iCloud Photos MCP server

The Smart Photo Journal MCP server helps you search and analyze your macOS Photos library with intuitive tools. It enables location-based searches, label matching, people identification, and provides analytical insights about your photo collection.

Prerequisites

• macOS with a Photos library
• uv package manager

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Siddhant-K-code/memory-journal-mcp-server.git
   cd memory-journal-mcp-server
   

2. Install dependencies:

   uv sync
   

3. Configure the MCP server by updating your claude_desktop_config.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "smart-photo-journal": {
         "command": "/Users/<YOUR_DEVICE_USERNAME>/.local/bin/uv",
         "args": [
           "--directory",
           "/Users/<PATH_TO_CLONED_DIR>/memory-journal-mcp-server",
           "run",
           "server.py"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   

   Be sure to replace <YOUR_DEVICE_USERNAME> and <PATH_TO_CLONED_DIR> with your actual values.

4. Start the server:

   uv run server.py
   

   You'll need to authorize the server to access your photos. This access is local only and your data remains private.

Using the Server

When successfully started, you'll see:

Starting Smart Photo Journal MCP server.

Available Tools

Location Search

Find photos from specific locations.

Example input:

{
  "location": "Udaipur"
}

Expected output:

Found 5 photos from Udaipur:
📷 IMG_1234.jpg
...

Label Search

Search photos by keywords or labels.

Example input:

{
  "label": "Birthday"
}

Expected output:

Photos labeled as 'Birthday' (3 found):
📷 IMG_5678.jpg
...

People Search

Find photos featuring specific individuals.

Example input:

{
  "person": "Maa"
}

Expected output:

Photos with Maa (10 found):
📷 IMG_9101.jpg
...

Photo Analysis

Discover insights about your photo-taking patterns.

Example input:

{}

Expected output:

📸 Photo Taking Patterns:
Total Photos: 200
...

Practical Use Cases

Family Albums

Create collections of family photos by searching for specific people:

{
  "person": "Mom"
}

Vacation Memories

Retrieve photos from your travels using location search:

{
  "location": "Hawaii"
}

Event Photos

Find photos from special occasions:

{
  "label": "Wedding"
}

Tips for Best Results

• Make sure your Photos library is properly loaded
• Be specific with search terms when possible
• Take advantage of the fuzzy matching capability when you're unsure of exact names
• Use the photo analysis tool to understand your photography habits

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 "smart-photo-journal" '{"command":"/Users/<YOUR_DEVICE_USERNAME>/.local/bin/uv","args":["--directory","/Users/<PATH_TO_CLONED_DIR>/memory-journal-mcp-server","run","server.py"]}'

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": {
        "smart-photo-journal": {
            "command": "/Users/<YOUR_DEVICE_USERNAME>/.local/bin/uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/Users/<PATH_TO_CLONED_DIR>/memory-journal-mcp-server",
                "run",
                "server.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "smart-photo-journal": {
            "command": "/Users/<YOUR_DEVICE_USERNAME>/.local/bin/uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/Users/<PATH_TO_CLONED_DIR>/memory-journal-mcp-server",
                "run",
                "server.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect