@thenavidm/apple-photos-mcp-cli 1.1.0 → 1.1.1

package/README.md

@@ -103,11 +103,32 @@ Results on stdout, errors on stderr as JSON, so one parse handles both.
 
 ## Which surface, and what each costs
 
-An MCP server is charged on every turn; a CLI costs nothing until it is called.
+Both surfaces are the same program with the same 13 tools. The
+difference is when the model pays for them. Measured in Claude Code:
 
-The `tools/list` payload for these 13 tools is about **2,800 tokens**, plus the
-server instructions, on every turn of every conversation whether you use it or
-not. The CLI is free until you run something, which is why both exist.
+| | MCP server | CLI |
+|---|---|---|
+| Every message, with every tool loaded | 3,800 tokens | nothing |
+| Every message, Claude Code's default | 660 tokens | nothing |
+| When Apple Photos comes up | nothing more, or the tools it picks | 2,500 tokens for `SKILL.md`, once |
+| 20 messages with Apple Photos in 1, every tool loaded | 77,000 tokens | 2,500 tokens |
+
+Claude Code's [tool search](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp#scale-with-mcp-tool-search)
+is on by default: it sends only the tool names and the server instructions,
+and loads a tool's full definition when the model reaches for it. An app that
+loads every tool up front pays the first line on every message, whether
+Apple Photos comes up or not. With the skill added, Claude Code also lists its
+one-line description, about 180 tokens.
+
+To spend less, turn the server off when you are not using it, which in Claude
+Code is the `/mcp` panel. `APPLE_PHOTOS_READ_ONLY=1` takes the 6 write tools off the list, leaving 7.
+Or install the CLI and add the server on the days it earns its place.
+
+Measured on 2026-09-27 with Claude Code 2.1.257 on Claude Opus 5: one
+short prompt with and without the server connected, once with
+`ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=false` and once with the default, the difference read
+from the API's own usage figures. `SKILL.md` was measured the same way. Other
+apps and models count tokens a little differently.
 
 ## Contents
 
@@ -471,7 +492,7 @@ A standard way to give an AI assistant real access to a tool, so it can act rath
 <details>
 <summary><b>Should I use the MCP server or the CLI?</b></summary>
 
-Use the MCP server in an app with no terminal, like Claude Desktop's chat. Use the CLI anywhere commands run: an agent like Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode, a script or a cron job. The MCP server sends its full tool list to the model on every turn, and the CLI costs nothing until it runs.
+Use the MCP server in an app with no terminal, like Claude Desktop's chat. Use the CLI anywhere commands run: an agent like Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode, a script or a cron job. The MCP server's tools take up context on every message, and the CLI costs nothing until it runs.
 
 </details>
 
@@ -568,7 +589,7 @@ Run into a problem or have a question? [Open an issue](https://github.com/thenav
 
 ## About the author
 
-Navid Moazzez is a leading AI business strategist, and the host of the AI Creator Summit, watched by 100,000+ creators. He helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life. This Apple Photos MCP server is one piece of that system.
+Navid Moazzez is a leading AI business strategist, and the host of the AI Creator Summit, watched by 100,000+ creators. He helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life. He creates useful free tools, MCP servers and CLIs that creators and founders can use in their own workflows.
 
 **Links**
 
@@ -598,4 +619,4 @@ Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Apple Inc. Apple, macOS, Photo
 
 ---
 
-© 2026 [NM Media](https://navid.media). Made with ❤️ by [Navid Moazzez](https://navid.me?utm_source=github&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=apple-photos-mcp-cli&utm_content=readme).
+© 2026 [Navid Media](https://navid.media?utm_source=github&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=apple-photos-mcp-cli&utm_content=readme). Made with ❤️ by [Navid Moazzez](https://navid.me?utm_source=github&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=apple-photos-mcp-cli&utm_content=readme).

package/lib/npx.d.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+export {};

package/lib/npx.js

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * What `npx -y @thenavidm/apple-photos-mcp-cli` runs.
+ *
+ * npx starts a binary named after the package when the package's binaries
+ * point to different files. When they all share one file it starts whichever
+ * one the registry lists first, and the registry does not keep the order they
+ * were published in, so it could start apple-photos-cli and hand an MCP client the
+ * command list instead of a server. This file starts the entry as apple-photos-mcp.
+ */
+process.argv[1] = (process.argv[1] ?? "").replace(/[^/\\]*$/, "apple-photos-mcp");
+void import("./index.js");
+export {};
+//# sourceMappingURL=npx.js.map

package/lib/npx.js.map

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"version":3,"file":"npx.js","sourceRoot":"","sources":["../src-ts/npx.ts"],"names":[],"mappings":";AACA;;;;;;;;GAQG;AACH,OAAO,CAAC,IAAI,CAAC,CAAC,CAAC,GAAG,CAAC,OAAO,CAAC,IAAI,CAAC,CAAC,CAAC,IAAI,EAAE,CAAC,CAAC,OAAO,CAAC,UAAU,EAAE,kBAAkB,CAAC,CAAC;AAClF,KAAK,MAAM,CAAC,YAAY,CAAC,CAAC"}

package/package.json

@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 {
   "name": "@thenavidm/apple-photos-mcp-cli",
-  "version": "1.1.0",
+  "version": "1.1.1",
   "description": "Apple Photos MCP server and CLI for Claude Code and AI agents. 13 tools to search, look at, organise and export your own Photos library, entirely on your Mac.",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "./lib/index.js",
   "bin": {
     "apple-photos-mcp": "lib/index.js",
-    "apple-photos-cli": "lib/index.js"
+    "apple-photos-cli": "lib/index.js",
+    "apple-photos-mcp-cli": "lib/npx.js"
   },
   "engines": {
     "node": ">=20"