OwAI guides · English
Local vs remote MCP for your photo library
Learn where OwAI MCP searches run, what works offline, how changes reach your desktop, and why remote search does not upload or stream your original media.
Read as MarkdownThe connection determines which library is searched
Local MCP connects an assistant on your computer to the running OwAI desktop app over stdio. Remote MCP connects over authenticated HTTPS to your account's synced index. Registering the remote URL does not install a local connector or give a cloud assistant filesystem access.
Both expose OwAI's library operations and folder-scoped organization rules. The difference is where reads execute and how writes are delivered, not a separate set of organization rules for agents.
Local MCP: this computer's library
OwAI must be running. Search and inspection use this computer's local library, and organization changes execute in the desktop app. Local MCP can use downloaded local models without syncing the index to the cloud; it still requires Cloud Access authorization.
The app's inference choices still apply. If hosted inference is selected, a semantic query can use the hosted model even though the catalog being searched is local. The assistant itself may also need an internet connection.
Remote MCP: the synced index across devices
Search, device and folder listings, collection and people inspection, and duplicate inspection read the synced account index directly. They do not need to wake the desktop. When a device is offline, results reflect its last completed sync, not changes made since then.
Remote mutations are queued for the owning device. That device applies the command through OwAI's library logic and syncs the changed rows back. Keep OwAI running with cloud sync enabled to receive commands. A pending or running status is not success; get_library_command returns the completion status and result.
Finding a photo is different from displaying it
Remote MCP returns media metadata, filenames, device information and paths. It does not stream the original image or video into a chat. A path in a tool result is a locator, not permission or proof that the assistant can read that file.
Local MCP has read_media for an on-demand inline image preview, subject to the assistant's support for MCP image output. open_media opens a file in an application; it does not attach image bytes to the conversation.
Remote open_media requires the same-computer, device-specific connection from OwAI Settings. First call locate_media and proceed only when availability is local_device. The owning app must be online and checks that the path still exists before opening. Do not open different_device or device_unspecified results, or bind a cloud-only assistant to a computer merely to launch files there. Media relay is not currently available.
What leaves the device?
Cloud index sync uploads searchable metadata, embeddings, organization relationships and device paths. It does not upload or store original photos, videos, thumbnails, previews or proxy clips in the remote index. OwAI is not a cloud media backup.
Hosted AI processing is a separate choice: resized images or selected video frames are sent for transient inference. Local models avoid that hosted processing. When you connect an assistant, tool results are shared with that assistant under its own data policies; local MCP is not a promise that the assistant keeps those results on your computer.
Which connection should I use?
Use local MCP for a desktop assistant working with the library on the same computer, especially when inline previews matter. Use remote MCP for assistants that accept HTTPS connectors or need to search the synced catalog across devices. You can configure both in a capable client; name them clearly and select the intended connection.