Camera Control

Note

This is different from the two documentation servers on the Overview page. Those are hosted knowledge bases you query for research. The Camera Control server runs on your machine and actually operates a connected camera — read settings, change ISO/aperture/shutter, shoot, and review the frame, all in natural language.

What it is

The Alpha Camera MCP server is a stateful Model Context Protocol server that wraps the Alpha Camera REST API. It holds one camera session so you can say things like “read my ISO”, “shoot and show me the frame”, or “set up for a 3-shot bracket” and it drives the camera over USB.

It ships as an .mcpb bundle you build from this repo and install into Claude Desktop. The bundle is self-contained: it embeds the native CameraWebApp REST server, so Claude Desktop launches everything itself — there is no separate server to start.

Prerequisites

1. Clone the repo and place the SDK. The camera server is built from source — the Sony Camera Remote SDK is never redistributed. See SDK setup.

   git clone https://github.com/crsdk/alpha-sdk-api.git
   cd alpha-sdk-api
   crsdk install --zip <sony-camera-remote-sdk.zip>

2. A supported Sony Alpha camera connected over USB, set to PC Remote in the camera’s USB connection menu.

3. Node.js 20+ and a C++ toolchain + CMake (run crsdk doctor to check).

Build the bundle

The crsdk CLI builds the whole thing. Each step feeds the next:

1. Regenerate the tools from the OpenAPI spec (safe to run anytime — the generated tools are committed):

   crsdk gen:mcp

2. Compile the MCP server (mcp/src → mcp/dist):

   crsdk build:mcp

3. Pack the installable bundle. This builds the native CameraWebApp first if it isn’t built, then embeds it plus its runtime libraries:

   crsdk pack:mcp

   The result is mcp/alpha-camera.mcpb.

Redistribution

The .mcpb embeds Sony’s Camera Remote SDK runtime (libCr_Core, the CrAdapter transport plugins, libusb/libssh2) and OpenCV. Installing it on your own machine is fine. Distributing it redistributes Sony’s proprietary runtime — you are responsible for complying with Sony’s SDK EULA and each library’s license, and on macOS for code-signing / notarizing the bundle before you share it.

Install in Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions.

2. Drag mcp/alpha-camera.mcpb onto the window (or use Install from file).

3. Leave Camera server URL at its default (http://localhost:8080) unless you run the REST server yourself — the bundle spawns and manages it for you.

4. Enable the extension. Claude now has the camera tools (connect_camera, get_camera_state, set_property, capture_and_review, …).

Add the skill (recommended)

The bundle carries the tools; the photographic procedures — guided setups, exposure bracketing, focus stacking — live in a Claude Skill that ships alongside the bundle at mcp/skills/sony-camera-control/. The Skill cannot live inside the .mcpb; install it separately:

Claude Desktop

Copy the sony-camera-control folder into your Skills directory, then enable it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Claude Code

cp -r mcp/skills/sony-camera-control ~/.claude/skills/

Restart Claude Code; the skill triggers on camera requests.

First run

With a camera connected, ask Claude:

Connect to my camera and show me the current settings.

Under the hood that runs connect_camera (which handles the PC-remote priority-key handshake) then get_camera_state. From there:

Set ISO to 400, then shoot and show me the frame.

runs set_property (confirming the camera accepted the value) and capture_and_review (shutter → autofocus → transfer → returns the image inline).

Troubleshooting

Connection, writability, live view, SD card, settings, and hardware states each have their own fixes — see the dedicated page:

Camera Control — TroubleshootingFixes for the local camera-control server.