The Sidearm MCP Server exposes the Sidearm API as MCP tools, enabling AI agents to protect creative media from AI training, detect AI-generated content, and manage media assets.
Media Protection
Apply specific algorithms (e.g., Nightshade, Glaze) or preset protection levels (
standard/maximum) to images, video, audio, text, PDFs, and GIFsExtract raw embedding vectors for similarity search or ML pipelines
Browse available protection algorithms by category or media type
AI & Content Detection
Detect whether media was AI-generated (images, video, audio, text)
Check if media has been previously registered via fingerprint matching
Run membership inference to determine if content was used to train a specific AI model
Media Search
Search an indexed library for similar/matching media at varying depths (exact, perceptual, compositional, etc.)
List and review previous searches
Media Library Management
Register, list, retrieve, update, and permanently delete media assets with optional protection modes
Provenance & Rights
Retrieve full provenance chains (algorithms, C2PA manifests, membership results)
Access C2PA, IPTC, and TDM-AI rights/licensing metadata for assets
Identify media by its embedded Sidearm fingerprint
Sharing
Create, retrieve, and publish shareable links for detection, search, or provenance results
Job Monitoring
Poll and retrieve results of asynchronous processing jobs (protection, detection, etc.)
Account & Billing
View account details, credit balance, usage breakdown, billing history, and billing portal access
Deletion Records
List and inspect records of permanently deleted assets
Documentation
Search the Sidearm API developer docs and get step-by-step UI navigation instructions
Click on "Install Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Sidearm MCP ServerProtect my artwork from AI training"
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.
@sidearmdrm/mcp
MCP server for the Sidearm API — protect media from AI training, detect AI-generated content, and search for stolen work.
This package exposes the Sidearm REST API as Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools that AI agents (Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, etc.) can call directly.
Quick Start
1. Get an API key
Sign up at sdrm.io and create an API key at sdrm.io/api-keys.
2. Configure your agent
Add to your MCP configuration file:
Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"sdrm": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@sidearmdrm/mcp"],
"env": {
"SDRM_API_KEY": "sk_live_..."
}
}
}
}Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"sdrm": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@sidearmdrm/mcp"],
"env": {
"SDRM_API_KEY": "sk_live_..."
}
}
}
}Windsurf (~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"sdrm": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@sidearmdrm/mcp"],
"env": {
"SDRM_API_KEY": "sk_live_..."
}
}
}
}That's it. Your agent can now call Sidearm tools.
Tools (27)
Discovery
Tool | Description |
| Browse available protection algorithms. Filter by category or media type. |
Protection & Extraction
Tool | Description |
| Run specific algorithms on media by ID. Returns a job for async processing. |
| Protect media with a preset level (standard/maximum). Auto-selects algorithms. |
| Extract raw embedding vectors from media for downstream similarity search or ML pipelines. |
Jobs
Tool | Description |
| Poll async job status. Returns progress and results when complete. |
Detection
Tool | Description |
| Detect whether media was AI-generated. Supports image, video, audio, text. |
| Check if media has been previously registered using fingerprint matching. |
| Test whether your content was used to train a suspect AI model. |
Search
Tool | Description |
| Search for similar media across your indexed library. |
| List previous searches on your account. |
Media Management
Tool | Description |
| Register and index media with optional protection mode (register, search_ready, standard, maximum). |
| List media assets in your library (paginated, filterable). |
| Get details of a specific media asset including protection status and algorithms applied. |
| Update media metadata (e.g., original URL). |
| Permanently delete a media asset and all associated data. |
Account, Rights & Billing
Tool | Description |
| Get your account details — ID, name, email, credit balance, and plan info. |
| Get C2PA, IPTC, and rights information for a media asset. |
| View credit balance, usage breakdown, per-algorithm costs, and billing portal link. |
Provenance & Identification
Tool | Description |
| Get the full provenance chain for an asset — algorithms, C2PA manifest, membership results. |
| Identify media by its embedded Sidearm fingerprint and extract its C2PA provenance chain. |
Shares
Tool | Description |
| Create a shareable link for a detection, search, or provenance result (starts private). |
| Get a shared result by its share ID. |
| Make a shared result publicly accessible. |
Deletion Records
Tool | Description |
| List deletion records documenting permanently deleted assets. |
| Get details of a specific deletion record including purged algorithms and storage status. |
Documentation
Tool | Description |
| Search the Sidearm API documentation. Returns relevant sections from the full developer reference. |
| Look up how to perform actions in the Sidearm dashboard. Returns step-by-step instructions. |
Example Agent Conversations
"Protect this image from AI training"
Agent calls
protect_mediawith the image URL, thencheck_jobto get the protected file.
"What algorithms are available for audio?"
Agent calls
list_algorithmswithmedia_type: "audio".
"Run Nightshade and Glaze on my artwork"
Agent calls
run_algorithmwithalgorithms: ["nightshade", "glaze"].
"Is this photo AI-generated?"
Agent calls
detect_aiwith the image, thencheck_jobfor results.
"Was my artwork used to train Stable Diffusion?"
Agent calls
detect_membershipwith your media IDs and the model name.
"How do I upload files in the dashboard?"
Agent calls
navigate_uiwithquery: "upload files"for step-by-step instructions.
Environment Variables
Variable | Required | Description |
| Yes | Your Sidearm API key ( |
| No | Override the API base URL (default: |
Development
git clone https://github.com/sidearmDRM/mcp-server.git
cd mcp-server
npm install
npm run buildTest locally with the MCP Inspector:
SDRM_API_KEY=sk_test_... npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.jsLicense
MIT
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