One prompt →
a finished animated clip.

Overview · 90 seconds

What Nano Banana actually does.

Nano Banana is a local MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes Google’s Gemini image & audio models as tools inside Claude Code. Once it’s registered, every Claude Code session can generate animated stills and matching audio from a plain-English prompt — no separate UI, no SaaS account beyond the Gemini API key.

The stack

Step 1 of 4 · Install

1 Clone the repo & install uv.

Two parallel commands. The repo is small (single Python package). uv is the Astral runtime that uv run uses to auto-install Python deps on first launch — no global pip install needed.

1. Clone zhongweili/nanobanana-mcp-server into your home directory (or anywhere stable).
2. Install uv via the official standalone installer — no Homebrew required.
3. Confirm both worked: ls ~/nanobanana-mcp-server and ~/.local/bin/uv --version.

git clone https://github.com/zhongweili/nanobanana-mcp-server.git ~/nanobanana-mcp-server
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
# verify
ls ~/nanobanana-mcp-server
~/.local/bin/uv --version

Step 2 of 4 · API key

2 Grab a Gemini API key.

Free tier covers most experiments. The key is what gives Nano Banana access to the Gemini image and audio endpoints — the rest is local.

1. Open aistudio.google.com/app/apikey and sign in with the Google account you want billed.
2. Click Create API key · copy the long string starting with AIza....
3. Keep it in your password manager. You’ll paste it into the MCP config in Step 3 — never commit it to git.

Step 3 of 4 · MCP config

3 Add Nano Banana to Claude Code.

Edit ~/.claude.json and add a new entry under mcpServers. Back up the file first — one bad bracket and Claude Code won’t start. The config below is the local-source variant (recommended).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nanobanana-local": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "python", "-m", "nanobanana_mcp_server.server"],
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/nanobanana-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-gemini-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Replace /absolute/path/to/nanobanana-mcp-server with the real clone path (e.g. /Users/azizsaif/nanobanana-mcp-server).
• Paste your Gemini key in place of your-gemini-api-key-here.
• If uv isn’t on PATH, use the absolute path: "command": "/Users/azizsaif/.local/bin/uv".
• Back up first: cp ~/.claude.json ~/.claude.json.bak.

Step 4 of 4 · Prompts

4 Drive it from Claude Code.

Restart Claude Code. In any session, ask for a clip the same way you’d ask for a file. The MCP server returns an image plus a matching audio track — ready to drop into Blotato, CapCut or directly into a social schedule.

Use nanobanana to generate a 6-second animated still:
slow steam rising off a clay pot of nihari,
warm golden-hour light, top-down on a dark wood table,
ambient pakistani rabab + soft kitchen sounds.
Aspect 9:16. Brand: terracotta + gold. No text.

Generate a seamless 4-second loop:
hand layering saffron rice over slow-cooked beef,
overhead, soft natural light, shallow depth of field,
audio: gentle sizzle + light spoon-on-pot tap.
Aspect 1:1, no captions, halal-only ingredients.

Animated still, 5 seconds, 9:16:
Chef Ayesha smiling in a Dubai home kitchen,
soft window light, terracotta apron, gentle blink
+ steam from a pot in foreground.
Audio: warm 3-note oud motif.

4-second cinemagraph: Dubai skyline at maghrib,
static foreground (rooftop dinner table set for two),
animated background (slow drifting clouds, soft city glow).
Audio: distant adhan + low wind. Aspect 16:9.

Reference

Common traps.

• Claude Code can’t see the server. Quit Claude Code completely (not just close the window) and reopen — MCP servers load at startup.
• uv: command not found. Add ~/.local/bin to PATH, or use the absolute path in the MCP command field.
• 403 / quota errors. Check the Gemini key has the image + audio models enabled in aistudio.google.com.
• JSON broken. Restore from ~/.claude.json.bak and try again with a JSON linter.
• Slow first run. uv run resolves and installs the Python deps on the first call — expect 30–60s before the first response.

Outbound links

Everything in one place.

• Repo · github.com/zhongweili/nanobanana-mcp-server
• uv installer · docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/
• Gemini API key · aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
• Model Context Protocol · modelcontextprotocol.io
• Sister playbook · Claude Code + Blotato — step by step
• EatCookJoy marketing site · azizsaif.com/eatcookjoy-marketing/