Mochify - Automate Image Workflows

mochify-cli

A command-line tool and MCP server for mochify.app — a fast, privacy-first image compression and conversion API powered by a native C++ engine.

Compress and convert images to modern formats (AVIF, JXL, WebP, Jpegli) from your terminal, or give AI assistants like Claude direct access to image processing via the Model Context Protocol.

Installation

macOS (Homebrew):

brew tap getmochify/mochify
brew install mochify

Windows (Scoop):

scoop bucket add mochify https://github.com/getmochify/scoop-mochify
scoop install mochify

Linux / WSL:

# x86_64
curl -L https://github.com/getmochify/mochify-cli/releases/latest/download/mochify-linux-x86_64 -o mochify
chmod +x mochify
sudo mv mochify /usr/local/bin/

# arm64
curl -L https://github.com/getmochify/mochify-cli/releases/latest/download/mochify-linux-arm64 -o mochify
chmod +x mochify
sudo mv mochify /usr/local/bin/

Cargo (all platforms):

cargo install mochify

Requires Rust. Easiest option on Linux/WSL if you already have the toolchain.

Manual: All binaries at Releases.

From source:

cargo install --path .

Authentication

Sign in with your mochify.app account to unlock your full quota:

mochify auth login

This opens your browser, where you sign in and authorize the CLI. Credentials are saved automatically to ~/.config/mochify/credentials.toml — no environment variables or manual key copying required. Both the CLI and MCP server pick them up automatically.

mochify auth status   # check whether you're signed in
mochify auth logout   # remove saved credentials

Without an account you get 3 images per batch (IP-based). With a free account: 25 images/month. Sign up at mochify.app.

CLI Usage

mochify [OPTIONS] <FILES>...

Options

Flag	Description
-t, --type <FORMAT>	Output format: jpg, png, webp, avif, jxl
-w, --width <N>	Target width in pixels
-H, --height <N>	Target height in pixels
--crop	Crop to exact dimensions (saliency-guided)
-r, --rotation <DEG>	Rotation: 0, 90, 180, 270
-o, --output <DIR>	Output directory (default: same as input)
-n, --name <NAME>	Base name for the output file (without extension)
--clarity	Apply clarity (midtone contrast enhancement — crisper, more detailed look)
--remove-bg	Remove the background (AI foreground isolation)
--background <COLOR>	Composite colour for --remove-bg (white, #ff0000, …)
--keep-metadata	Preserve EXIF/metadata (stripped by default)
-q, --quality <N>	Output quality 1–100 (default: automatic)
--smart-compress	Saliency-guided quality — detail keeps more, flat areas less
--brightness <N>	Exposure, -100 (darkest) to +100 (brightest)
--optimize-for-web	Progressive + 4:2:0 chroma — smallest file to serve
--lossless	Pixel-exact output (jxl, webp, png only)
--hdr [MODE]	Ultra HDR gain map: preserve (bare flag) or generate
-p, --prompt <TEXT>	Natural-language prompt — resolves all params automatically
-j, --jobs <N>	Files to process at once (default 4; 1 for strictly one at a time)
-k, --api-key <KEY>	API key override (or set MOCHIFY_API_KEY env var)

Examples

# Convert to AVIF
mochify photo.jpg -t avif

# Resize and convert to WebP
mochify photo.jpg -t webp -w 800

# Batch convert a folder to AVIF at 1200px wide
mochify ./images/*.jpg -t avif -w 1200 -o ./compressed

# Natural-language prompt — let the AI pick the right params
mochify photo.jpg -p "convert to avif, 1200px wide"
mochify photo.jpg -p "optimise for eBay"
mochify photo.jpg -p "remove background and convert to WebP"
mochify photo.jpg -p "resize to 50%, strip EXIF, keep as WebP"

# Custom output name
mochify photo.jpg -t webp -n hero
mochify product.jpg -p "optimise for Shopify" -n product-main

# Pipe file paths from stdin
find . -name "*.jpg" | mochify -t webp -o ./out
cat images.txt | mochify -p "convert to avif 1200px wide" -o ./compressed
ls *.heic | mochify -t jpg

Quality

Quality is chosen automatically unless you say otherwise.

# Fixed quality
mochify photo.jpg -t webp -q 70

# Let saliency pick it — detailed subjects keep more, flat areas less
mochify photo.jpg -t avif --smart-compress

# Smallest file to serve from a web server
mochify photo.jpg -t webp --optimize-for-web

# Brighten a dark photo
mochify photo.jpg --brightness 30

# Pixel-exact
mochify scan.png -t webp --lossless

--lossless only works for jxl, webp and png — jpg and avif are rejected before the request goes out. It overrides -q and --smart-compress, and the output is usually larger than the input: lossless preserves pixels, not file size. A source that is already lossy (JPEG, AVIF, HEIC) comes back as the best lossy encode instead, since nothing can restore what that file discarded — the CLI says so when that happens.

HDR (Ultra HDR gain maps)

--hdr controls the Ultra HDR / ISO 21496-1 gain map that makes a photo render with real headroom on an HDR display.

Mode	What it does
--hdr (or --hdr preserve)	Keeps a gain map the source already has. Never invents one, so it does nothing to an SDR photo.
--hdr generate	Keeps an existing gain map and synthesises one when the source is plain SDR. This is the one for "make it HDR".

Only jpg output can carry a gain map (jxl carries HDR by a different route; avif, webp and png cannot), so pair it with -t jpg. It is also skipped alongside --clarity or --remove-bg, which change the base the gain map is a ratio to. The CLI reads the X-Mochify-HDR response header and tells you when the output ended up with no gain map.

# Keep the headroom an iPhone photo already captured, converting to JPEG
mochify IMG_1234.heic -t jpg --hdr

# Give an SDR photo a gain map
mochify photo.jpg --hdr generate

# Or just say so
mochify photo.jpg -p "make this HDR"

Output file naming

By default, when the output format and directory match the input, the result is saved as {name}_mochified.{ext} so it's always clear something happened. If that file already exists, a numeric suffix is added (_1, _2, etc.). When the format changes (e.g. .jpg → .webp), the extension change is already unambiguous so no suffix is added.

Use -n, --name to set an explicit base name: mochify photo.jpg -t webp -n hero saves hero.webp. The prompt path also supports this: mochify *.jpg -p "optimise for Shopify, name them product" will produce product.webp, product_1.webp, etc.

PDF processing

PDFs are detected automatically by the .pdf extension, and --op picks what to do with them. (PDFs and images can't be mixed in a single command — run them separately.)

Op	Takes	Returns	What it does
optimize	a PDF	.pdf	Recompresses the images inside the PDF. Text, fonts, vector art and layout are untouched, so the document stays searchable.
extract	a PDF	.zip	Pulls out the images somebody placed into the document, at the resolution they were stored at.
rasterize	a PDF	.zip	Renders every page to an image, text and all.
split	a PDF	.zip	Explodes the PDF into one single-page PDF per page.
create	images	.pdf	Builds a PDF from images, one page per image, in the order given.

Flag	Applies to	Description
--op <OP>	all	optimize, extract, rasterize, split, create
-t, --type <FORMAT>	rasterize, extract	png, jpg, webp, avif, jxl — plus original for extract (no re-encode)
--dpi <N>	rasterize, optimize, create	Render resolution (rasterize, default 150), target resolution for the images kept inside the PDF (optimize), or page sizing (create)
-q, --quality <N>	all but split	Output quality 1–100 (same flag as for images)
--max-width <N>	extract, optimize, create	Cap image width in pixels; 0 leaves sizes alone
--min-size <N>	extract, optimize	Skip images smaller than this on either axis; 0 takes everything
--page <SIZE>	create	fit (default), a4, letter
--no-combine	create	One single-page PDF per image, returned as a .zip

# Make a PDF smaller without touching the text
mochify report.pdf --op optimize -q 75 --dpi 150

# Pull the embedded images out as WebP, capped at 1600px
mochify brochure.pdf --op extract -t webp --max-width 1600

# Render pages to PNG at 150 DPI, or high-res JPEGs for print
mochify document.pdf --op rasterize -t png --dpi 150
mochify document.pdf --op rasterize -t jpg --dpi 300 -q 90

# One PDF per page
mochify document.pdf --op split

# Build a PDF from images (one page per image, in the order given)
mochify page-*.jpg --op create --page a4 -n scanned
mochify page-*.jpg --op create --no-combine   # one PDF per image, as a zip

# Or describe it in natural language
mochify report.pdf -p "compress this pdf"
mochify brochure.pdf -p "get the photos out as png"
mochify document.pdf -p "split into pngs"
mochify page-*.jpg --op create -p "one a4 pdf, good quality"

Outputs are named after the input: report_compressed.pdf, brochure_images.zip, document_rasterized.zip, document_pages.zip, and <first image>.pdf for create (override with -n).

optimize, extract, rasterize and split require a paid plan; create works on every plan, including Free.

MCP Server (Claude Desktop)

mochify can run as an MCP server, letting Claude process images on your behalf directly from conversation.

Setup

Run mochify auth login first, then add the following to your Claude Desktop config at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mochify": {
      "command": "mochify",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The mochify server will appear in your connections and use your saved credentials automatically.

Usage

Describe what you want in natural language with the full path to your image:

"Convert /Users/me/Desktop/photo.jpg to AVIF at 1000px wide"

"Compress all the JPEGs in /Users/me/projects/blog/images/ to WebP and save to /Users/me/projects/blog/compressed/"

"Optimise /Users/me/Desktop/product.jpg for eBay"

"Remove the background from /Users/me/Desktop/shirt.png and save as WebP"

"Rasterize /Users/me/Desktop/report.pdf to PNGs at 200 DPI"

"Compress /Users/me/Desktop/report.pdf — it's too big to email"

"Make /Users/me/Desktop/sunset.jpg HDR"

"Brighten /Users/me/Desktop/dim.jpg a bit and optimise it for my website"

"Turn the scans in /Users/me/Desktop/receipts/ into one A4 PDF"

Claude calls the squish tool for images, the pdf tool for anything that takes a PDF in (optimize, extract, rasterize, split), and pdf_create to build a PDF from images, and reports back the saved path and file size.

API

Powered by https://api.mochify.app — /v1/squish for images and /v1/pdf for PDF optimize/extract/rasterize/split/create. Files are processed in-memory and never written to disk.

Plan	Ops/month	Max file size
Free (no account)	3/batch	20 MB
Free (with account)	25	20 MB
Seller ($7.99/mo)	300	75 MB
Pro ($24.99/mo)	1,200	75 MB

Visit mochify.app for the web interface, pricing, and API docs.