Wikipedia MCP Image Crawler

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for searching and retrieving images from Wikipedia Commons. This server provides tools to search for images and fetch detailed metadata through the Wikipedia API.

I created this tool because i needed images of Greek philosopher's. I needed to mak sure i had full attribution and licenses. This will search wikipedia only and download images that are in the public domain and free to use.

Features

Tools

• wiki_image_search - Search for images on Wikipedia Commons

  • Search by query with customizable result limits (1-50)

  • Returns image URLs, dimensions, MIME types, and sizes

• wiki_image_info - Get detailed information about specific images

  • Fetches comprehensive metadata including license and author

  • Returns full resolution URLs and description links

Related MCP server: webfetch

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher

• npm or pnpm package manager

Local Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/dazeb/wikipedia-mcp-image-crawler.git
   cd wikipedia-mcp-image-crawler

2. Install dependencies:

   pnpm install

3. Build the server:

   pnpm run build

Integration with Claude

Claude Desktop App

Add the server configuration to your Claude config file:

MacOS:

nano ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Linux:

nano ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

notepad %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add this configuration (adjust the path to where you cloned the repository):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wikipedia-mcp-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/wikipedia-mcp-image-crawler/build/index.js"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

VSCode Extensions

Cline VSCode Extension

For the Cline VSCode extension, add to:

MacOS:

~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json

Linux:

~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json

Windows:

%APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\saoudrizwan.claude-dev\settings\cline_mcp_settings.json

For VS Code Insiders, replace Code with Code - Insiders in the paths above.

Add this configuration to the JSON file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wikipedia-mcp-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/wikipedia-mcp-image-crawler/build/index.js"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

If the file already contains other MCP servers, add this entry to the existing mcpServers object.

Usage

Once installed, the server provides two main tools:

Image Search

Search for images matching a query:

{
  "name": "wiki_image_search",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "golden gate bridge",
    "limit": 5
  }
}

Image Information

Get detailed metadata for a specific image:

{
  "name": "wiki_image_info",
  "arguments": {
    "title": "File:Golden Gate Bridge.jpg"
  }
}

Development

Running in Watch Mode

For development with auto-rebuild:

pnpm run watch

Debugging

Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, use the MCP Inspector for debugging:

pnpm run inspector

This will provide a URL to access the debugging interface in your browser.