MetaTag Genie MCP server

MetaTag Genie is a macOS Stdio MCP service designed to enhance Spotlight search by writing metadata to images. It provides an interface that follows the Machine Comprehension Protocol (MCP) specification, allowing AI agents and other applications to manage image metadata through standard input/output communication.

Installation

Using Smithery (for Claude Desktop)

To automatically install MetaTag Genie to Claude Desktop, use Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @terryso/metatag_genie --client claude

Using NPM (Recommended)

Install globally:

npm install -g metatag-genie

After global installation, run directly with:

metatag-genie

Alternatively, use npx without installation:

npx metatag-genie

From Source Code

# 1. Clone repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd metatag-genie

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Compile TypeScript code
npm run build

# 4. Link locally (optional, for testing)
npm link

Running the Service

Using NPX (Recommended)

After package installation, run with npx:

npx metatag-genie

This method doesn't require global installation and is suitable for AI agents or other clients.

Development Mode

For development, run using TypeScript source:

npm run start:dev

Production Mode

After building, run the compiled JavaScript:

npm start
# or: node dist/main.js

Integration with MCP Clients

AI agents (like Cursor) or other clients need to specify the full path to the command:

• Node.js based: /usr/local/bin/node /path/to/metatag-genie/dist/main.js
• Using npx: /usr/local/bin/npx metatag-genie

Note: This service communicates only through standard input/output, not network ports.

Cursor MCP Integration

Integrate MetaTag Genie in Cursor editor:

1. Create a .cursor/mcp.json file in your project root
2. Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "MetaTagGenie": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "metatag-genie"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Features

• Exposes MCP-compliant service via Stdio
• Provides writeImageMetadata MCP Tool
• Supports writing metadata to JPG, PNG, HEIC images
• Supported metadata types:
  • Tags
  • Description
  • People (as keywords)
  • Location (text)
• Written metadata can be searched via macOS Spotlight

Using the Tool

writeImageMetadata Example

JSON-RPC Request:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": "request-id-123",
  "method": "writeImageMetadata",
  "params": {
    "filePath": "/Users/username/Pictures/photo.jpg",
    "metadata": {
      "tags": ["Vacation", "Beach"],
      "description": "Sunset view from the hotel.",
      "people": ["Alice", "Bob"],
      "location": "Hawaii, USA"
    },
    "overwrite": true
  }
}

Note: Use a valid absolute path for filePath in actual usage.

System Requirements

• Node.js: Version 22.x LTS or higher
• Implicit dependency: The project uses exiftool-vendored, which automatically manages ExifTool dependencies

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 "MetaTagGenie" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","metatag-genie"]}'

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": {
        "MetaTagGenie": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "metatag-genie"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "MetaTagGenie": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "metatag-genie"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect