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gimp-mcp

Drive GIMP 2.10 from an AI agent. An MCP server bridges tool calls to GIMP's built-in Script-Fu server, exposing the entire GIMP procedure database (every filter, layer op, transform, exporter) — plus a vision feedback loop so the model can actually see what it edits.

Agent ──MCP/stdio──▶ server.py ──TCP :10008──▶ GIMP Script-Fu server ──▶ GIMP PDB

Works with any MCP client. Examples below use Claude Code.

What makes it work: the model sees its own edits

The single most useful tool is look — it renders the current image and returns it inline to the model as an image, so there's no blind editing. The loop is:

edit → look → judge → adjust

Backed by inspect (region luminance/contrast + a text-placement hint — quantitative eyes for "is this area dark enough for light text?") and describe (exact size / mode / layers / dpi), the agent works the way a person does: make a change, look at the result, correct. Everything else is in service of that loop.

look and render_preview take a bg argument — auto (default) shows a transparency checkerboard when the image has alpha, so transparent/cut-out art is actually visible instead of vanishing onto white. Use bg=black/bg=white to preview art as it'll sit on a dark or light background (shirt, sticker, page), or bg=none to keep the alpha.

Built for agents driving it (frontier and local models)

The tool surface is shaped around how an LLM actually works this, not how a human clicks:

• See transparency, not white — the vision loop composites alpha onto a checkerboard by default, so the model never edits blind on cut-out art.
• No coordinate math — place / add_text(anchor=…) position by gravity (center, top-center, bottom-left, …). One call instead of a measure → compute → set-offset round-trip that small models routinely get wrong.
• Native transparency ops — color_to_alpha (soft-key a background out) and trim_to_content (crop to the alpha bounding box) make print/sticker workflows one call.
• Recoverable errors — failures are translated into actionable hints ("font missing — call list_fonts", "stale image id — call list_images", "server down — run start-gimp-server.sh"). This matters most for local models (Hermes, Qwen, etc.) that otherwise stall on GIMP's opaque "returned no return values".
• Fewer round-trips — gimp_batch runs many statements in one call with per-step error capture; wrappers return the ids/bboxes you'd otherwise have to re-query.

Not just editing — drawing from scratch

The generate pack (draw_ellipse/draw_polygon/draw_star/draw_line/sunburst + procedural render_plasma/render_noise) turns the tool from an editor into a canvas: an agent composes original vector/procedural art and iterates against the vision loop.

Beyond one image — automation, vectors, motion

GIMP's real power isn't editing a single file; it's scale and range. Three packs open that up:

• batch — process whole folders: batch_resize, batch_convert, batch_watermark, batch_recipe (apply any saved recipe to every image), contact_sheet. The production-pipeline unlock: "watermark these 200 photos," "vintage the whole shoot."
• paths — draw_curve: real smooth bezier curves through anchor points (waves, ribbons, organic outlines) — proper vector illustration, not just rectangles and ellipses.
• animate — frames_to_gif (layers → animated GIF), gif_from_folder (a frame sequence → GIF), spin_gif (rotate a layer into a looping spinner). Motion graphics.

Why a Script-Fu bridge (not a GIMP plugin)

On modern Linux, GIMP 2.10's Python-Fu is effectively gone — gimp-python was dropped because it depended on Python 2 (EOL), so a Python plugin won't install. But Script-Fu (Scheme) is always built in, and GIMP ships a Script-Fu server that listens on TCP and runs any PDB command. This project bridges to that. Nothing is installed into GIMP itself — it just talks to a socket.

Requirements

• GIMP 2.10 (2.10.30+ verified) on the PATH as gimp
• Python 3.10+
• fastmcp — the only third-party dep (pip install -r requirements.txt)
• Linux/macOS (Windows should work via the Script-Fu server but is untested)

Install

git clone https://github.com/constant-itis/gimp-mcp.git
cd gimp-mcp
pip install -r requirements.txt

Register the server with your MCP client. For Claude Code:

claude mcp add gimp -s user -- python3 "$(pwd)/server.py"

(For other clients, point them at python3 /abs/path/to/server.py, stdio transport.)

Go lean if you want. The tool surface is modular (core + opt-in packs). Load only what you need with GIMP_MCP_PACKS — e.g. GIMP_MCP_PACKS=core,text,select gives ~24 tools instead of 72, which context-limited / local models appreciate. See PACKS.md.

Quickstart

Headless (fast, no window):

./start-gimp-server.sh          # GIMP on 127.0.0.1:10008, idempotent

Then ask your agent — the gimp tools load automatically:

"Load ~/pic.jpg, scale to 800px wide, bump the contrast, look at it, export a PNG."

The model composes the Scheme and checks its own work with look. No GIMP scripting needed on your end.

Watch it work — the designer workflow

The common case isn't "generate an image from scratch." It's: you already have GIMP open with your artwork and you say "hey, do X to this." Because GIMP is single-instance, you point the server at the window you already have open:

# 1. open GIMP with your image (normally)
# 2. attach the server to that same window:
./start-gimp-server.sh --gui      # (or in GIMP: Filters ▸ Script-Fu ▸ Start Server)
# 3. tell your agent: "work on the image I have open — do X"

The agent finds your open image (list_images / suggest), shows it, and edits it live in your window — every tool flushes the display so you watch it happen. Ask to "see it" any time and it opens/refreshes the view.

House rules — AGENTS.md. A short convention set for any LLM driving the tool: attach to the file you already have open, compose abilities (don't railroad), show a preview + offer options at each stage, and snapshot (checkpoint) before any destructive/automated step — GIMP 2.10 has no API undo, so the snapshot is the undo. suggest gives the agent a context-aware menu of next moves to offer you.

Recipes & journaling — the power-user layer

Techniques are saved, parameterized, and reused, not rebuilt each time:

• apply_recipe(name, image_id, params) runs a named, tunable pipeline on any image — e.g. distressed-text (grit dial), vintage, sticker-outline. Bundled recipes are just editable JSON in recipes/; your own live in ~/.config/gimp-mcp/recipes/ ($GIMP_MCP_RECIPES). list_recipes / show_recipe to browse.
• journal is a macro-recorder: journal start → do edits → journal show / journal script (a standalone replay .py) / save_recipe(from_journal=True) to turn what you just did into a reusable recipe. Pure queries and preview scratch are filtered out, so the log reads like the recipe you'd hand-write.

Recipes are abilities, not baked-in behavior — data you can read, edit, share, and extend; nothing forces a workflow.

Tools (16 core + 73 in packs = 89)

Modular: the core (~16, always on) reaches the whole PDB and drives the vision loop; the rest live in opt-in packs (PACKS.md). Listing below is the full set.

The core three make the whole PDB reachable — the rest are conveniences:

• gimp_eval(scheme) — raw escape hatch; runs any Scheme/PDB expression
• pdb_query(keyword) — search the PDB for procedure names
• pdb_help(procedure) — a procedure's blurb + typed argument list

Vision & watch: look (inline render — the feedback loop, transparency-aware bg), render_preview, describe (metadata), inspect (region luminance/contrast + placement hint), show (open it in the GIMP window to watch live), suggest (context-aware menu of next moves)

Recipes & journal: apply_recipe, list_recipes, show_recipe, save_recipe, delete_recipe, journal (record → replay script / new recipe)

Editing: layers (new_layer, add_layer_from_file, set_layer, list_layers, merge_visible, delete_layer), text (add_text, list_fonts, outline_text, text_with_shadow, arc_text — text on a circular arc, for seals/badges/mission patches), transforms (crop, autocrop, rotate, flip, resize_canvas, scale_image, scale_to_fit), color/tone (brightness_contrast, hue_saturation, desaturate, invert, auto_levels, curves_adjust), filters (gaussian_blur, sharpen, pixelize, drop_shadow, vignette, oilify, emboss, lens_flare, motion_blur), selections (select, select_by_color — magic-wand/keying, feather_selection, grow_shrink_selection), fills/shapes (fill, draw_rect, gradient_fill, add_border, overlay_blend), placement & transparency (place — anchor a layer by gravity, color_to_alpha — soft-key a bg to transparent, trim_to_content — crop to the alpha bounds)

Draw from scratch (generate): draw_ellipse, draw_polygon, draw_star, draw_line, sunburst, render_plasma, render_noise — vector + procedural primitives an agent composes into original art, checking each move with look.

Session & safety: load_image, list_images, new_image, export_image, save_xcf, export_layers, close_image, checkpoint/restore_checkpoint (immutable snapshots — GIMP 2.10 has no undo over the PDB), gimp_batch (multi-statement run with per-step error capture), gimp_status, gimp_docs

Knowledge base (knowledge/)

An AI-native, self-regenerating GIMP reference — generated from the installed GIMP by introspection, so it never drifts from what you can actually call:

• pdb_full.json — all ~1264 procedures with typed args (machine ground truth)
• pdb_index.md — categorized one-line index of everything
• cookbook/00..11 — dense per-domain guides with working Scheme (read 00-overview first)
• recipes.md — "I want to do X" → which tool / cookbook
• search it in-session with the gimp_docs tool; rebuild after a GIMP upgrade with ./build-knowledge.sh

See knowledge/README.md for the full layout and regeneration story.

Files

Teaching a smaller model (teach/)

The Opus→Fable move: a strong model manufactures a verified corpus of worked examples that teaches a small / local model (Hermes, a Qwen, a fine-tune) to drive gimp-mcp. teach/factory.py executes JSON task specs against a live GIMP, records the exact tool-call trace, renders + checks each, and emits demos.jsonl (fine-tune ready), fewshot.md (prompt-ready examples), and a contact-sheet.png. The bundled curriculum (36 verified design tasks) was authored by a seed pass + subagents; the factory drops anything that doesn't actually run. See teach/README.md.

Wire protocol (confirmed on GIMP 2.10.30)

• Request: 'G' + uint16_be(len) + scheme
• Response: 'G' + err_byte(0 ok / 1 err) + uint16_be(len) + body
• plug-in-script-fu-server args: run-mode, ip(STRING), port(INT), logfile(STRING)

Gotchas worth knowing

• Don't launch GIMP with -f/--no-fonts — gimp-text-fontname then silently returns -1 and renders nothing. start-gimp-server.sh omits it deliberately.
• script-fu-* procedures take no run-mode arg; plug-in-* procedures do (RUN-NONINTERACTIVE).
• The Script-Fu interpreter is one long-lived process, so context (foreground color, brush, etc.) and defines persist across calls — use gimp-context-push/pop.
• gimp-drawable-histogram returns mean/std on a 0..255 scale on 2.10 (white = 255.0), not 0..1.

Troubleshooting

Path to GIMP 3.x

If you later install GIMP 3, Python 3 GI plugins come back and the Script-Fu server still exists — this bridge keeps working; you'd just gain the option of richer in-process plugins.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome — most are additive (a new pack, a recipe, or a tool in an existing pack) with no core changes. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, the test/dogfood loop, and the pack/recipe contracts. Bug reports and "this tool fought me as an agent" friction reports are just as valuable as code.

License

AGPL-3.0.