lathe-mcp 0.1.0

File and media processing MCP server — resize, convert, optimize, extract.

Lathe — File & Media Processing MCP Server

Transforming raw files into precision output — the Swiss army knife for file processing.

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What It Does

Lathe is an MCP server that gives AI assistants direct access to file and media processing operations. 16 tools across four categories handle the most common file transformation tasks: image manipulation, PDF operations, audio/video processing, and OCR text extraction.

Install the core package for image processing, or install with extras to unlock PDF, media, and OCR capabilities.

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Tool Reference

Image

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
image_info	Get image metadata (dimensions, format, mode, EXIF)	input_path
image_resize	Resize with aspect ratio preservation	input_path, output_path, width, height, percentage
image_convert	Convert format (png, jpeg, webp, avif, bmp)	input_path, output_path, format
image_optimize	Optimize for web delivery	input_path, output_path, quality, strip_metadata
image_crop	Crop a rectangular region	input_path, output_path, x, y, width, height
image_thumbnail	Generate a square-fit thumbnail	input_path, output_path, size

PDF

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
pdf_info	Get PDF metadata (pages, title, author, encryption)	input_path
pdf_extract_text	Extract text, with OCR fallback	input_path, pages
pdf_merge	Merge multiple PDFs into one	input_paths, output_path
pdf_to_images	Convert pages to images (requires ghostscript)	input_path, output_dir, pages, format

Audio / Video

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
audio_convert	Convert audio format (mp3, wav, flac, aac, ogg)	input_path, output_path, format
audio_info	Get audio metadata (duration, bitrate, sample rate)	input_path
video_thumbnail	Extract a frame from video as image	input_path, output_path, timestamp
video_info	Get video metadata (duration, resolution, codec)	input_path

OCR

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
ocr_image	Extract text from image via Tesseract	input_path

Utility

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
health	Server status, version, dependency availability	—

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Installation

Core install (image tools only):

pip install lathe-mcp

Full install (PDF, audio/video, OCR):

pip install "lathe-mcp[full]"

System Dependencies

Some tools require external binaries. Install only what you need:

Dependency	Required For	Install
ffmpeg	Audio/video tools	brew install ffmpeg / apt install ffmpeg
tesseract	OCR tools	brew install tesseract / apt install tesseract-ocr
ghostscript	pdf_to_images	brew install ghostscript / apt install ghostscript

The health tool reports which dependencies are available at runtime.

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Usage

Run the server directly:

lathe

Or via the MCP CLI:

mcp run lathe

Claude Code

claude mcp add lathe -- /path/to/venv/bin/lathe

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lathe": {
      "command": "/path/to/venv/bin/lathe",
      "env": {
        "LATHE_WORKING_DIR": "/path/to/allowed/directory"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
LATHE_WORKING_DIR	Root directory for all file operations	Current working directory

All input and output paths are resolved relative to and constrained within LATHE_WORKING_DIR.

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Security

• Sandboxed file access — all paths validated against LATHE_WORKING_DIR
• Path traversal protection — ../ and absolute paths outside the sandbox are rejected
• Symlink escape detection — symlinks resolving outside the working directory are blocked
• Decompression bomb guard — Pillow's built-in protections are active
• File size limits — 500 MB maximum per input file

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Development

git clone https://github.com/seayniclabs/lathe.git
cd lathe
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[test,full]"
python -m pytest tests/ -q

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License

Proprietary. Copyright (c) 2026 Seaynic Labs LLC. All rights reserved.

See LICENSE for details.