides a GIMP-integrated conversational interface. It exposes the full GIMP 3.0 API via PyGObject through the MCP protocol, enabling AI agents and other MCP clients to drive image editing operations with natural language. Core capabilities include image export and analysis, metadata retrieval, and the orchestration of multi-step workflows. Clients can request image bitmaps for viewing, pull image metadata without transferring heavy bitmap data, and perform complex edits by chaining GIMP operations. The server is designed to work with Claude Desktop, Gemini CLI, PydanticAI, and other MCP-compliant clients, allowing you to invoke GIMP features through a simple, language-agnostic interface.

Prerequisites:

• GIMP 3.0 or newer installed on your system
• Python 3.8+ installed
• uv (the Python MCP client/runner) installed
• An MCP-compatible client (e.g., Claude Desktop, Gemini CLI, PydanticAI)

Step-by-step installation:

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/maorcc/gimp-mcp.git
cd gimp-mcp

2. Install Python dependencies via uv

uv sync

3. Ensure GIMP plugin is in place (follow the GIMP plugin installation instructions in the README):

• Copy gimp-mcp-plugin.py to your GIMP plug-ins directory and make it executable
• Restart GIMP

4. Start the MCP server (from the gimp-mcp project directory)

uv run --directory /full/path/to/gimp-mcp gimp_mcp_server.py

5. Connect with your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Gemini CLI, etc.) using the configuration example provided in the README, pointing to the above uv command.

Tips and common considerations:

• The server exposes an MCP-compliant image export and metadata tools; use get_image_bitmap() to fetch the current image as a base64-encoded PNG, and get_image_metadata() to retrieve image properties without transferring full bitmaps.
• Ensure the GIMP plug-ins directory is writable by the user running the MCP server, especially on macOS or sandboxed environments.
• If GIMP is launched remotely or via a headless setup, verify that the display environment (X11/Wayland) is properly configured for GIMP to run.
• The server typically starts at localhost:9877 as described in the Quick Start; configure your MCP client to point to that endpoint if required.
• If you modify the directory containing gimp_mcp_server.py, update the uv command accordingly in your MCP client setup.