macOS Photos MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides access to your macOS Photos library, allowing AI assistants to interact with your photos.

Features

• List Albums: View all albums in your Photos library
• List Photos: Browse photos with optional filtering by date or album
• Search Photos: Search for photos by keywords, people, or places
• Get Photo Info: Retrieve detailed metadata for a specific photo
• Export Photos: Export photos to a specified directory

Prerequisites

• macOS (this server only works on macOS)
• Python 3.10+
• Photos app with photos in your library
• Grant "Full Disk Access" to your terminal app for accessing the Photos database

Installation

1. Clone or download this project
2. Install dependencies:

uv sync

Usage

Running the Server

uv run python server.py

Configuring with Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "photos": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/Users/ddttpp/Photo-MCP-server", "run", "python", "server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Configuring with VS Code

The .vscode/mcp.json file is already configured. Simply open this project in VS Code with GitHub Copilot.

Available Tools

Tool	Description
list_albums	List all albums in the Photos library
list_photos	List photos with optional filters (limit, album, date range)
search_photos	Search photos by keyword, person, or place
get_photo_info	Get detailed metadata for a specific photo by UUID
export_photo	Export a photo to a specified directory
get_library_stats	Get statistics about your Photos library

Privacy & Security

This server accesses your local Photos library. Your photos never leave your machine - the MCP server only provides metadata and paths to the AI assistant.

Troubleshooting

"Permission denied" errors

Grant "Full Disk Access" to Terminal (or your terminal app) in: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access

Photos not showing

Make sure Photos.app has been opened at least once and has photos imported.

License

MIT