Nano Banana MCP Server 🍌

A production-ready Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI-powered image generation capabilities through Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash Image model.

✨ Features

• 🎨 AI Image Generation: Create high-quality images from detailed text prompts
• 📋 Smart Templates: Pre-built prompt templates for photography, design, and editing
• 📁 File Management: Upload and manage files via Gemini Files API
• 🔍 Resource Discovery: Browse templates and file metadata through MCP resources
• 🛡️ Production Ready: Comprehensive error handling, logging, and validation
• ⚡ High Performance: Optimized architecture with intelligent caching

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

1. Google Gemini API Key - Get one free here
2. Python 3.11+ (for development only)

Installation

Option 1: From MCP Registry (Recommended) This server is available in the Model Context Protocol Registry. Install it using your MCP client.

mcp-name: io.github.zhongweili/nanobanana-mcp-server

Option 2: Using uvx

uvx nanobanana-mcp-server@latest

Option 3: Using pip

pip install nanobanana-mcp-server

🔧 Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nanobanana": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["nanobanana-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-gemini-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration file locations:

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

Claude Code (VS Code Extension)

Install and configure in VS Code:

1. Install the Claude Code extension
2. Open Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P)
3. Run "Claude Code: Add MCP Server"
4. Configure:

   {
     "name": "nanobanana",
     "command": "uvx",
     "args": ["nanobanana-mcp-server@latest"],
     "env": {
       "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-gemini-api-key-here"
     }
   }
   

Cursor

Add to Cursor's MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nanobanana": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["nanobanana-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-gemini-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Continue.dev (VS Code/JetBrains)

Add to your config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "nanobanana",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["nanobanana-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-gemini-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Open WebUI

Configure in Open WebUI settings:

{
  "mcp_servers": {
    "nanobanana": {
      "command": ["uvx", "nanobanana-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-gemini-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Gemini CLI / Generic MCP Client

# Set environment variable
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-gemini-api-key-here"

# Run server in stdio mode
uvx nanobanana-mcp-server@latest

# Or with pip installation
python -m nanobanana_mcp_server.server

⚙️ Environment Variables

Optional configuration:

# Required
GEMINI_API_KEY=your-gemini-api-key-here

# Optional
IMAGE_OUTPUT_DIR=/path/to/image/directory  # Default: ~/nanobanana-images
LOG_LEVEL=INFO                             # DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR
LOG_FORMAT=standard                        # standard, json, detailed

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"GEMINI_API_KEY not set"

• Add your API key to the MCP server configuration in your client
• Get a free API key at Google AI Studio

"Server failed to start"

• Ensure you're using the latest version: uvx nanobanana-mcp-server@latest
• Check that your client supports MCP (Claude Desktop 0.10.0+)

"Permission denied" errors

• The server creates images in ~/nanobanana-images by default
• Ensure write permissions to your home directory

Development Setup

For local development:

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/zhongweili/nanobanana-mcp-server.git
cd nanobanana-mcp-server

# Install with uv
uv sync

# Set environment
export GEMINI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

# Run locally
uv run python -m nanobanana_mcp_server.server

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

🆘 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions