mcp-see
Provides image description and object detection with bounding boxes using Gemini vision models through Google Cloud's Vertex AI, enabling AI agents to analyze images and locate objects within them.
Provides image description capabilities using OpenAI's vision models, enabling AI agents to analyze and understand images.
Click on "Deploy 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., "@mcp-see describe this UI screenshot and extract button colors"
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.
mcp-see
An MCP server that gives AI agents eyes - the ability to observe and understand images without stuffing raw pixels into their context window.
Features
Multi-provider vision: Describe images using Gemini, OpenAI, or Claude
Object detection: Find objects with bounding boxes (Gemini)
Hierarchical analysis: Detect regions, then zoom in for detail
Precise color extraction: K-Means clustering in LAB color space
Color naming: Human-readable color names via color.pizza API
Installation
Run directly from GitHub with npx:
npx github:simen/mcp-seeOr clone and build locally:
git clone https://github.com/simen/mcp-see.git
cd mcp-see
npm install
npm run buildMCP Client Configuration
Claude Desktop
Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-see": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["github:simen/mcp-see"],
"env": {
"GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT": "your-project-id",
"OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-...",
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "sk-ant-..."
}
}
}
}Other MCP Clients
The server runs on stdio transport. Configure your client to spawn npx github:simen/mcp-see.
Tools
describe
Get an AI-generated description of an image.
Input:
{
"image": "/path/to/image.png",
"prompt": "What is shown in this image?",
"provider": "gemini",
"detail": "detailed"
}Example Output:
The image shows a vibrant and colorful salad bowl, viewed from directly above.
The bowl is made of a light brown, possibly biodegradable material. The salad
is composed of various ingredients arranged in distinct sections: two small
white peeled eggs, sliced red tomatoes topped with chopped green onions, cubed
seasoned tofu, bright green edamame beans, shredded purple cabbage, and
julienned carrots...detect
Detect objects and return bounding boxes. Uses Gemini for native bbox support.
Input:
{
"image": "/path/to/image.png",
"prompt": "find all TV screens"
}Example Output:
{
"count": 3,
"objects": [
{ "id": 1, "label": "television", "bbox": [178, 245, 433, 818] },
{ "id": 2, "label": "television", "bbox": [614, 518, 792, 898] },
{ "id": 3, "label": "television", "bbox": [617, 198, 792, 493] }
]
}Coordinates are [ymin, xmin, ymax, xmax] normalized 0-1000.
describe_region
Crop to a bounding box and describe that region in detail.
Input:
{
"image": "/path/to/image.png",
"bbox": [200, 200, 800, 800],
"prompt": "describe this in detail",
"provider": "gemini"
}Example Output:
{
"bbox": [200, 200, 800, 800],
"description": "The image showcases a vibrant and colorful salad bowl in close-up. The bowl contains fresh ingredients including cubed tofu with a seasoned exterior, bright green edamame, sliced tomatoes, and shredded purple cabbage..."
}analyze_colors
Extract dominant colors from a region using K-Means clustering in LAB color space.
Input:
{
"image": "/path/to/image.png",
"bbox": [100, 200, 400, 600],
"top": 5
}Example Output:
{
"dominant": [
{
"hex": "#e6e6e5",
"rgb": [230, 230, 229],
"hsl": { "h": 60, "s": 2, "l": 90 },
"name": "Ambience White",
"percentage": 75.91
},
{
"hex": "#b16c39",
"rgb": [177, 108, 57],
"hsl": { "h": 26, "s": 51, "l": 46 },
"name": "Ginger Dough",
"percentage": 15.91
}
],
"average": {
"hex": "#c4b8a8",
"rgb": [196, 184, 168],
"name": "Doeskin"
},
"confidence": "high",
"region": {
"bbox": [100, 200, 400, 600],
"size": [200, 150],
"totalPixels": 30000
}
}The confidence field indicates color precision:
high: Flat colors (UI elements) - clusters are tightmedium: Mixed contentlow: Photographs/gradients - colors are approximate
Workflows
Hierarchical Image Understanding
The power of mcp-see is in combining tools for progressive analysis:
1. describe(image)
→ "A shelf displaying various vintage electronics and TVs"
2. detect(image, "find all screens")
→ [{label: "television", bbox: [178, 245, 433, 818]}, ...]
3. describe_region(image, [178, 245, 433, 818])
→ "A vintage CRT television with wood grain casing, displaying
a test pattern. The screen shows horizontal color bars..."
4. analyze_colors(image, [178, 245, 433, 818])
→ dominant: ["#2b1810" Espresso Bean, "#c4a882" Sandcastle, ...]Design Reference Analysis
Extract implementation-ready specs from design mockups:
1. describe(image, "explain this UI to a web developer")
→ Layout structure, component hierarchy, spacing patterns
2. detect(image, "find all buttons")
→ Bounding boxes for each button
3. For each button:
- describe_region() → Button label, icon, state
- analyze_colors() → Exact color tokens for CSSEnvironment Variables
Variable | Description | Required |
| GCP project ID for Vertex AI | For Gemini |
| OpenAI API key | For OpenAI provider |
| Anthropic API key | For Claude provider |
Gemini uses Google Cloud Application Default Credentials (ADC). Run gcloud auth application-default login to authenticate.
Technical Details
Color Extraction Algorithm
The analyze_colors tool uses K-Means clustering in LAB color space:
Convert pixels from RGB to LAB (perceptually uniform)
Subsample to 50k pixels for performance
K-Means++ initialization for better convergence
Cluster centroids become dominant colors
Convert back to RGB, name via color.pizza API
This approach groups perceptually similar colors together, working well for both flat UI colors and noisy photographs.
Bounding Box Format
All bounding boxes use [ymin, xmin, ymax, xmax] format with coordinates normalized to 0-1000. To convert to pixel coordinates:
const pixelX = (normalizedX / 1000) * imageWidth;
const pixelY = (normalizedY / 1000) * imageHeight;License
MIT
Available Tools
4 toolsanalyze_colorsA
Extract dominant colors from an image region using K-Means clustering in LAB color space. Returns colors sorted by frequency with human-readable names from color.pizza.
Inputs: image (required), bbox, top.
describeB
Get an AI-generated description of an image. Supports multiple providers (Gemini, OpenAI, Claude).
Inputs: image (required), prompt, provider, detail.
describe_regionA
Crop an image to a bounding box and describe that region in detail. Use this after detect() to zoom in on specific objects.
Inputs: image (required), bbox (required), prompt, provider.
detectA
Detect objects in an image and return bounding boxes. Uses Gemini for native bounding box support. Coordinates are normalized 0-1000 as [ymin, xmin, ymax, xmax].
Inputs: image (required), prompt.
Tool Schema Changelog
Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.
Loading tool schema changelog…
TDQS
Scored across 4 tools
Each tool has a clearly distinct purpose: analyze_colors extracts color information, describe provides general image descriptions, describe_region focuses on specific cropped areas, and detect identifies objects with bounding boxes. The descriptions explicitly differentiate their functions, with no overlap or ambiguity in their intended use cases.
The tool names follow a consistent verb-based pattern (analyze, describe, describe, detect) with clear objects (colors, region, detection). The only minor deviation is that describe_region uses an underscore while describe does not, but this is a small inconsistency that doesn't significantly impact readability or predictability.
With 4 tools, this server is well-scoped for its image analysis purpose. Each tool serves a distinct and valuable function in the workflow (detection, description, region-specific analysis, and color extraction), and there are no redundant or unnecessary tools. The count is appropriate for covering core image processing tasks without being overwhelming.
The tool set covers the essential image analysis workflow well: detection, general description, region-specific description, and color analysis. A minor gap is the lack of tools for image manipulation (e.g., cropping, resizing) or metadata extraction, but agents can work around this by using describe_region for cropping and the existing tools handle the core AI-driven analysis tasks effectively.
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