openai-images-mcp

Generate and edit images with OpenAI's gpt-image and DALL·E models, exposed as Model Context Protocol tools. Supports gpt-image-1.5, gpt-image-1, gpt-image-1-mini, dall-e-3, and dall-e-2.

Tools

Tool	Purpose	Models
`list_models`	List supported models and their capabilities (sizes, qualities, edit/variation support).	all
`generate_image`	Generate one or more images from a text prompt.	`gpt-image-1.5`, `gpt-image-1`, `gpt-image-1-mini`, `dall-e-3`, `dall-e-2`
`edit_image`	Edit existing images with a prompt and optional mask.	`gpt-image-1.5`, `gpt-image-1`, `gpt-image-1-mini`, `dall-e-2`
`create_variation`	Generate variations of an image.	`dall-e-2` only

All generated files are saved to disk. Set return_image_content: true on any call to also receive the images as MCP image blocks (useful when the client should "see" the result, but adds a lot of tokens).

Install

npm install
npm run build

Configure your MCP client

Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to claude_desktop_config.json (or your project's .mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dalle": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/dalle-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-...",
        "DALLE_OUTPUT_DIR": "/absolute/path/where/images/save"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	Required. Your OpenAI API key.
`OPENAI_BASE_URL`	Optional. Override OpenAI base URL.
`OPENAI_ORG_ID`	Optional.
`OPENAI_PROJECT_ID`	Optional.
`DALLE_OUTPUT_DIR`	Optional. Default directory for saved images. Falls back to `~/dalle-mcp-output`.
`DALLE_DEFAULT_MODEL`	Optional. Model used when a tool call omits `model`. Default `gpt-image-1.5`.

Tool reference

`generate_image`

Required: prompt.

Optional: model, size, quality, n, background, output_format, output_compression, moderation, style, user, output_dir, filename_prefix, return_image_content.

Model-specific notes:

GPT Image (gpt-image-1.5, gpt-image-1, gpt-image-1-mini): sizes auto|1024x1024|1536x1024|1024x1536, qualities auto|low|medium|high. Supports background, output_format, output_compression, moderation.
DALL·E 3: sizes 1024x1024|1792x1024|1024x1792, qualities standard|hd, n must be 1, supports style.
DALL·E 2: sizes 256x256|512x512|1024x1024, quality standard.

`edit_image`

Required: prompt, images (absolute paths, up to 16 for GPT Image).

Optional: mask (transparent pixels indicate editable regions), plus the generation options above. DALL·E 3 does not support edits.

`create_variation`

DALL·E 2 only. Required: image (PNG, square, under 4MB).

Optional: n, size (256x256|512x512|1024x1024), output_dir, filename_prefix, return_image_content.

`list_models`

No arguments. Returns a JSON document describing each model's sizes, qualities, and supported options — handy for the caller to consult before picking parameters.

Development

npm run dev     # run with tsx, no build step
npm run build   # tsc to dist/
npm start       # node dist/index.js

The server speaks MCP over stdio, so you can drive it with any MCP-compatible client or manually by piping JSON-RPC messages to node dist/index.js.

Notes

DALL·E 2 and DALL·E 3 are deprecated by OpenAI and support ends 2026-05-12; prefer the GPT Image family.
GPT Image models always return base64 data; DALL·E models are asked for base64 as well so files can be saved without a second HTTP round-trip.