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videre-mcp

CI Python 3.11+ License: MIT Code style: ruff

MCP server that bridges vision models to text-only coding models using Florence-2.

Non-vision LLMs can't see images — videre-mcp fixes that. It loads a Florence-2 vision model locally and exposes six MCP tools that convert images (including SVGs) and screenshots into structured text descriptions that any text-based model can consume.

Screenshot tool → videre-mcp (Florence-2) → Text description → Coding model

Installation

pip install videre-mcp

Or with uv:

uv pip install videre-mcp

Requires Python 3.11+ and ~300MB disk space for the Florence-2-base model weights (downloaded automatically on first use).

Related MCP server: vision-mcp

Usage

Add to your OpenCode configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "videre-mcp": {
      "command": "videre-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or run directly:

videre-mcp
# or
python -m videre_mcp

Model Modes

All Florence-2 tools support a model_mode parameter to balance speed and quality:

  • "fast" (default) — Uses Florence-2-base. Fast, lightweight, runs on CPU/GPU.

  • "deep" — Uses MiniCPM-V 4.6. Significantly higher quality for complex visual reasoning.

    • Requires: pip install videre-mcp[deep]

    • Hardware: ~8GB VRAM recommended.

Tools

describe_image

Generate a natural language description of an image.

Parameters:

  • image_path (str) — Path to the image file (supports PNG, JPEG, SVG)

  • detail_level (str, optional) — "normal" (default) for brief caption, "high" for detailed description

  • model_mode (str, optional) — "fast" (default) or "deep"

Example:

result = describe_image("/path/to/photo.png", detail_level="high")
# Returns:
# {
#   "description": "A sunlit meadow with wildflowers in bloom...",
#   "model": "Florence-2-base",
#   "prompt_used": "<MORE_DETAILED_CAPTION>"
# }

ocr_image

Extract text from an image using optical character recognition.

Parameters:

  • image_path (str) — Path to the image file (supports PNG, JPEG, SVG)

  • detail_level (str, optional) — "normal" (default) for plain text, "high" for text with bounding regions

  • model_mode (str, optional) — "fast" (default) or "deep"

Example:

result = ocr_image("/path/to/document.png", detail_level="high")
# Returns:
# {
#   "text": "Invoice Number 12345",
#   "regions": [
#     {"label": "Invoice Number 12345", "bbox": [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80]}
#   ]
# }

describe_screenshot

Describe UI regions in a screenshot — designed for coding agents that need to understand screen layouts.

Parameters:

  • image_path (str) — Path to the screenshot file (supports PNG, JPEG, SVG)

  • detail_level (str, optional) — "normal" (default) for dense region captions, "high" for per-region descriptions

  • model_mode (str, optional) — "fast" (default) or "deep"

Example:

result = describe_screenshot("/path/to/screenshot.png")
# Returns:
# {
#   "regions": [
#     {"bbox": [10, 20, 30, 40], "label": "search bar"},
#     {"bbox": [100, 200, 300, 250], "label": "submit button"}
#   ],
#   "model": "Florence-2-base"
# }

take_screenshot

Capture a screenshot and optionally describe it using Florence-2. Supports multi-monitor setups via the monitor parameter.

Parameters:

  • output_path (str, optional) — Path to save the screenshot PNG. If None, saves to a temp file.

  • monitor (int, optional) — Monitor index: 0 = all monitors combined, 1 = primary, etc. (default: 0)

  • describe (bool, optional) — If True, also run describe_screenshot on the captured image (default: True)

  • model_mode (str, optional) — "fast" (default) or "deep"

Example:

result = take_screenshot(monitor=1, describe=True)
# Returns:
# {
#   "path": "/tmp/tmpxxxxxx.png",
#   "width": 1920,
#   "height": 1080,
#   "monitor": 1,
#   "regions": [
#     {"label": "search bar", "bbox": [10, 20, 30, 40]},
#     ...
#   ]
# }

ocr_paddle

Dedicated OCR using PaddleOCR (100+ languages, PP-OCRv6). Superior accuracy for multi-language documents.

Parameters:

  • image_path (str) — Path to the image file

  • language (str, optional) — Language code: "en", "ch", "japan", "korean", "french", "german", "spanish", "arabic", "multilingual", etc. (default: "en")

  • detail_level (str, optional) — "normal" for plain text, "high" for text with bounding boxes and confidence scores

  • use_angle_cls (bool, optional) — Use angle classification to correct rotated text (default: True)

Requires: pip install videre-mcp[paddle]

Example:

result = ocr_paddle("/path/to/document.png", language="multilingual", detail_level="high")
# Returns:
# {
#   "text": "Invoice Number 12345\nDate: 2024-01-15",
#   "regions": [
#     {"text": "Invoice Number 12345", "bbox": [...], "confidence": 0.98}
#   ]
# }

parse_document

Parse documents (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, MD) into structured output using IBM Docling. Extracts text, tables, charts, formulas, and code blocks.

Parameters:

  • file_path (str) — Path to the document file

  • output_format (str, optional) — "markdown" (default), "json", "text", or "html"

  • extract_tables (bool, optional) — Extract and structure tables (default: True)

  • extract_images (bool, optional) — Extract embedded images (default: False)

Requires: pip install videre-mcp[docling]

Example:

result = parse_document("/path/to/report.pdf", output_format="markdown", extract_tables=True)
# Returns:
# {
#   "content": "# Report Title\n\n...",
#   "metadata": {"title": "...", "author": "...", "pages": 10},
#   "tables": [...]
# }

Optional Dependencies

Extra

Package

Enables

[deep]

accelerate, bitsandbytes

MiniCPM-V 4.6 deep mode (~8GB VRAM)

[docling]

docling>=2.0.0

Document parsing (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, MD)

[paddle]

paddleocr>=2.8.0

PaddleOCR (100+ languages)

[optimize]

dspy-ai>=2.5.0

DSPy prompt optimization CLI

Install with: pip install videre-mcp[deep,docling]

Requirements

  • Python 3.11+

  • ~300MB disk for model weights (auto-downloaded on first inference)

  • Works on CPU; GPU (CUDA) is auto-detected and used if available

Continuous Integration

The Florence-2 slow tests (real model load + inference) run on a nightly schedule via GitHub Actions. See .github/workflows/slow-tests.yml.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Third-party licenses

This package vendors a patched copy of Microsoft's Florence-2 processor (src/videre_mcp/_vendor/processing_florence2.py) under Microsoft's MIT license. See src/videre_mcp/_vendor/LICENSE-Microsoft-Florence-2.

Available Tools

6 tools
describe_imageA

Describe an image in natural language using Florence-2.

Args: image_path: Absolute or relative path to the image file (supports PNG, JPEG, SVG). detail_level: 'normal' for a brief caption, 'high' for a detailed one. model_mode: 'fast' for Florence-2 (default), 'deep' for MiniCPM-V 4.6 (better document understanding).

Returns: Dict with description, model name, and prompt used.

Inputs: image_path (required), model_mode, detail_level. Returns: object

describe_screenshotA

Describe UI regions in a screenshot using Florence-2.

Args: image_path: Absolute or relative path to the screenshot file (supports PNG, JPEG, SVG). detail_level: 'normal' for dense region captions, 'high' for per-region descriptions. model_mode: 'fast' for Florence-2 (default), 'deep' for MiniCPM-V 4.6 (better document understanding).

Returns: Dict with detected regions (bounding boxes and labels) and model name.

Inputs: image_path (required), model_mode, detail_level. Returns: object

ocr_imageA

Extract text from an image using Florence-2 OCR.

Args: image_path: Absolute or relative path to the image file (supports PNG, JPEG, SVG). detail_level: 'normal' for plain OCR, 'high' for OCR with region info. model_mode: 'fast' for Florence-2 (default), 'deep' for MiniCPM-V 4.6 (better document understanding).

Returns: Dict with extracted text and optionally bounding regions.

Inputs: image_path (required), model_mode, detail_level. Returns: object

ocr_paddleA

Extract text from an image using PaddleOCR (100+ languages, production-grade).

PaddleOCR is purpose-built for text extraction with superior accuracy and speed compared to general vision models. Best for:

  • Multi-language documents (100+ languages supported)

  • CPU-only servers (PP-OCRv6 Tiny is only 1.5M parameters)

  • High-volume batch OCR (5.2× faster than previous versions)

Args: image_path: Absolute or relative path to the image file (supports PNG, JPEG, etc.). language: Language code - 'en' (English), 'ch' (Chinese), 'japan' (Japanese), 'korean', 'french', 'german', 'spanish', 'arabic', 'multilingual', etc. See PaddleOCR docs for full list. detail_level: 'normal' for plain text, 'high' for text with bounding boxes and confidence. use_angle_cls: If True, use angle classification to correct rotated text (default True).

Returns: Dict with extracted text, and optionally regions with bounding boxes and confidence.

Inputs: image_path (required), language, detail_level, use_angle_cls. Returns: object

parse_documentA

Parse a document (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, MD) into structured output using Docling.

Docling is IBM's document understanding library that extracts text, tables, charts, formulas, and code blocks from multi-format documents.

Args: file_path: Absolute or relative path to the document file. Supports: PDF, DOCX, PPTX, HTML, Markdown, XLSX, Images. output_format: Output format - 'markdown' (default), 'json', 'text', or 'html'. extract_tables: If True, extract and structure tables (default True). extract_images: If True, extract embedded images (default False).

Returns: Dict with parsed content, metadata, and optionally tables/images.

Inputs: file_path (required), output_format, extract_images, extract_tables. Returns: object

take_screenshotA

Capture a screenshot and optionally describe it using Florence-2.

Args: output_path: Path to save the screenshot PNG. If None, saves to a temp file. monitor: Monitor index (0 = all monitors combined, 1 = primary, etc.). describe: If True, also run describe_screenshot on the captured image. model_mode: 'fast' for Florence-2 (default), 'deep' for MiniCPM-V 4.6 (better document understanding).

Returns: Dict with path, width, height, monitor, and optionally regions.

Inputs: monitor, describe, model_mode, output_path. Returns: object

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Loading tool schema changelog…

    TDQS

    A4.2/5.0

    Scored across 6 tools

    Disambiguation4/5

    Tools are mostly distinct, but ocr_image and ocr_paddle overlap in OCR functionality. However, descriptions clearly differentiate their strengths (Florence-2 vs PaddleOCR), so ambiguity is minimal.

    Naming Consistency5/5

    All tool names follow a consistent verb_noun pattern with snake_case (describe_image, ocr_image, parse_document, take_screenshot). This makes the tool surface predictable for an agent.

    Tool Count5/5

    6 tools is well-scoped for the server's purpose of image/document analysis and screenshot capture. Each tool serves a clear function without bloat.

    Completeness5/5

    The tool set covers the core tasks: image description, screenshot capture and description, OCR (with specialized options), and document parsing. There are no obvious gaps for the intended domain.

    Maintenance

    ActivityStale
    ResponsivenessOutdated data

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