Immich Photo Library (via claw2immich)

Work with your Immich photo library via the claw2immich MCP server. Search by people, dates, locations, and albums. Download photos via shared links or inline base64. 249 tools available from the full Immich OpenAPI spec.

Prerequisites

• - Immich instance running (https://immich.app)
• claw2immich MCP server installed and running

- Repository: https://github.com/JoeRu/claw2immich - Follow setup instructions in the repo README

• - MCP server configured in config/mcporter.json:

CODEBLOCK0

Key Tools

Tool	Description
INLINECODE1	Metadata search (date, people, location, etc.)
INLINECODE2

CLIP-based natural language search | | immich_searchperson | Find person by name | | immich_getassetinfo | Get full asset details including web_url | | immich_viewasset | Get thumbnail/preview as base64 (WebP) | | downloadAsset | Download asset via shared link (default) or inline base64 | | immich_getallpeople | List all people | | immich_getallalbums | List all albums | | immich_createsharedlink | Create shared link for album/assets | | tool_access_report | Check which tools are available |

Quick Start

Find people by name

CODEBLOCK1

Search photos with multiple people (AND logic)

CODEBLOCK2

CLIP smart search (natural language)

CODEBLOCK3

Get asset info (includes web_url)

CODEBLOCK4

Download a photo (shared link)

mcporter call immich downloadAsset asset_id=<asset-uuid>

Returns a short-lived shared link (30 min, no auth needed).

Get thumbnail for display

mcporter call immich immich_viewasset path_id=<asset-uuid> query_size=thumbnail

Returns {encoding: "base64", content_type: "image/webp", size_bytes: ..., data: "..."}.

Web URLs

Tool responses for assets, albums, people, and places include a web_url field:

• - Assets: INLINECODE14
• Albums: INLINECODE15
• People: INLINECODE16

This requires IMMICH_EXTERNAL_DOMAIN to be configured on the server.

Common Workflows

"Show me recent photos of X and Y together"

1. 1. Find person IDs:

CODEBLOCK7

1. 2. Search photos (AND logic):

CODEBLOCK8

1. 3. Display a photo:

   mcporter call immich immich_viewasset path_id=<asset-id> query_size=thumbnail
   

Decode base64 data, save as .webp, send to user.

"Find vacation photos from summer 2024"

CODEBLOCK10

"Download a photo"

CODEBLOCK11

Response:
CODEBLOCK12

The shared link can be sent directly to users — no auth required.

Displaying photos in chat

1. 1. Get thumbnail via immich_viewasset (query_size=thumbnail, typically < 30KB)
2. Decode the base64 data field
3. Save as .webp file
4. Send via messaging tool

Note: preview size may exceed the 64KB MCP transport limit. Use thumbnail for reliable delivery.

Key Parameters

immich_searchassets (POST /api/search/assets)

Filtering:

• - body_personIds: ["uuid1", "uuid2"] — Photos with these people (AND)
• INLINECODE24 — Filter by city
• INLINECODE25 — Filter by country
• INLINECODE26 — Minimum date
• INLINECODE27 — Maximum date
• INLINECODE28 — Only favorites
• INLINECODE29 — Filter by albums

Sorting & Pagination:

• - body_order: "desc" — Newest first
• INLINECODE31 — Oldest first
• INLINECODE32 — Limit results
• INLINECODE33 — Page number

immich_searchsmart (POST /api/search/smart)

• - body_query: "string" — Natural language query (CLIP-based)
• INLINECODE35 — Limit results
• Same filter parameters as searchassets

downloadAsset

• - asset_id: "uuid" — Asset to download

Delivery mode is controlled server-side via IMMICH_DOWNLOAD_ASSET_DELIVERY:

• - shared_link (default): Returns a tokenized shared link (30 min TTL, no auth)
• INLINECODE39: Returns base64-encoded file data (limited by 64KB transport)
• INLINECODE40: Returns direct Immich URL (requires auth)

immich_viewasset (GET /api/assets/{id}/thumbnail)

• - path_id: "uuid" — Asset ID
• INLINECODE42 — Image size

Returns structured base64 response. Use thumbnail to stay under transport limits.

Important Patterns

Multi-Person Search (AND)

✅ Correct: Array in body_personIds

{"body_personIds": ["person-1", "person-2"]}

❌ Wrong: Separate calls (that's OR, not AND)

Parameter Prefixes

All OpenAPI tool parameters use prefixes:

• - path_<name> — Path parameters
• INLINECODE46 — Query parameters
• INLINECODE47 — Body parameters (for POST endpoints)

Date Filtering

Always use ISO 8601: INLINECODE48

64KB Transport Limit

MCP responses are truncated at 64KB. This affects:

• - downloadAsset with inline_base64 mode (use shared_link instead)
• INLINECODE52 with query_size=preview (use thumbnail instead)
• Large search results (reduce body_size)

Access Profiles

Set IMMICH_PROFILE on the server to restrict tools:

• - read_only — Only GET endpoints (search, browse)
• INLINECODE58 — Read + write (upload, update, delete)
• INLINECODE59 — Everything including admin

Use tool_access_report to check available tools.

Troubleshooting

No results with multiple people:

• - Verify person IDs (search each person first)
• Add body_isArchived: false if photos might be archived

downloadAsset returns error:

• - Check tool_access_report for permissions
• Shared link creation requires write access to shared-links API

Thumbnail too large:

• - Use query_size=thumbnail instead of INLINECODE64
• Thumbnails are typically 5-25 KB (WebP)

MCP call fails:

• - Verify server is running: INLINECODE65
• Check config: INLINECODE66

Reference

• - Immich: https://immich.app
• claw2immich: https://github.com/JoeRu/claw2immich
• Immich API docs: https://immich.app/docs/api/