muse-image-mcp

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An MCP server that gives any MCP-capable agent — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor — image generation powered by the Meta Muse image model.

What it does

Three tools, covering the full loop of working with images in a conversation:

Why this server

Your context window survives. Every tool writes images to disk and returns an absolute file path — never the image bytes. Generating a dozen images costs you a dozen lines of context instead of a dozen megabytes of base64. When you actually want to look at an image, open the path with a file-reading tool.

Multi-turn refinement without state. iterate_image returns a response_id; feed it back as previous_response_id and the next turn continues the same conversation. The server itself stores nothing — conversation state lives on Meta's side, so the server stays restartable and stateless.

New models don't require a new release. Switch models with MUSE_MODEL or a per-call model parameter, and pass parameters this server has never heard of through extra_params. Fields that determine request structure are protected from being overwritten; everything else is a deliberate escape hatch.

You always know what it cost. Every response ends with the estimated cost of that call.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20.12.0
• A Meta Muse API key

Getting an API key

Muse Image runs on the Meta Model API, so you register with Meta — not with this project:

1. Go to https://dev.meta.ai and sign in to the Meta Model API dashboard.
2. Open API keys.
3. Click Create API key and copy the value.

That value is what you pass as MUSE_API_KEY below. Meta's own documentation calls this variable MODEL_API_KEY; this server reads it as MUSE_API_KEY, talks to https://api.meta.ai/v1, and defaults to the model muse-image-1.0.

Reference: Model API docs · Image generation · Muse Image announcement

Keep the key out of source control — use the MCP config's env block or a .env file, both described below.

Install

Option 1: npx (recommended — no clone required)

claude mcp add muse-image --scope user --env MUSE_API_KEY=your-key -- npx -y muse-image-mcp

npx fetches and runs the latest version on demand — nothing to install first.

• --scope user applies it to every project; use --scope local for the current project only.
• -y skips npx's install prompt. Without it the server hangs on an interactive question and the handshake fails.
• Everything after -- is the launch command; --env before it belongs to claude mcp add.

For other MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor), write the config by hand:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "muse-image": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "muse-image-mcp"],
      "env": { "MUSE_API_KEY": "your-key" }
    }
  }
}

On Windows, if npx can't be found, use "command": "cmd" with "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "muse-image-mcp"].

Option 2: Local clone (when you want to change the code)

git clone https://github.com/kevintsai1202/muse-image-mcp.git
cd muse-image-mcp
npm install
npm run build
claude mcp add muse-image --scope user --env MUSE_API_KEY=your-key -- node <your-clone-path>/dist/index.js

After installing

Start a new session — MCP servers are loaded at session start, so an existing session won't pick it up. Then confirm with claude mcp list, which should show muse-image: ... - Connected, and check that the three mcp__muse-image__* tools are available.

Configuring the API key

Precedence is the env block in your MCP config > a .env file.

Using the MCP config env block (the only route when installed via npx)

See --env MUSE_API_KEY=your-key above.

Using a .env file

The server searches these locations in order and uses the first one that exists:

1. <package root>/.env — convenient for a local clone
2. ~/.muse-image-mcp/.env — the only location you control when installed via npx

MUSE_API_KEY=your-key

Note that .env is not read from the directory you launched Claude Code in — an MCP server's working directory is decided by the client, which makes it a poor place for configuration. When installed via npx the package itself lives in a hashed npm cache directory that gets cleaned up, so a .env there would be pointless.

Environment variables

All of these work in either .env or your MCP config's env block.

The cwd in MUSE_OUTPUT_DIR's default is the working directory the MCP client launched the server from. In Claude Code that's the project root of your session, so images land in that project's generated-images/. If your client behaves differently, or you want a fixed location, set MUSE_OUTPUT_DIR to an absolute path.

Since v0.1.0 the default output directory changed from muse-output/ to generated-images/. The old directory is not deleted or migrated automatically.

Switching models and passing new parameters

When a new model ships you don't have to wait for this project to update — switch models with an environment variable, send new parameters through extra_params.

Switching models

Globally, in .env or your MCP config:

MUSE_MODEL=muse-image-2.0

Per call, just ask for it in conversation and the agent will pass model:

{ "prompt": "a red fox", "model": "muse-image-2.0" }

Passing new parameters

Global defaults as a JSON object string:

MUSE_EXTRA_PARAMS={"quality":"ultra"}

Per-call overrides via extra_params, merged with the global setting — the per-call value wins:

{ "prompt": "a red fox", "extra_params": { "style_preset": "anime" } }

Protected core fields

model, prompt, response_format, images, input, store, and previous_response_id determine the structure of the request and cannot be overwritten by extra_params. Setting them there has no effect, and the response will end with a warning listing the ignored keys.

To change models, use the model parameter or MUSE_MODEL — not extra_params.

Outside those core fields, extra_params does override same-named regular parameters, including n, size, output_format, and reasoning_strength. The tool schema's validation for these (for example n being limited to 1–10) does not apply on this path — that's a deliberate escape hatch so a future model that changes parameter semantics isn't blocked by today's limits. When overriding n this way, watch your image count and cost.

Tools

Every tool saves images locally and returns absolute paths, never the image content itself — this keeps base64 out of your conversation context. Open the path with a file-reading tool when you want to see the image.

generate_image — text to image

edit_image — edit from reference images

iterate_image — conversational refinement