Backdraw

Let Claude generate images with your own ChatGPT account, in a background Chrome tab. No API key, no extra cost, nothing to watch.

Türkçe

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What it does

Backdraw is a local MCP server plus a Chrome extension. Ask Claude for an image "with ChatGPT" and Backdraw opens ChatGPT in a background tab of your own Chrome, where you are already signed in. It sends the prompt, waits for the picture and saves it on your PC. Claude gets the file path, a preview and the link to the chat.

• Generate new images, or edit one by attaching it as a reference.
• Ask for a shape (16:9, a 4:1 banner, …) or a transparent background.
• Save reference images from any website with a right-click and reuse them as collections.
• Browse everything you made in a gallery side panel.
• Pure Node.js with zero npm dependencies. Everything runs on your computer.

Personal use, with your own ChatGPT account and at your own risk. Automating the ChatGPT web

page may conflict with OpenAI's terms; read

Disclaimer and responsible use before you start.

Why Backdraw?

• Your everyday Chrome. No separate browser profile, no second login, no automation browser: Backdraw works in the Chrome you already use, where you are signed in to ChatGPT.
• Out of your way. The work happens in a muted background tab that never takes focus, so you keep working while the image is made.
• No open ports. The pieces talk over Chrome native messaging and a named pipe that only your Windows user can open. There is no DevTools port (such as 9222) and no local web server.
• No API key. It uses your ChatGPT plan; each image counts toward your normal ChatGPT limits.
• References from the web. Right-click images on any site to collect them, then generate in their style.
• A gallery of everything you made, in Chrome's side panel.
• One command to set up: npx backdraw@latest setup. Loading the extension is the only step left to you.

How it compares

Other open-source projects take different approaches, and several of them do things Backdraw doesn't (macOS or Linux support, an API mode, running on a server). Each row was checked against the project's README and source on 2026-10-25; ? means we couldn't tell. Spotted a mistake? Please open an issue.

¹ Its own browser window, moved off screen or minimized once ChatGPT is ready. ² A browser on a virtual display (Xvfb) on the server, or headless.

Codex users already have built-in image generation; Backdraw is mainly for Claude Code, the Claude desktop app and VS Code.

How it works

Claude Code / Claude desktop app (MCP client)

│ MCP over stdio ▼ mcp-server.js ──── named pipe, your Windows user only ────► host.js │ Chrome native messaging ▼ Backdraw Chrome extension │ background tab ▼ chatgpt.com → your Project → new chat → image

• mcp-server.js is what Claude talks to. It forwards every tool call to host.js.
• host.js is started by Chrome when the extension connects. It runs the job queue (one job at a time), saves the images and keeps the job history in %USERPROFILE%\.backdraw\data.
• The extension opens chatgpt.com in a background tab, inside the ChatGPT Project you selected. The tab is never activated and is muted, no window takes focus, and your mouse and keyboard are never used: only synthetic events inside that one tab. The tab closes when the job is done, unless you are looking at it.
• No API key. Backdraw uses the ChatGPT session you already have in Chrome. It never reads cookies, tokens or passwords.
• Nothing leaves your PC except what you send to ChatGPT (the prompt and any reference images). There is no Backdraw server and no telemetry.

Images are saved in your Pictures folder under Backdraw, named after the time and the prompt, e.g. 20261021-153012_a-cozy-reading-nook.png.

Requirements

Windows only for now — the code is split into a platform module and macOS/Linux contributions are welcome. Everything OS-specific (named pipe, native host registration, user folders) lives in platform/win32.js.

Installation

Quick install

Run this in PowerShell or cmd (no admin rights needed):

npx backdraw@latest setup

It runs the backdraw package from npm.

setup does everything except one click in the browser:

1. It copies Backdraw to %USERPROFILE%\.backdraw (npx's own copy is temporary) and sets up the images folder Pictures\Backdraw (reference collections go to Pictures\Backdraw\References). Running it again updates Backdraw and keeps your settings, job history and collections.
2. It registers the native messaging host for your Windows user, for each browser it finds (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Chromium).
3. It lists the MCP clients it finds (Claude Code, the Claude desktop app, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI) and asks which ones to add Backdraw to. Only the backdraw entry is added or updated, and every config file gets a timestamped .bak copy before it changes. --yes takes every client it found; --clients=claude-code,cursor takes exactly those.
4. It opens the extension folder and your browser's extensions page, copies the folder path to the clipboard, and waits for you to load the extension, the one step left to you:
5. turn on Developer mode (top right),
6. click Load unpacked,
7. pick the folder (paste the path with Ctrl+V).

As soon as the extension connects, setup prints ✓ Ready and an example prompt.

The native host is still named io.github.muhammedtalha04.backdraw, after the project's old GitHub user name: renaming it would break existing installs.

Install from your client

Your MCP client can also add Backdraw itself; it then starts the server with npx backdraw@latest mcp. The browser side still needs a one-time setup on the PC, which leaves the clients alone:

npx backdraw@latest setup --clients=none

On Windows the command goes through cmd /c, because clients start npx without a shell. Use one way per client: if setup already added Backdraw to Claude Code, the plugin would start a second server with the same tools.

Manual install

1. Get the code. Clone the repository with git, or download it as a ZIP (Code → Download ZIP) and unzip it:

   git clone https://github.com/devtalh/backdraw.git

cd backdraw

2. **Run the installer** in that folder (no admin rights needed):

   node install.js

It does steps 1 and 2 above and adds Backdraw to Claude Code (user scope). For the other clients, run node bin/backdraw.js setup instead, or see Use it.

1. Load the extension once: open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode, click Load unpacked and select %USERPROFILE%\.backdraw\extension.

Finish in the popup

1. Open the popup. Click the Backdraw icon in the toolbar (pin it from the puzzle-piece menu). Until everything works, the popup shows a setup checklist with the fix for each step:
2. the bridge is connected,
3. you are signed in to ChatGPT,
4. a ChatGPT Project is selected,
5. ready: an example prompt to copy into Claude.
6. Create and select a ChatGPT Project. In ChatGPT, create a Project for your images (for example "Backdraw"), open it, click the Backdraw icon and press Use the “Backdraw” project. You can also ask Claude: *"Select my Backdraw project in ChatGPT for images."* Every new image chat is created inside that Project.

The popup also has a language (Auto / English / Türkçe) and a theme (Auto / Light / Dark) setting. If something doesn't work, run npx backdraw@latest doctor.

Use it

From Claude Code

Start a new Claude Code session after installing (MCP servers are loaded when a session starts) and ask in plain words, in any language. The backdraw server gives Claude these tools: generate_image, job_status, cancel_job, fetch_images, list_projects, `s