Claude Desktop Image Generation using FastSD MCP Server on NPU – OpenVINO

In this article, we discuss how to use the FastSD MCP server with the Claude desktop to access the NPU to generate images.

Model Context Protocol(MCP)

Let’s first understand the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Anthropic developed the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Anthropic officially announced and open-sourced the protocol in November 2024.

The MCP protocol is designed to standardize how large language models (LLMs) and other AI systems interact with external tools, data sources, and software environments, providing a universal interface for context exchange and integration. In other words, think of MCP like a USB-C port for artificial intelligence(AI). Just like USB-C gives a common way to plug in different devices and accessories, MCP gives a common way for AI models to connect with different data sources and tools. You can read more about the MCP Specification here.

MCP follows a client-server architecture. It has following main components :

MCP Host – It is typically the application that users interact with directly, for example, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, and custom agents.

MCP Server – The MCP server is a standalone program or service that exposes specific tools, resources, and capabilities to MCP clients. (For example, FastSD MCP server)

MCP Client – The MCP client is a component that resides within the host application. It is responsible for managing connections to MCP servers. The MCP host can connect to any MCP servers.

MCP uses 3 types of transport mechanisms for communication between the server and clients.

1. stdio – Used for local MCP connections (CLI apps)
2. Server-Sent Events (SSE) – Used for remote connections.
3. Streamable HTTP – A newer transport method introduced in 2025, using a single HTTP endpoint for bidirectional messaging.

FastSD utilizes Server-Sent Events (SSE) as a transport mechanism for MCP client-server communication.

FastSD MCP server

FastSD is an optimized version of Stable Diffusion designed specifically for image generation, offering significantly faster performance compared to standard Stable Diffusion implementations. It uses OpenVINO (OpenVINO is an open-source toolkit by Intel for optimizing and deploying deep learning models. It accelerates AI inference on Intel hardware and supports various frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and ONNX. to speed up the inference on CPU, GPU, and NPU(Neural Processing Unit). To know more about FatSD and OpenVINO, read this article.

FastSD added support for the MCP Server starting from version v1.0.0-beta.200. We can use it with any MCP hosts; we will use the Claude desktop. For this demo, I’m running everything on an Intel AI PC powered by an Intel Core Ultra Processor, which integrates a CPU, GPU, and NPU. I received this device as part of the Intel Edge Innovator program. Download and install FastSD and set the “DEVICE” environment variable; this will make FastSD use the NPU.

set DEVICE=NPU

Then start-webui.bat and apply the following settings and generate an image using NPU.

• mode – LCM-OpenVINO
• OpenVINO model – rupeshs/sd15-lcm-square-openvino-int8
• Generation settings -> number of inference steps – 3 or 4

Stop/close FastSD web UI. Next, run the start-mcpserver.bat file. You will see output similar to the screenshot.

start-mcpserver.bat

We can see that the FastSD MCP server is running at the address http://127.0.0.1:8000

Claude desktop

Claude Desktop is Anthropic’s AI application for Windows and Mac that lets users interact with the Claude chatbot locally, enabling file uploads, document analysis, and chat history syncing across devices. Download and install the Claude desktop from the official website.

Start the Claude desktop and log in to your account. We need to configure Claude desktop to access FastSD MCP server to generate images.

• Open File -> Settings -> Developer – Edit config
• Add the below config(Also ensure that node.js is installed on your machine)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fastsd": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart the Claude desktop(View -> reload).

FastSD supports get_system_info and generate image tools. Let’s try the system info tool, it returns the system information. Claude will ask for confirmation, click allow.

Claude desktop will display system info as shown below.

Next, we will generate an image by using the following prompt. I’ve given “share the image URL” in the prompt to display the output URL.

Create photo of a beautiful landscape,share the image url

We can open the URL in the browser by clicking it.

We can check the NPU usage by checking the Task Manager.

As we can see, NPU usage spikes in the Task Manager so Claude desktop effectively used NPU to generate an image using FastSD, thanks to OpenVINO and Intel Core Ultra processors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Claude desktop can generate images using NPU with the FastSD MCP server and OpenVINO. Learn about How to use ComfyUI with FastSDCPU and OpenVINO.