How to integrate Cloudinary MCP with Claude Code

Manage your Cloudinary directly from Claude Code with zero worries about OAuth hassles, API-breaking issues, or reliability and security concerns. You can do this in two different ways: Via Composio Connect - Direct and easiest approach Via Composio SDK - Programmatic approach with more control

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Api Key

Cloudinary is a cloud-based platform for managing, uploading, and transforming images and videos. It streamlines media workflows and delivers optimized assets globally.

108 Tools

Introduction

Manage your Cloudinary directly from Claude Code with zero worries about OAuth hassles, API-breaking issues, or reliability and security concerns.

You can do this in two different ways:

  1. Via Composio Connect - Direct and easiest approach
  2. Via Composio SDK - Programmatic approach with more control

Also integrate Cloudinary with

Why use Composio?

  • Only one MCP URL to connect multiple apps with Claude Code with zero auth hassles.
  • Programmatic tool calling allows LLMs to write its code in a remote workbench to handle complex tool chaining. Reduces to-and-fro with LLMs for frequent tool calling.
  • Handling Large tool responses out of LLM context to minimize context rot.
  • Dynamic just-in-time access to 20,000 tools across 1000+ other Apps for cross-app workflows. It loads the tools you need, so LLMs aren't overwhelmed by tools you don't need.

Connecting Cloudinary to Claude Code using Composio

1. Add the Composio MCP to Claude

Terminal

2. Start Claude Code

bash
claude

3. Open your MCP list

bash
/mcp

4. Select Composio and click on Authenticate

Select Composio and click Authenticate

5. This will redirect you to the Composio OAuth page. Complete the flow by authorizing Composio and you're all set.

Composio OAuth authorization page
Composio authorization complete
Ask Claude to connect to your account and authenticate via the link

What is the Cloudinary MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Cloudinary MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Cloudinary account. It provides structured and secure access to your digital asset management system, so your agent can perform actions like organizing folders, creating metadata fields, managing upload presets, and handling asset deletion on your behalf.

  • Automated folder and asset organization: Easily instruct your agent to create new asset folders or remove empty ones, keeping your Cloudinary library tidy and structured.
  • Metadata management: Let your agent create custom metadata fields or delete obsolete ones, extending and refining your asset tagging and search capabilities.
  • Preset and upload mapping creation: Have your agent set up upload presets with specific options or define dynamic folder mappings, automating consistent upload processes across your assets.
  • Resource and derived asset cleanup: Direct your agent to permanently delete assets by ID or remove unnecessary derived resources, ensuring your storage stays efficient and clutter-free.
  • Datasource entry management: Ask your agent to inactivate or delete specific datasource entries from metadata fields, keeping your metadata schema accurate and up to date.

Connecting Cloudinary via Composio SDK

Composio SDK is the underlying tech that powers Rube. It's a universal gateway that does everything Rube does but with much more programmatic control. You can programmatically generate an MCP URL with the app you need (here Cloudinary) for even more tool search precision. It's secure and reliable.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step10 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Claude Pro, Max, or API billing enabled Anthropic account
  • Composio API Key
  • A Cloudinary account
  • Basic knowledge of Python or TypeScript
2

Install Claude Code

bash
# macOS, Linux, WSL
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows PowerShell
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

# Windows CMD
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd

To install Claude Code, use one of the following methods based on your operating system:

3

Set up Claude Code

bash
cd your-project-folder
claude

Open a terminal, go to your project folder, and start Claude Code:

  • Claude Code will open in your terminal
  • Follow the prompts to sign in with your Anthropic account
  • Complete the authentication flow
  • Once authenticated, you can start using Claude Code
Claude Code initial setup showing sign-in prompt
Claude Code terminal after successful login
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root with the following variables:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio (get it from Composio dashboard)
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management (use any unique identifier)
5

Install Composio library

npm install @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio TypeScript library to create MCP sessions.

  • @composio/core provides the core Composio functionality
  • dotenv loads environment variables from your .env file
6

Generate Composio MCP URL

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;

if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
}

const composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['cloudinary'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http cloudinary-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

Create a script to generate a Composio MCP URL for Cloudinary. This URL will be used to connect Claude Code to Cloudinary.

What's happening

  • We import the Composio client and load environment variables
  • Create a Composio instance with your API key
  • Call create() to create a Tool Router session for Cloudinary
  • The returned mcp.url is the MCP server URL that Claude Code will use
  • The script prints this URL so you can copy it
7

Run the script and copy the MCP URL

node --loader ts-node/esm generate_mcp_url.ts
# or if using tsx
tsx generate_mcp_url.ts

Run your TypeScript script to generate the MCP URL.

  • The script connects to Composio and creates a Tool Router session
  • It prints the MCP URL and the exact command you need to run
  • Copy the entire claude mcp add command from the output
8

Add Cloudinary MCP to Claude Code

bash
claude mcp add --transport http cloudinary-composio "YOUR_MCP_URL_HERE" --headers "X-API-Key:YOUR_COMPOSIO_API_KEY"

# Then restart Claude Code
exit
claude

In your terminal, add the MCP server using the command from the previous step. The command format is:

  • claude mcp add registers a new MCP server with Claude Code
  • --transport http specifies that this is an HTTP-based MCP server
  • The server name (cloudinary-composio) is how you'll reference it
  • The URL points to your Composio Tool Router session
  • --headers includes your Composio API key for authentication

After running the command, close the current Claude Code session and start a new one for the changes to take effect.

9

Verify the installation

bash
claude mcp list

Check that your Cloudinary MCP server is properly configured.

  • This command lists all MCP servers registered with Claude Code
  • You should see your cloudinary-composio entry in the list
  • This confirms that Claude Code can now access Cloudinary tools

If everything is wired up, you should see your cloudinary-composio entry listed:

Claude Code MCP list showing the toolkit MCP server
10

Authenticate Cloudinary

The first time you try to use Cloudinary tools, you'll be prompted to authenticate.

  • Claude Code will detect that you need to authenticate with Cloudinary
  • It will show you an authentication link
  • Open the link in your browser (or copy/paste it)
  • Complete the Cloudinary authorization flow
  • Return to the terminal and start using Cloudinary through Claude Code

Once authenticated, you can ask Claude Code to perform Cloudinary operations in natural language. For example:

  • "Create a new folder for event photos"
  • "Delete derived assets with IDs [123,456]"
  • "Set up upload preset with watermarking"

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Cloudinary and Claude Code:

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;

if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
}

const composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['cloudinary'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http cloudinary-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

Conclusion

You've successfully integrated Cloudinary with Claude Code using Composio's MCP server. Now you can interact with Cloudinary directly from your terminal using natural language commands.

Key features of this setup:

  • Terminal-native experience without switching contexts
  • Natural language commands for Cloudinary operations
  • Secure authentication through Composio's managed MCP
  • Tool Router for dynamic tool discovery and execution

Next steps:

  • Try asking Claude Code to perform various Cloudinary operations
  • Add more toolkits to your Tool Router session for multi-app workflows
  • Integrate this setup into your development workflow for increased productivity

You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom workflows, or building automation scripts that leverage Claude Code's capabilities.

TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Cloudinary action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Activate Live Stream

Tool to manually activate a Cloudinary live stream.

Create Asset Relations by Asset ID

Tool to add related assets by asset ID.

Create Asset Relations by Public ID

Tool to create relations between assets by public ID.

Create Folder

Tool to create a new asset folder.

Create Image from Text

Tool to create an image from text using Cloudinary's text generation API.

Create Live Stream

Tool to create a new live stream in Cloudinary.

Create Live Stream Output

Tool to create a new live stream output configuration.

Create Metadata Field

Tool to create a new metadata field definition.

Create Metadata Rule

Tool to create a new conditional metadata rule.

Create Multi-Resource Animation

Tool to create an animated image, video, or PDF from a set of images.

Create Slideshow

Tool to create an auto-generated video slideshow from existing Cloudinary assets.

Create Streaming Profile

Tool to create a new adaptive streaming profile in your Cloudinary account.

Create Transformation

Tool to create a new named transformation by assigning a custom name to a set of transformation parameters.

Create Trigger

Tool to create a new webhook trigger for a specified event type.

Create Upload Mapping

Tool to create a new upload mapping folder and URL template.

Create Upload Preset

Tool to create a new upload preset.

Delete Asset Relations by Asset ID

Tool to delete asset relations by asset ID.

Delete Asset Relations by Public ID

Tool to delete asset relations by public ID.

Delete Derived Resources

Tool to delete derived assets.

Delete Metadata Field Datasource Entries

Tool to delete datasource entries for a specified metadata field.

Delete Folder

Tool to delete an empty asset folder.

Delete Live Stream

Tool to delete a live stream from Cloudinary.

Delete Live Stream Output

Tool to delete a live stream output from Cloudinary.

Delete Metadata Field

Tool to delete a metadata field by external ID.

Delete Metadata Rule

Tool to delete a conditional metadata rule by its ID.

Delete Resources by Asset ID

Tool to delete resources by asset IDs.

Delete Resources by Public ID

Tool to delete Cloudinary resources by public ID, prefix, or all resources.

Delete Resources by Tags

Tool to delete Cloudinary assets by tag.

Delete Streaming Profile

Tool to delete a custom streaming profile or revert a built-in profile to original settings.

Delete Transformation (v2)

Tool to delete a named transformation from your Cloudinary account.

Delete Trigger

Tool to delete a trigger (webhook notification).

Delete Upload Mapping

Tool to delete a folder upload mapping.

Delete Upload Preset

Tool to delete an upload preset from the account.

Destroy Asset

Tool to permanently destroy a Cloudinary asset/resource by public ID.

Destroy Asset by ID

Tool to delete an asset by its immutable asset ID.

Explicit Resource Update

Tool to update an existing asset and/or eagerly generate derived transformations using Cloudinary's Explicit API.

Explode Multi-Page Resource

Tool to create derived images from multi-page files (PDF, PSD, TIFF, animated GIF) by exploding them into separate images.

Generate Archive

Tool to create an archive (ZIP or TGZ file) containing a set of assets from your Cloudinary environment.

Get Adaptive Streaming Profiles

Tool to list adaptive streaming profiles.

Get Analysis Task Status

Tool to get the status of an analysis task.

Get product environment config details

Tool to get product environment config details.

Get Live Stream

Tool to get details of a single live stream by ID.

Get Live Stream Output

Tool to get details of a single live stream output.

Get Live Stream Outputs

Tool to get a list of live stream outputs.

Get Live Streams

Tool to get a list of live streams from Cloudinary.

Get Metadata Field By ID

Tool to get a single metadata field definition by external ID.

Get Resource by Asset ID

Get Resource by Asset ID

Get Resource by Public ID

Tool to get details of a single resource by public ID.

Get Resources by Asset Folder

Tool to list assets stored directly in a specified folder.

Get Resources by Context

Tool to retrieve assets with a specified contextual metadata key/value.

Get Resources in Moderation

Tool to retrieve assets in a moderation queue by status.

Get Root Folders

Tool to list all root folders in the product environment.

Get Streaming Profile Details

Tool to get details of a single streaming profile by name.

Get Resource Tags

Tool to list all tags used for a specified resource type.

Get Transformation

Tool to retrieve details of a specific transformation.

Get Transformations

Tool to list all transformations (named and unnamed).

List Webhook Triggers

Tool to list all webhook triggers for event types in your environment.

Get Upload Mapping Details

Tool to retrieve details of a single upload mapping by folder.

Get Upload Mappings

Tool to list all upload mappings.

Get Upload Preset

Tool to retrieve details of a single upload preset by name.

Get Usage

Tool to get product environment usage details.

Get Video Views

Tool to get video analytics views from Cloudinary.

Idle Live Stream

Tool to manually idle a Cloudinary live stream.

List Images

Tool to list image assets from Cloudinary.

List Metadata Fields

Tool to list all structured metadata fields defined in your Cloudinary product environment.

List Metadata Rules

Tool to retrieve all conditional metadata rules defined in your Cloudinary account.

List Raw Files

Tool to list raw assets from Cloudinary.

List Resources by Asset IDs

Tool to retrieve multiple resources by their asset IDs.

List Resources by External IDs

Tool to retrieve resources by their external IDs.

List Resources by Tag

Tool to list resources (assets) with a specified tag.

List Resources by Type

Tool to retrieve resources (assets) by resource type and storage type.

List Resource Types

Tool to list all available resource types in your Cloudinary product environment.

List Upload Presets

Tool to list all upload presets configured in the account.

List Video Assets

Tool to list video assets from Cloudinary.

Manage Context Metadata

Tool to add or remove contextual metadata on Cloudinary assets.

Order Metadata Field Datasource

Tool to update ordering of a metadata field datasource.

Ping Cloudinary Servers

Tool to ping Cloudinary servers.

Publish Resources

Tool to publish Cloudinary assets by public IDs, prefix, or tag.

Rename or Move Resource Public ID

Tool to rename an asset's public ID using Cloudinary's rename endpoint.

Reorder Metadata Field

Tool to change the position of a specific metadata field.

Reorder Metadata Fields

Tool to reorder all metadata fields in the product environment.

Restore Metadata Field Datasource Entries

Tool to restore previously deleted datasource entries for a metadata field.

Restore Deleted Resources

Tool to restore deleted Cloudinary resources by public IDs.

Restore Resources by Asset IDs

Tool to restore backed up assets by asset IDs.

Search Assets

Tool to search and filter assets using powerful query expressions.

Search Datasource in Metadata Field

Tool to search datasource values in a metadata field.

Search Folders

Tool to search asset folders with filtering, sorting, and pagination.

Search All Metadata Field Datasources

Tool to search across all metadata field datasources.

Visual Search Assets

Tool to find images in your asset library based on visual similarity or content.

Show Folder

Tool to list sub-folders within a specified folder.

Update Asset Metadata

Tool to populate or update metadata field values on one or more Cloudinary assets.

Update Folder

Tool to rename or move an existing asset folder.

Update Live Stream

Tool to update a live stream's configuration in Cloudinary.

Update Live Stream Output

Tool to modify an existing live stream output configuration.

Update Metadata Field

Tool to update a metadata field definition by external ID.

Update Metadata Field Datasource

Tool to update the datasource (allowed values) for a metadata field.

Update Metadata Rule

Tool to update an existing conditional metadata rule.

Update Resource by Asset ID

Tool to update asset properties by asset ID in Cloudinary.

Update Resource by Public ID

Tool to update asset properties by public ID in Cloudinary.

Update Resource Tags

Tool to add, remove, replace, or remove all tags for one or more Cloudinary assets.

Update Streaming Profile

Tool to modify an existing adaptive streaming profile's configuration.

Update Transformation (v2)

Tool to update the definition of an existing named transformation.

Update Trigger

Tool to update the callback URL of an existing webhook trigger.

Update Upload Mapping

Tool to update an existing upload mapping by changing its remote URL template.

Update Upload Preset

Tool to update an existing upload preset's configuration settings.

Upload Asset

Tool to upload media assets (images, videos, raw files) to Cloudinary.

Upload File Chunk

Tool to upload a single chunk of a large file to Cloudinary.

Upload File (Auto Detect)

Tool to upload files with automatic resource type detection.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Cloudinary MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Cloudinary tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Cloudinary and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Claude Code fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Cloudinary tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Cloudinary scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Cloudinary data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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