Canon Camera Control MCP server

This package enables remote control of Canon cameras through the Canon Camera Control API (CCAPI), using FastMCP for HTTP transport. It allows you to programmatically access camera functions and stream images over HTTP.

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or higher
• Canon camera with CCAPI enabled
• Network connection between your computer and camera

Installation

1. Install the required Python dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Activate CCAPI on your Canon camera by following the official Canon CCAPI activation instructions.

3. Make sure your camera is connected to the same network as your computer and note its IP address.

Usage

Running the Server

You can run the server in two ways:

Using Claude Desktop Client

Configure the server in your Claude Desktop Client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Canon Camera Controller": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/dir",
        "run",
        "server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANON_IP": "192.168.0.111"
      }
    }
  }
}

Make sure to replace "/path/to/dir" with the actual directory path and "192.168.0.111" with your camera's IP address.

Using Python Directly

Run the server directly with Python:

python server.py

You can specify the camera's IP address using the CANON_IP environment variable:

CANON_IP=192.168.0.111 python server.py

Controlling the Camera

Once the server is running, you can control your Canon camera through HTTP requests to the FastMCP server. The server exposes various camera functions such as:

• Taking photos
• Adjusting camera settings
• Downloading images
• Streaming live view

Additional Resources

• This project is based on laszewsk/canon-r7-ccapi
• For a full list of available camera functions, refer to the Canon CCAPI Function List

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "Canon-Camera-Controller" '{"command":"uv","args":["--directory","/path/to/dir","run","server.py"],"env":{"CANON_IP":"192.168.0.111"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "Canon Camera Controller": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/path/to/dir",
                "run",
                "server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "CANON_IP": "192.168.0.111"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "Canon Camera Controller": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/path/to/dir",
                "run",
                "server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "CANON_IP": "192.168.0.111"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect