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What is MCP?
Unless you have been living off grid without Internet- MCP is the new universal connector and next "Big Thing".
More information is here:
What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)? A guide
Python MCP Documentation
The official GitHub Repo provides samples and documentation for getting started:
GitHub - modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk: The official Python SDK for Model Context Protocol servers and clients
Isn’t MCP overkill?
There are many ways to call models. Native MCP support in Kiro opens up a new pathway to call the underlying Nano Bananna model.
Integrating Kiro with Nano Banana 2 Flash Lite
Pairing Kiro with Nano Banana 2 Lite expands the agent’s core capabilities, allowing it to act on multimodal inputs and execute complex tasks on your behalf. [1, 2, 3]
So what is the Secret Sauce?
The Interactions API allows for a clean consistent call to the model.
The Interactions API is Google’s unified interface for building with Gemini AI models and autonomous agents. Rather than using multiple separate endpoints for text chat, tool use, image generation, or background agents, it provides a single, streamlined API to handle complex, stateful workflows. [1, 2, 3]
More information is here:
Interactions API | Gemini API | Google AI for Developers
and here:
Gemini Interactions API | Gemini API | Google AI for Developers
but wait — there’s more!
There is A Skill for That!
You can make the magic happen!
Interactions API: our primary interface for Gemini models and agents
npx skills add google-gemini/gemini-skills --skill gemini-interactions-api
Setup the Basic Environment
At this point you should have a working Python environment and a working Kiro CLI installation. The next step is to clone the GitHub samples repository with support scripts:
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/xbill9/nb2lite-kiro
Then run init.sh from the cloned directory.
The script will attempt to determine your shell environment and set the correct variables:
cd nb2lite-kiro
source init.sh
If your session times out or you need to re-authenticate- you can run the set_env.sh script to reset your environment variables:
cd nb2lite
source set_env.sh
Variables like PROJECT_ID need to be setup for use in the various build scripts- so the set_env script can be used to reset the environment if you time-out.
Running the Python Code
First- switch the directory with the Python version of the MCP sample code:
make install
pip install -r requirements.txt
The project can also be linted:
xbill@penguin:~/nb2lite-kiro$make lint
ruff check .
All checks passed!
ruff format --check .
2 files already formatted
mypy .
Success: no issues found in 2 source files
Kiro CLI mcp.json
A sample MCP server file is provided in the .kiro/settings directory:
{"mcpServers":{"nb2lite-agent":{"command":"python3","args":["/home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/server.py"],"disabled":false},"aws-mcp":{"command":"uvx","args":["mcp-proxy-for-aws==1.6.0","https://aws-mcp.us-east-1.api.aws/mcp","--metadata","AWS_REGION=us-east-1"],"disabled":false}}}
Validation with Kiro CLI
The final connection test uses Kiro CLI as a MCP client with the Python code providing the MCP server:
/mcp list · 2 configured
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
search: nb2lite-agent
Configured Servers
Name Status Details
nb2lite-agent ●くろまる running 4 tools
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
the tools are reviewed:
list the mcp tools for nb2lite
●くろまる Read /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/.agents/mcp_config.json
●くろまる Read /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/server.py
The nb2lite MCP server (nb2lite-agent) exposes 4 tools:
generate_image
Generates a new image from a text prompt and saves it locally.
- prompt (str, required) — natural language description of the image
- aspect_ratio (str, optional, default "1:1") — 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 3:4
- thinking_level (str, optional, default "medium") — minimal, low, medium, high
edit_image
Edits a previously generated image using its interaction ID (multi-turn continuity).
- previous_interaction_id (str, required) — ID returned from a prior generation or edit
- edit_prompt (str, required) — description of changes to apply
- thinking_level (str, optional, default "medium")
edit_local_image
Uploads a local image file (base64 encoded) and applies text-described edits.
- image_path (str, required) — path to the local image file
- edit_prompt (str, required) — description of modifications
- aspect_ratio (str, optional, default "1:1")
- thinking_level (str, optional, default "medium")
get_help
Returns a help summary of the server's configuration and all available tools. No arguments.
The server uses gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image (overridable via GEMINI_MODEL_NAME) and saves output images to the current
directory (overridable via IMAGE_OUTPUT_DIR) using the naming pattern <prefix>_<timestamp>_<uuid>.jpg.
We have Lift Off!
Finally- the tools are now available for working with the Nano Banana2 Lite models:
summarize the mcp tools
The nb2lite MCP server provides 4 tools for AI-powered image generation and editing using Google's Gemini model:
1. generate_image — Create a new image from a text prompt. Control output shape with aspect_ratio and quality/speed
tradeoff with thinking_level.
2. edit_image — Iteratively edit a previously generated image by passing its previous_interaction_id. Maintains style
and pixel continuity across turns.
3. edit_local_image — Edit an image file already on disk by providing its path and a description of the changes you
want.
4. get_help — Returns server configuration status (API key, model name, output directory) and a full tool reference.
All tools save output images locally. The thinking_level parameter (minimal → high) trades response speed for
generation quality across all image tools.
Enough, Already! Show me the Money!
Kiro CLI was started up for a hands-on image editing session:
Not a fan of Bananas?
use the mcp tools to edit gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg and make the ghost banana a ghost apple
●くろまる Read /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TASK 1: Edit image using MCP tools to make ghost banana a ghost apple
STATUS: in-progress
USER QUERIES: 1 ("use the mcp tools to edit gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg and make the ghost banana a ghost apple")
DETAILS:
- The user requested editing the file /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg using the MCP image editing
tools
- The image was read and confirmed to exist (JPEG, 492614 bytes) — it's a ghost banana image
- The MCP tool mcp_nb2lite_agent_edit_local_image was identified as the appropriate tool to use
- The tool call was initiated with:
- image_path: /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg
- edit_prompt: "make the ghost banana a ghost apple"
- aspect_ratio: "1:1"
- The context window was exhausted before the tool call could complete and return results — the edit has NOT been
confirmed as completed
NEXT STEPS:
- Call mcp_nb2lite_agent_edit_local_image with:
- image_path: /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg
- edit_prompt: "make the ghost banana a ghost apple"
- aspect_ratio: "1:1" (or omit for default)
- Save/confirm the output image path returned by the tool
- Report the result to the user
FILEPATHS:
- /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg (source image to edit)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
USER CORRECTIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS:
- Use the MCP tools (specifically mcp_nb2lite_agent_edit_local_image) for image editing — not other approaches
- The workspace is /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/
Files to read:
- /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg (the image to edit — already read, skip re-reading unless
needed)
●くろまる edit_local_image
╰ image_path=/home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg, edit_prompt=make the ghost banana a ghost apple,
aspect_ratio=1:1
●くろまる edit_local_image
╰ image_path=/home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/gen_1782921715_ec8088ac.jpg, edit_prompt=make the ghost banana a ghost apple,
aspect_ratio=1:1, thinking_level=low
{
"content": [
{
...+5 lines (ctrl+o to toggle)
The edit succeeded. The ghost banana has been transformed into a ghost apple and saved to:
/home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/edit_local_1782922067_7371b516.jpg
Not a fan of Apples?
what is the interactions API ID
The interaction ID returned from the edit is:
v1_ChdVanRGYXRqZEctX3VfdU1QLTdlaWdRbxIXVWp0RmF0amRHLV91X3VNUC03ZWlnUW8
▸ Credits: 0.06 • Time: 2s
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
with v1_ChdVanRGYXRqZEctX3VfdU1QLTdlaWdRbxIXVWp0RmF0amRHLV91X3VNUC03ZWlnUW8 and the MCP tools make the ghost apple a
ghost pinapple
●くろまる edit_image
╰ previous_interaction_id=v1_ChdVanRGYXRqZEctX3VfdU1QLTdlaWdRbxIXVWp0RmF0amRHLV91X3VNUC03ZWlnUW8, edit_prompt=make
the ghost apple a ghost pineapple, thinking_level=low
{
"content": [ { ...+5 lines (ctrl+o to toggle) Done! The ghost apple has been turned into a ghost pineapple, saved to: /home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/edit_1782922194_394f5f79.jpg New interaction ID: v1_ChdVanRGYXRqZEctX3VfdU1QLTdlaWdRbxIXMFR0RmFxbS1Pdi1YX3VNUDVjN3RnQWc
One last example — the banner for this article was re-themed in steam-punk style:
> use the MCP tool to edit_local_image and retheme ghost-banana.jpeg as steam-punk
●くろまる edit_local_image
╰ image_path=/home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/ghost_banana.jpeg, edit_prompt=retheme this image as steampunk, with steampunk
aesthetics including brass gears, cogs, pipes, copper tones, Victorian industrial style, goggles, and mechanical
elements, aspect_ratio=1:1, thinking_level=low
{
"content": [
{
...+5 lines (ctrl+o to toggle)
Done! The steampunk-themed ghost banana has been saved to:
/home/xbill/nb2lite-kiro/edit_local_1782922350_db5b8fcc.jpg
Interaction ID: v1_ChdiRHhGYXN5Zk85YkotOFlQZ19TbXFRYxIXYkR4RmFzeWZPOWJKLThZUGdfU21xUWM
▸ Credits: 0.15 • Time: 16s
One last thought- Where are Agents?
Where are the Agents?
The Kiro CLI harness itself uses agents to manage the workflow.
The additional touch point for leveraging the MCP interface is that they all are exposed as MCP tools. The MCP tools can be called directly from Agent code or used as a template for Interactions API calls embedded in an Agent.
Summary
The strategy for using MCP with Nano Banana 2 Lite and Kiro CLI was validated with a incremental step by step approach.
A minimal stdio transport MCP Server was started from Python source code and validated with Kiro CLI running as a MCP client in the same local environment.
This MCP Python server provided all of the management tools to interact with the model and generate high quality cyberpunk banana images.