How do I use vlm-mcp?

1. Click on "Deploy Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@vlm-mcp analyze this chart image and explain the trend" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

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vlm-mcp

by YC-CLT

Overview Schema Source Related Servers Discussions Admin

Python

Hybrid

VLM-MCP

GitHub License: MIT Python 3.11+ MCP

English | 中文

VLM-based image understanding MCP Server. Supports local llama.cpp and online VLMs (e.g. Qwen3-VL-Flash) via a unified OpenAI-compatible API.

English

Features

Dual backend: local llama.cpp + online Qwen3-VL-Flash, unified OpenAI-compatible API
Three-tier cache: L1 image encoding cache, L2 response cache (with TTL), L3 llama-server KV cache
Session management: multi-turn conversation context, auto-eviction and timeout cleanup
Prompt templates: built-in describe / ocr / chart / translate / qa
Lifecycle management: llama-server subprocess auto-starts/stops with MCP, no manual management
Backend health: auto-disable backends on API key errors, manual enable/disable support
Multi-source images: local path, HTTP URL, Base64 Data URI, raw Base64 fallback

Architecture

MCP Client (stdio)
       │
       ▼
  server.py ── tool layer (ocr_image / analyze_image / create_session / ...)
       │
       ├── session_manager.py ── session lifecycle
       ├── cache.py ── L1 image cache + L2 response cache
       ├── image_utils.py ── image parsing (path/URL/Base64)
       │
       ▼
  providers/ ── OpenAI-compatible + OCR
       │
       ├── openai_compat.py ── llama.cpp (lazy start) / online VLM
       └── ocr_provider.py ── RapidOCR (lazy load, delayed unload)

Quick Start

Requirements

Component	Notes
Python 3.11+	Runtime
uv	Package manager
llama.cpp	Native binary (`llama-server`), CUDA build required
rapidocr-onnxruntime	OCR engine (auto-installed as dependency)
Qwen3-VL-8B GGUF	Language model + vision projector

Note: This project uses the llama.cpp native binary (llama-server), NOT llama-cpp-python. No Python bindings needed — just download the llama.cpp executable.

Recommended model: Download two files from Qwen3-VL-8B-Instruct-GGUF:

File	Recommended	Notes
Vision model	`Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf`	Q4_K_M quantization, balance of speed & accuracy
Vision projector	`mmproj-Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-F16.gguf`	Must be F16, do not quantize

8 GB VRAM is sufficient. Online-only mode (qwen-vl backend only) can skip llama.cpp and GGUF models.

Install

git clone https://github.com/YC-CLT/VLM-mcp.git
cd VLM-mcp
uv sync

Configure

cp config.example.json config.json

Edit config.json:

{
  "backends": {
    "llama-cpp": {
      "enabled": true,
      "base_url": "http://localhost:11433/v1",
      "api_key": "sk-no-key-required",
      "model_name": "qwen3-vl"
    },
    "qwen-vl": {
      "enabled": false,
      "base_url": "https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
      "api_key": "your-dashscope-api-key",
      "model_name": "qwen-vl-flash"
    }
  },
  "default_backend": "llama-cpp",
  "cache_enabled": true,
  "llama": {
    "server_exe": "llama-server",
    "model": "D:/path/to/Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf",
    "mmproj": "D:/path/to/mmproj-Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-F16.gguf",
    "ngl": 99
  }
}

Key fields:

backends.<name>.enabled: set false to manually disable a backend
llama.model / llama.mmproj: absolute paths to model files (required)
llama.ngl: GPU layers, 99 = all GPU, 0 = CPU only
llama.server_exe: llama-server executable, defaults to PATH lookup

Run

uv run main.py

llama-server subprocess auto-starts and stops with MCP. No manual management needed.

MCP stdio transport — configure in your MCP client's mcpServers config.

Run from any directory: uv run --directory D:\CodeFile\VLM-mcp main.py

MCP Client Config

Add to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vlm-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/VLM-mcp", "main.py"]
    }
  }
}

MCP Tools

Tool	Parameters	Description
`ocr_image`	`image`	OCR text extraction (RapidOCR, offline, ms-level)
`analyze_image`	`image`, `prompt`, `template`, `params`, `backend`, `session_id`	Analyze image with template & session support
`create_session`	`backend`	Create multi-turn conversation session
`close_session`	`session_id`	Close session
`list_sessions`	—	List all active sessions
`list_backends`	—	List backends and their status
`list_templates`	—	List available prompt templates

Templates

Template	Params	Description
`describe`	—	General image description
`ocr`	—	Text extraction
`chart`	—	Chart analysis
`translate`	`target_lang`	Image translation (default: zh)
`qa`	`question`	Image Q&A

Examples

// Single analysis
{
  "tool": "analyze_image",
  "args": {
    "image": "D:/photos/cat.png",
    "prompt": "What is in this image?"
  }
}

// Using template
{
  "tool": "analyze_image",
  "args": {
    "image": "https://example.com/chart.png",
    "template": "chart"
  }
}

// Multi-turn session
{ "tool": "create_session", "args": { "backend": "llama-cpp" } }
// → { "session_id": "xxx" }
{ "tool": "analyze_image", "args": { "image": "...", "prompt": "...", "session_id": "xxx" } }
{ "tool": "analyze_image", "args": { "prompt": "Tell me more", "session_id": "xxx" } }
{ "tool": "close_session", "args": { "session_id": "xxx" } }

Configuration Constants

Non-sensitive constants in config.py:

Constant	Default	Description
`IMAGE_MAX_SIZE_MB`	20	Max image size
`IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT`	10	Image download timeout (s)
`CACHE_IMAGE_MAX_ENTRIES`	100	L1 cache limit
`CACHE_RESPONSE_MAX_ENTRIES`	500	L2 cache limit
`CACHE_RESPONSE_TTL_ONLINE`	3600	Online backend cache TTL (s)
`CACHE_RESPONSE_TTL_LOCAL`	1800	Local backend cache TTL (s)
`SESSION_TTL`	1800	Session timeout (s)
`SESSION_MAX`	5	Max sessions per backend
`LOG_LEVEL`	"INFO"	Log level

Development

uv sync --dev
uv run pytest tests/ -v

FAQ

llama-server running on CPU?
Check llama.ngl in config.json — 99 = all GPU, 0 = CPU only.

llama-server fails to start?
Verify server_exe is executable and model/mmproj paths exist. Check llama_server.log.

Online backend returns 401?
Invalid API key auto-disables the backend. Set a valid key and restart. Or set "enabled": false to skip.

Port conflict?
MCP uses stdio transport. llama-server uses port 11433 (configurable in config.json).

Related MCP server: MCP Vision Server

中文

特性

双后端支持：本地 llama.cpp + 在线 Qwen3-VL-Flash，统一 OpenAI 兼容 API
三层缓存：L1 图片编码缓存、L2 响应缓存（带 TTL）、L3 llama-server KV Cache
会话管理：多轮对话上下文保持，自动淘汰与超时清理
提示词模板：内置 describe / ocr / chart / translate / qa 模板
生命周期管理：llama-server 子进程与 MCP 同起同停，启动即用，无需手动管理
后端健康：API Key 错误自动禁用后端，支持手动启用/禁用
多图片来源：本地路径、HTTP URL、Base64 Data URI、纯 Base64 回退

架构

MCP Client (stdio)
       │
       ▼
  server.py ── 工具层 (ocr_image / analyze_image / create_session / ...)
       │
       ├── session_manager.py ── 会话生命周期
       ├── cache.py ── L1 图片缓存 + L2 响应缓存
       ├── image_utils.py ── 图片解析 (路径/URL/Base64)
       │
       ▼
  providers/ ── OpenAI 兼容 + OCR
       │
       ├── openai_compat.py ── llama.cpp (懒启动) / 在线 VLM
       └── ocr_provider.py ── RapidOCR (懒加载、延迟卸载)

快速开始

环境要求

组件	说明
Python 3.11+	运行环境
uv	包管理
llama.cpp	原生二进制（`llama-server`），需 CUDA 版
Qwen3-VL-8B GGUF	语言模型 + 视觉投影器

注意：本项目使用 llama.cpp 原生二进制（llama-server），不是 llama-cpp-python。无需安装 Python 绑定（即无需llama-cpp-python，这个和单llama.cpp相互独立），只需下载 llama.cpp 可执行文件即可。

推荐模型下载：从 Qwen3-VL-8B-Instruct-GGUF 下载两个文件：

文件	推荐	说明
视觉模型	`Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf`	Q4_K_M 量化，平衡速度与精度
图像编码器	`mmproj-Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-F16.gguf`	建议 F16，不必量化

这样8G显存就可以跑

纯在线模式（仅用 qwen-vl 后端）可跳过 llama.cpp 和 GGUF 模型。

安装

git clone https://github.com/YC-CLT/VLM-mcp.git
cd VLM-mcp
uv sync

配置

cp config.example.json config.json

编辑 config.json：

{
  "backends": {
    "llama-cpp": {
      "enabled": true,
      "base_url": "http://localhost:11433/v1",
      "api_key": "sk-no-key-required",
      "model_name": "qwen3-vl"
    },
    "qwen-vl": {
      "enabled": false,
      "base_url": "https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
      "api_key": "your-dashscope-api-key",
      "model_name": "qwen-vl-flash"
    }
  },
  "default_backend": "llama-cpp",
  "cache_enabled": true,
  "llama": {
    "server_exe": "llama-server",
    "model": "D:/path/to/Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf",
    "mmproj": "D:/path/to/mmproj-Qwen3VL-8B-Instruct-F16.gguf",
    "ngl": 99
  }
}

关键字段：

backends.<name>.enabled：设为 false 可手动禁用后端
llama.model / llama.mmproj：本地模型文件绝对路径（必填）
llama.ngl：GPU 层数，99 表示全部 offload 到 GPU，0 为纯 CPU
llama.server_exe：llama-server 可执行文件，默认从 PATH 查找

运行

uv run main.py

启动后会自动拉起 llama-server 子进程，MCP 退出时自动停止。无需手动管理 llama-server。

MCP stdio 传输 — 在 MCP 客户端 mcpServers 配置中设置。

从任意目录运行：uv run --directory D:\CodeFile\VLM-mcp main.py

MCP 客户端配置

在你的 MCP 客户端配置文件中添加：

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vlm-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/VLM-mcp", "main.py"]
    }
  }
}

MCP 工具

工具	参数	说明
`ocr_image`	`image`	OCR 文字提取（RapidOCR，离线毫秒级）
`analyze_image`	`image`, `prompt`, `template`, `params`, `backend`, `session_id`	分析图片，支持模板和会话
`create_session`	`backend`	创建多轮对话会话
`close_session`	`session_id`	关闭会话
`list_sessions`	—	列出所有活跃会话
`list_backends`	—	列出后端及其状态
`list_templates`	—	列出可用提示词模板

模板

模板	参数	说明
`describe`	—	通用图片描述
`ocr`	—	文字提取
`chart`	—	图表分析
`translate`	`target_lang`	图片翻译（默认中文）
`qa`	`question`	图片问答

使用示例

// 单次分析
{
  "tool": "analyze_image",
  "args": {
    "image": "D:/photos/cat.png",
    "prompt": "这张图片里有什么？"
  }
}

// 使用模板
{
  "tool": "analyze_image",
  "args": {
    "image": "https://example.com/chart.png",
    "template": "chart"
  }
}

// 多轮会话
{ "tool": "create_session", "args": { "backend": "llama-cpp" } }
// → { "session_id": "xxx" }
{ "tool": "analyze_image", "args": { "image": "...", "prompt": "...", "session_id": "xxx" } }
{ "tool": "analyze_image", "args": { "prompt": "继续分析", "session_id": "xxx" } }
{ "tool": "close_session", "args": { "session_id": "xxx" } }

配置常量

非敏感常量集中于 config.py，可在代码中直接修改：

常量	默认值	说明
`IMAGE_MAX_SIZE_MB`	20	图片最大体积
`IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT`	10	图片下载超时（秒）
`CACHE_IMAGE_MAX_ENTRIES`	100	L1 缓存上限
`CACHE_RESPONSE_MAX_ENTRIES`	500	L2 缓存上限
`CACHE_RESPONSE_TTL_ONLINE`	3600	在线后端缓存 TTL（秒）
`CACHE_RESPONSE_TTL_LOCAL`	1800	本地后端缓存 TTL（秒）
`SESSION_TTL`	1800	会话超时（秒）
`SESSION_MAX`	5	每后端最大会话数
`LOG_LEVEL`	"INFO"	日志级别

开发

uv sync --dev
uv run pytest tests/ -v

常见问题

llama-server 跑在 CPU 上？
检查 config.json 中 llama.ngl 是否为 99（全 GPU），0 为纯 CPU。

llama-server 启动失败？
确认 server_exe 可执行（PATH 中或绝对路径），model/mmproj 路径存在。查看 llama_server.log。

在线后端 401 错误？
API Key 无效时会自动禁用该后端，设好 Key 后重启即可恢复。也可手动设 "enabled": false 跳过。

端口被占用？
MCP 使用 stdio 传输。llama-server 端口 11433（可在 config.json 中配置）。

许可

MIT

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