AXIS Camera

The first on-camera Model Context Protocol server — turning every Axis camera into an AI-native device.

Any AI. Any camera. Zero cloud. Install one .eap, and Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or your own agent can see, understand, and operate the camera — directly, at the edge.

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The breakthrough

For twenty years, integrating an IP camera meant learning VAPIX, wiring up SOAP events, wrangling digest auth, and building a bespoke backend for every project. AI agents made it worse: each one needed a custom bridge, a cloud relay, and a security review.

Axis MCP Server collapses all of that into a single install. It runs a standards-compliant Model Context Protocol server inside the camera as a native ACAP — no gateway, no middleware, no cloud round-trip. Point any MCP-capable AI client at http://<camera-ip>/mcp and it instantly gains a rich, structured toolset for the device.

This is edge AI in the truest sense: the intelligence talks to the camera on the camera's own loopback interface. Nothing leaves the LAN unless you choose to expose it.

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Why it's a category-defining, award-worthy solution

It's genuinely first. MCP servers run on laptops and in the cloud. This one runs on the camera — a Node.js runtime bundled into a native AXIS OS 12 ACAP, speaking Streamable HTTP the way modern agents expect. That combination did not exist before.

It unlocks a massive installed base. Axis has shipped millions of cameras; the ARTPEC-7/8/9 generation running AXIS OS 11–12 numbers in the tens of thousands per large deployment alone. A single .eap makes every one of them addressable by AI — no hardware change, no forklift upgrade.

It's model-agnostic by design. Because it speaks open MCP over HTTP, it works with Claude, Google Antigravity / Gemini, ChatGPT Developer Mode, Perplexity, Claude Code, and any custom agent — today, and whatever ships next.

It respects the enterprise. Reverse-proxied behind the camera's own admin authentication, with an optional bearer-guarded direct port for LAN automation. Parameter writes are allow-listed. Nothing is exposed to the internet unless the operator deliberately tunnels it.

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What the AI can actually do

Out of the box, the server exposes a curated toolset over MCP:

• Device & health — model, serial, firmware, uptime, temperature, network, and time.
• Imaging & optics — capture live JPEG snapshots the model can see, read and adjust image settings, drive zoom/focus, and run autofocus through a resilient four-method cascade that auto-discovers the optics and remembers what works.
• Events & analytics — enumerate the camera's event topics and report the state of on-device analytics like AXIS Object Analytics and motion detection.
• Application control — list, start, and stop ACAPs; read and (safely) update parameters.
• The CamStreamer suite — list and control CamStreamer streams, switch and queue CamSwitcher views, and update CamOverlay custom graphics and info-tickers. Ask an agent "switch to the gate view and start the YouTube stream," and it happens.

Every tool returns clean, structured data an LLM can reason over — not raw CGI dumps.

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An operator console that's actually a joy to use

The built-in settings page is a live control room, not a form:

• One-glance status — app health, VAPIX connectivity, and device identity, with a one-click self-test.
• A real-time Live Log — every request and every MCP tool call streams in as it happens, mirrored to the AXIS system log.
• A signature touch: the animated AI presence. The console recognizes which model is connected and renders its logo in living ASCII — the Claude spark, the Gemini star, the OpenAI knot, the Antigravity mark — with an animated link pulsing between the AI and the camera and an "LLM Connected" indicator. It turns an invisible protocol into something you can watch, demo, and love.

It's the kind of detail that wins awards and wins rooms.

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Built right

• Native ACAP for AXIS OS 11/12 (ARTPEC-8, aarch64), packaged with the official ACAP Native SDK.
• Streamable HTTP MCP, stateless — survives the camera's respawn lifecycle cleanly.
• From-scratch VAPIX digest client that honors modern MD5 and SHA-256 challenges.
• Bundled Node.js 20 — no runtime assumptions about the camera.
• Robust by construction — writable-path auto-discovery, prefix-agnostic routing, graceful degradation when a feature isn't present on a given model.

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Who it's for

• Systems integrators shipping AI-assisted surveillance without building a backend.
• Broadcast & live-production teams letting an agent orchestrate CamStreamer and CamSwitcher.
• Security operations giving analysts a natural-language line straight to the device.
• Developers & researchers prototyping agentic camera control in minutes, not weeks.

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The one-line pitch

Axis MCP Server puts a Model Context Protocol server inside the camera — opening tens of thousands of Axis devices to any AI, with no cloud, no middleware, and no compromise.

Install the .eap. Point your agent at the camera. Watch it come alive.

A standalone ACAP (.eap) that runs a Model Context Protocol server directly on an Axis camera (ARTPEC-8, AXIS OS 12 — e.g. Q1656). It exposes VAPIX-backed tools over Streamable HTTP so Claude Desktop / Claude Code can connect to the camera and inspect/control it.

Built with the ACAP Native SDK (Node.js 20 bundled into the package). No Docker runs on the camera — Docker is only used to build the .eap on your Mac.

Layout

axis-mcp-acap/
├── Dockerfile              # ACAP Native SDK build (aarch64)
├── build.sh                # docker build + docker cp -> .eap
├── plan.md                 # design plan
└── app/
    ├── manifest.json        # schemaVersion 1.7.4; appName axis_mcp
    ├── axis_mcp             # launcher (filename == appName)
    ├── Makefile             # no-op (acap-build runs make)
    ├── LICENSE
    ├── package.json         # main: dist/bootstrap.js
    ├── tsconfig.json
    ├── src/
    │   ├── bootstrap.ts     # HTTP servers: /mcp, /status.cgi, /settings.cgi
    │   ├── mcpServer.ts      # McpServer + tool registration
    │   ├── vapix.ts          # Digest auth client (MD5 + SHA-256)
    │   ├── settings.ts       # persisted config (PERSISTENT_DATA_PATH)
    │   └── tools/            # device, imaging, events, apps
    └── html/index.html      # settings UI (light default + theme switcher)

Tools (v1)

Tool	VAPIX
get_device_info	basicdeviceinfo.cgi (getAllProperties)
get_system_status	param.cgi (Network/Brand/Firmware) + temperaturecontrol.cgi
get_time	time.cgi
take_snapshot	jpg/image.cgi → MCP image content
get_image_settings / set_image_settings	param.cgi ImageSource/Image
get_optics	opticscontrol.cgi getOptics (ids + capabilities)
autofocus	cascade: opticscontrol.cgi performAutofocus → startFocusSearch → opticssetup.cgi → ptz.cgi?autofocus=on (caches the working method)
set_zoom_focus	opticscontrol.cgi setMagnification / autofocus cascade
list_event_declarations	SOAP GetEventInstances
get_analytics_status	applications/list.cgi (filtered)
list_apps / control_app	applications/list.cgi, control.cgi
get_params / set_param	param.cgi (writes allowlisted)

CamStreamer suite (require the respective ACAP installed)

Tool	Endpoint
camstreamer_list_streams	/local/camstreamer/stream/list.cgi
camstreamer_stream_status	/local/camstreamer/stream/status.cgi
camstreamer_control_stream	/local/camstreamer/stream/set.cgi (start/stop)
camswitcher_list_playlists	/local/camswitcher/playlists.cgi?action=get
camswitcher_switch_playlist	/local/camswitcher/playlist_switch.cgi
camswitcher_queue_playlist	/local/camswitcher/playlist_queue_push.cgi
camswitcher_get_queue / camswitcher_play_next / camswitcher_clear_queue	playlist_queue_*.cgi
camswitcher_output_info / camswitcher_list_clips	output_info.cgi, clips.cgi
camoverlay_list_services	/local/camoverlay/api/services.cgi
camoverlay_set_service_enabled	services.cgi?action=set
camoverlay_update_graphic_text	customGraphics.cgi?action=update_text
camoverlay_infoticker	infoticker.cgi

These call the CamStreamer/CamSwitcher/CamOverlay CGIs on the same camera using the same digest auth. If the corresponding ACAP isn't installed, the tool returns a clear "not installed" error.

Build

Requires Docker Desktop on your Mac.

cd axis-mcp-acap
sh build.sh arm64        # -> Axis_MCP_Server_1_0_0_aarch64.eap (or axis_mcp_*.eap)

Install

Camera UI → System → Apps → enable Allow unsigned apps → Add app → upload the aarch64 .eap → Start. Open the app's settings page, enter VAPIX admin credentials, click Run self-test.

Connect an MCP client

Two endpoints:

• Reverse-proxied (camera enforces admin digest auth): http://<camera-ip>/local/axis_mcp/mcp
• Direct LAN port (for clients without digest; optional bearer token): http://<camera-ip>:8000/mcp

claude mcp add --transport http axis-q1656 http://<camera-ip>:8000/mcp

Inspect with: npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Verification checklist

• .eap installs and starts on FW 12.x without manifest errors
• curl -X POST http://<ip>:8000/mcp with an initialize body returns server info
• MCP Inspector lists all tools and each returns live data
• take_snapshot returns a viewable JPEG
• set_param refuses non-allowlisted groups
• App survives respawn (save settings → app restarts → MCP still answers)
• Clean SIGINT exit

Notes

• Digest auth honours the algorithm directive (MD5 and SHA-256 + -sess) — an MD5-only client gets a silent 401 on modern AXIS OS.
• The in-app server binds process.env.HTTP_PORT (AXIS OS assigns it; 32554 only for local dev).
• Direct-port reachability from the LAN depends on the camera firewall; the reverse-proxied path is the sanctioned route. Keep a bearer token set if the direct port is enabled.