This example demonstrates how to use VLM Run MCP tools to perform template matching. A source “template” image is used to search for and locate all instances of that template across a batch of different “reference” images. This is ideal for tasks like brand monitoring, content verification, and visual search.

​
Use Case Overview

Template matching is a powerful computer vision technique used to find small patches of an image (templates) in a larger image. In this workflow, the user provides an image of a logo and asks the agent to find that logo in three other news articles and photos, then return the images with the logo’s location highlighted.

​
Workflow Steps

Try it out yourself with the following prompt (in Claude Desktop or Web):
Given a template image (https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTC_ps_PWPSsQ0ZeX7Zsqvtu_30qfYpdmW-0g&s) check which of the following images contains this template in the provided 3 reference images below.
  1. https://newsvitran.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image144.jpg
  2. https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-YZ407_0920ip_M_20130920103617.jpg
  3. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/images/2024/09/apple-introduces-iphone-16-and-iphone-16-plus/article/Apple-iPhone-16-Apple-Intelligence-240909_big.jpg.large.jpg. Once the matches are found localize the object in the image and return the image with a bounding box drawn on the image. Finally, share a link to the images with bounding boxes overlayed of the template in each image where it is present.”*
The agent breaks this complex request down into a series of tool calls: I’ll help you find the template image in the reference images. Let me start by loading all the images and then use template matching to identify where the template appears.
1

Load all images

Use the put_image_url tool to load the template image and each of the three reference images into the system. This is done four times.
// Loading the template image
{
  "url": "[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTC_ps_PWPSsQ0ZeX7Zsqvtu_30qfYpdmW-0g&s](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTC_ps_PWPSsQ0ZeX7Zsqvtu_30qfYpdmW-0g&s)"
}
Response: Each call returns a unique image ID.
{
  "id": "img_6d04",
  "type": "image"
}
2

Find template in reference images

Use the find_template tool, providing the ID of the template and a list of the reference image IDs. A text prompt can be included to help guide the search.
{
  "template": { "id": "img_6d04", "type": "image" },
  "images": [
    { "id": "img_e6e7", "type": "image" },
    { "id": "img_f982", "type": "image" },
    { "id": "img_bc5c", "type": "image" }
  ],
  "prompt": "Apple logo"
}
Response: The tool returns a JSON object detailing the matches, confidence scores, and bounding box coordinates for each reference image.
3

Visualize bounding boxes

For each image where a match was found, use the visualize_bboxes tool with the coordinates from the find_template response to draw the red boxes on the images.
{
  "image": { "id": "img_e6e7", "type": "image" },
  "bboxes": [
    {"xywh": [0.12, 0.55, 0.08, 0.13]},
    ...
  ]
}
Response: Creates a new image with the bounding boxes rendered.
{
 "id": "img_a1b2",
 "type": "image"
}
4

Generate preview links

Use the preview_object_ref tool on the newly created annotated images to get shareable links.
{
  "obj": { "id": "img_a1b2", "type": "image" }
}
Response:
[https://mcp.vlm.run/files/img_a1b2](https://mcp.vlm.run/files/img_a1b2)

​
Example Result

The final output clearly summarizes the findings and provides links to the annotated images, showing exactly where the Apple logo was found.

Template Image

Apple logo template

Result Image 1

First result with four instances of Apple logo detected

Result Image 2

Second result with one instance of Apple logo detected

Template Matching Results

​
Build Your Own Visual Search Workflow

This template matching capability can be adapted for many powerful applications that require finding specific visual information within larger sets of data.
  • 🏷️ Brand Management: Scan social media and news sites to find every instance of your company’s logo.
  • 🛍️ E-commerce: Allow users to upload a picture of a product they like and find visually similar items in your inventory.
  • 🏭 Industrial Automation: Use a template of a perfect product to automatically spot defects or missing components on an assembly line.
  • 📚 Digital Archiving: Find all documents or pages that contain a specific seal, stamp, or signature.

​
Try our MCP server today

Head over to our MCP server to start building your own document processing pipeline with VLM Run. Sign-up for access on our platform.