# ImageStep

An MCP server for image work: generation, transforms and presets. Images stay out of the context window — you get ids, paths and links back.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 1
- Author: imagestep
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/imagestep/imagestep-sdk/tree/HEAD/packages/mcp
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/imagestep

## What it does

ImageStep hands the agent a set of image tools. `generate` turns a prompt into images, `transform` runs a single operation, `run_preset` executes a saved multi-step preset, `job_status` reports progress, `search_assets` finds assets, and `save_preset` stores a chain under a name and version. A preset with `subjects` keeps one character or product consistent across a batch, and `slug@version` pins an exact version.

Image bytes never come back into context. A tool answers with an asset id, a path to a temp file, or a URL. `transform` has two modes and the input decides which one runs, not the agent. Synchronous mode needs exactly one local file or one URL, a deterministic op, and `wait: true` — nothing lands in the account. Everything else becomes a job with progress and cancellation. A local server returns `path`; the hosted endpoint at `https://mcp.imagestep.dev/mcp` returns a signed link with `expiresInSeconds`.

You need an `IMAGESTEP_API_KEY`. Paid tools accept `dry_run`, which quotes the exact price and creates nothing, so a bad parameter is refused before any credit is charged. Calling a write tool again with the same `idempotency_key` and the same arguments returns what the first call produced instead of submitting a second job.

## Requirements
- Needs: Node.js (commands run via npx)
- Remote server: `https://mcp.imagestep.dev/mcp`
- Environment variables: `IMAGESTEP_API_KEY` — keys and tokens: ask the human for the values, never commit them or put them in shared files.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add mcp -e IMAGESTEP_API_KEY=<IMAGESTEP_API_KEY> -- npx -y @imagestep/mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

2. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
claude mcp add --transport http mcp https://mcp.imagestep.dev/mcp
```

### Codex

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
codex mcp add mcp --url https://mcp.imagestep.dev/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add mcp --env IMAGESTEP_API_KEY=<IMAGESTEP_API_KEY> -- npx -y @imagestep/mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp": {
            "url": "https://mcp.imagestep.dev/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@imagestep/mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "IMAGESTEP_API_KEY": "<IMAGESTEP_API_KEY>"
            }
        }
    }
}
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "mcp": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.imagestep.dev/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "mcp": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@imagestep/mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "IMAGESTEP_API_KEY": "<IMAGESTEP_API_KEY>"
            }
        }
    }
}
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Gemini CLI

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
gemini mcp add -t http mcp https://mcp.imagestep.dev/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add -e IMAGESTEP_API_KEY=<IMAGESTEP_API_KEY> mcp npx -y @imagestep/mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

## When to use it
- generate an image from a prompt and get a link to it
- run a batch of images through one preset while keeping a character consistent
- remove a background or upscale in a single operation
- render PNGs from a template and a set of items
- check the price of an operation before running it

## Example prompts
- Generate three cover variants from this prompt and show me the URLs
- Run `hero.png` through `remove_bg` with `wait: true`
- Save this chain of steps as a preset and return the `slug@version`

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