PhotoCraft

Evidence key: [CLI] = photocraft-cli 0.15.1 (build 60c87b988, 2026-10-23); [MCP] = live tools/list; [src] = repo docs/source; [unverified].

Purpose and reference product

Raster image editor with layers, masks, adjustment layers, type, vectors, PSD (Adobe Photoshop clone). Repo storytold/photocraft, MIT OR Apache-2.0. Git HEAD 4e7a17cd5d5723313f459753663d0d155f047e19 (2026-10-15); the installed CLI was built from a commit dated 2026-10-23, newer than the checkout (README.md "Version skew"). A separate photocraft-pro-cli exists in ~/bin/craft-cli; not examined.

Native file format

.pcraft [src: book/src/formats/pcraft.md]: ZIP archive or directory bundle with manifest.json (versioned document tree), tiles/<blake3>.zst and blobs/<blake3>.zst (content-addressed, zstd), thumb.png, composite/preview.png. Loader limits: manifest 256 MiB, blob 1 GiB, total 16 GiB, group nesting 100. Newer format versions fail explicitly.

Readable / writable formats

• Read/write, per README [src]: PSD, PSB, layered TIFF, OpenRaster .ora, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, WebP, GIF, BMP, TGA, ICO, QOI, PNM, OpenEXR, Radiance HDR, FITS, native .pcraft.
• Read only [src]: Paint.NET PDN3, Krita .kra, SVG (opens as shape layers / places as vector Smart Object), camera raw (DNG, CR2, TIFF/EP via photocraft-raw), HEIF/HEIC (optional photocraft-heif).
• CLI convert flags confirm output options for jpg/webp/tiff/tga/dpx/dds/psd/exr [CLI]. The exact writable list was not enumerated by me; treat the README list as unverified for write support of ico/qoi/pnm/hdr/fits.
• PDF input: not supported (no PDF reader found; the only PDF commands are export). PDF output is raster: file.export.artboardsToPdf ("one raster page per board"). SVG output: none found.

CLI surface [CLI]

Subcommands: convert, info, run, batch, droplet, commands, mcp, serve. - convert <in> <out> [--format ext] [--quality 1-100] [--in-place] [--tiff-layers] [--tiff-compression ..] [--tga-bits ..] [--dpx-bits ..] [--dds-compression ..] [--dds-mipmaps] [--jpeg-format ..]; refuses out == in unless --in-place. - run (<file> | --new <json>) --cmd <id> [--params <json>] [--cmd ..] [--out <file>] [--format ext] ...: opens or creates a document, runs commands in order, saves; prints each command's JSON result. Failure: error: \id`: unknown command ..., exit 1 (verified).--newtakes e.g.. -batch --actions [--action name] --in

--out : applies a recorded action list (or a Photoshop.atnset) to every image in a folder.droplet : runs a droplet. -serve [--port N] [--control-token ..]: long-lived headless session speaking JSON lines (engine.execute,doc.open/new/place/save/exportLayers/inspect/render/select/close,batch,jobs.list/cancel, ...). This is the only product with a documented persistent stdio/TCP session protocol besides MCP (docs/control-protocol.md). -mcp [--bridge 127.0.0.1:port] [--control-token ..] [--automation-read-root ..] [--automation-write-root ..]. Unlike the others the flags differ: read/write roots exist in this CLI's help (AGENTS.md of mcruft says there are none; the help I ran lists them, so that landmine note is stale or applies tophotocraft-pro-cli`).

Command catalogue [CLI commands --json, counted]

935 commands. Groups: layer 221, filter 124, edit 79, image 66, type 66, file 58, select 35, view 31, paint 26, channel 22, path 21, actions 18, brush 17, layerComp 14. Key ids: - File: file.new {width,height,mode,depth,background,resolution,...}, file.saveACopy {path, quality, layers, overwrite, tiffLayers, ...}, file.openAs, file.placeEmbedded {path, scale, fit, smartObject, center}, file.placeLinked, file.export.quickExport, file.export.layersToFiles, file.export.artboardsToFiles, file.export.artboardsToPdf, layer.exportAs {layer, path, scale}, file.package, file.export.presets.*. - Open and save of the working document are MCP/serve methods (doc_open, doc_save), not registry commands. - Type: type.create, type.setStyle, character/paragraph style commands (66 type.*).

MCP surface [MCP]

photocraft-cli mcp (0.15.1), 25 tools: command_list, command_run, command_batch, control_call, doc_new, doc_open, doc_close, doc_save, doc_export, doc_export_layers, doc_export_data_sets, doc_import_data_sets, doc_place, doc_select, doc_inspect, doc_render_preview, render_preview, jobs_list, jobs_cancel, session_list, ui_inspect, ui_menu_invoke, ui_pointer, ui_screenshot, ui_set. Implemented in photocraft-automation with rmcp + tokio + schemars (a different stack from the hand-written JSON-RPC servers in the other four). ui_* need bridge mode. Paths are relative to granted read/write roots.

Rust crates (25 in crates/)

crate	role	bindable as library?	notable deps
doc, raster, geom, color, cms	document model, pixel buffers, geometry, colour, ICC	yes	serde
format	.pcraft bundle	yes	blake3, ruzstd, crc32fast
io	PSD/PSB + flat raster import/export	yes	links psd, codecs, raw, affinity, vector, text
psd	PSD/PSB reader/writer	yes	flate2
codecs, heif, raw	flat codecs, HEIC, camera raw	yes	image, png, tiff, exr, heic-rs
compose, vector, paint, text, algo, ops	compositor, shape layers, brushes, type (parley), filters, ops	yes	parley, rustfft
affinity	Affinity reader	yes	-
engine	command registry and session	yes, but heavy	rayon, craft-print, plugins
gpu	optional wgpu compositor	no (GPU)	wgpu
plugins	wasmi filter plug-ins	no	wasmi
automation	MCP/bridge server	no	rmcp, tokio, cap-std
tablet, ui-egui, testkit	pen input, GUI, tests	no	egui

No PyO3 in the repo.

Operations relevant to mcruft

operation	route
pages	no page list. Closest: artboards (file.export.artboardsToFiles/ToPdf) and layer comps (14 layerComp.*)
PDF embedded vs outlined fonts	not applicable: PDF is a raster per artboard
export PNG	file.saveACopy path=x.png, convert, doc_export, quickExport
export SVG	none
import PDF	none
place image	file.placeEmbedded / file.placeLinked, MCP doc_place
text edit	type.create, type.setStyle; type layers stay editable and round-trip through PSD [src]

Known gaps vs Photoshop [src: docs/gaps.md]

PSD fidelity beyond the test corpus, missing tools, workspaces shown only as parameter dialogs, type depth, scripting/Actions, Camera Raw depth, AI/generative features, plug-in compatibility, brush feel and a bug backlog. Re-saving PSD preserves render for 307/309 psd-tools files (self-reported).