Google Photos MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Google Photos integration, enabling Claude, Gemini, and other AI assistants to read, write, and pick photos from your Google Photos library.

✅ Picker API Support (March 2025+)

This server implements the Google Photos Picker API, providing full library access even after the March 31, 2025 deprecation of certain Library API scopes.

Capability	Status	API
Browse full photo library	✅	Picker API
Search photos by text/date/category	✅	Library API
Create albums & upload photos	✅	Library API
Access app-created content	✅	Library API

How the Picker API works

1. Call create_picker_session — returns a URL the user opens in their browser
2. User selects photos from their full library
3. Call poll_picker_session — when mediaItemsSet is true, selected photos are returned

🛡️ Security Notice: CORS Removed

CORS middleware has been removed for security (prevents drive-by attacks on localhost).

• ✅ STDIO mode (Claude Desktop): Works normally
• ✅ Streamable HTTP (Cursor, server-to-server): Works normally
• ❌ Browser AJAX: Not supported (by design)

Features

Read operations

• Search photos by text, date, location, category, favorites
• Filter by media type (photo/video), date ranges, archived status
• Get photo details including base64-encoded images
• List albums and their contents
• Describe available filter capabilities

Write operations

• Create albums and upload photos
• Batch upload with create_album_with_media (up to 50 files)
• Add text and location enrichments to albums
• Set album cover photos

Picker operations

• Create picker sessions for full library access
• Poll sessions and retrieve selected media items

Infrastructure

• ⚡ Streamable HTTP transport (MCP 2025-06-18 spec)
• 🔗 HTTPS Keep-Alive with connection pooling
• 🔒 OS keychain token storage
• 📊 Quota management with automatic tracking
• 🔄 Automatic token refresh

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22.22+
• Google Cloud project with Photos Library API enabled
• OAuth 2.0 credentials (Web application type)

Setup

1. Google Cloud setup

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project (or select existing)
3. Enable Photos Library API
4. Create OAuth 2.0 credentials (Web application)
5. Add http://localhost:3000/auth/callback as an authorized redirect URI
6. Note your Client ID and Client Secret

2. Installation

git clone https://github.com/savethepolarbears/google-photos-mcp.git
cd google-photos-mcp
npm install

3. Configuration

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env:

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:3000/auth/callback
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=development

4. Build & run

npm run build    # Compile TypeScript
npm start        # HTTP mode (for auth & Cursor)
npm run stdio    # STDIO mode (for Claude Desktop)
npm run dev      # Dev mode with live reload

5. Authenticate

1. Start in HTTP mode: npm start
2. Visit http://localhost:3000/auth in your browser
3. Complete the Google OAuth flow
4. Tokens are saved automatically to the OS keychain

Note: Authentication must be completed in HTTP mode first. After that, switch to STDIO mode for Claude Desktop.

Dynamic port

PORT=3001 npm start
# Also update GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI in .env to match

Client configuration

Claude Desktop (STDIO)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-photos": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/google-photos-mcp/dist/index.js", "--stdio"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id",
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret",
        "GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI": "http://localhost:3000/auth/callback"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor IDE

STDIO (recommended):

• Type: Command
• Command: node /path/to/google-photos-mcp/dist/index.js --stdio

HTTP:

• Type: URL
• URL: http://localhost:3000/mcp

Smithery

# Claude Desktop
npx -y @smithery/cli install google-photos-mcp --client claude

# Cursor IDE
npx -y @smithery/cli install google-photos-mcp --client cursor

MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js        # HTTP
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js --stdio # STDIO

Available tools (19)

Search & browse

Tool	Description
search_photos	Text-based photo search
search_photos_by_location	Search by location name
search_media_by_filter	Filter by dates, categories, media type, favorites, archived
get_photo	Get photo details (optional base64)
list_albums	List all albums
get_album	Get album details
list_album_photos	List photos in an album
list_media_items	List all media items
describe_filter_capabilities	JSON reference of all filter options

Write & manage

Tool	Description
create_album	Create a new album
upload_media	Upload a local file
add_media_to_album	Add existing items to an album (max 50)
create_album_with_media	Create album + upload files in one call (max 50)
add_album_enrichment	Add text or location enrichment
set_album_cover	Set album cover photo

Picker API

Tool	Description
create_picker_session	Start a Picker session for full library access
poll_picker_session	Check session status and retrieve selected photos

Auth

Tool	Description
auth_status	Check authentication status
start_auth	Start OAuth flow via temporary local server

Example queries

"Show me photos from my trip to Paris"
"Find photos of my dog from 2024"
"List my photo albums"
"Upload these vacation photos to a new album called 'Summer 2025'"
"Search for landscape photos from last year, ordered newest first"
"Let me pick some photos from my library" (triggers Picker API)

Location data

Location data is approximate, extracted from photo descriptions using OpenStreetMap/Nominatim geocoding. When available, includes latitude/longitude, city, region, country.

Deployment / release

This project is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server intended to be run locally alongside AI clients like Claude Desktop or Cursor. There is no remote deployment or release process required beyond keeping your local checkout or NPM installation up to date.

Troubleshooting

• Node Version: Ensure you are using Node.js 22.22+ as older versions are not supported.
• Authentication: If you encounter GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID is not set errors or authentication fails, verify your .env file is present in the root directory and contains your correct Google Cloud credentials. Remember to run npm start (HTTP mode) to authenticate before switching to STDIO mode.
• Quota Issues: Google Photos API limits apply. Ensure you aren't hitting the 10,000 requests/day quota limit. The server tracks this via quotaManager.
• CORS Errors: The server intentionally disables CORS to prevent drive-by attacks. Do not attempt to call the server directly from browser AJAX requests.

Development

Project structure

src/
├── index.ts              # HTTP entry point
├── dxt-server.ts         # STDIO/DXT entry point
├── mcp/core.ts           # All tool handlers (19 tools)
├── api/
│   ├── client.ts         # REST client (Library + Picker)
│   ├── photos.ts         # Facade module (re-exports)
│   ├── types.ts          # TypeScript interfaces
│   └── repositories/     # Low-level API calls
├── auth/                 # OAuth, tokens, keychain
├── schemas/              # Zod validation schemas
├── utils/                # Config, logging, quota, retry
└── views/                # HTML templates

Testing

npm test              # All tests (Vitest)
npm run test:watch    # Interactive TDD
npm run test:coverage # Coverage report
npm run test:security # Security suite only

Quality checks

All three must pass before merge:

npx tsc --noEmit   # Type check
npm run lint        # ESLint
npm test            # Tests

License

MIT