Use session.camera.takePhoto() to capture a photo from the user’s smart glasses. The method returns a promise that resolves with the photo data.

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Quick Start

import { MiniAppServer, type MentraSession } from "@mentra/sdk";

const app = new MiniAppServer();

app.onSession((session) => {
  session.transcription.on((data) => {
    if (!data.isFinal) return;

    if (data.text.toLowerCase().includes("take photo")) {
      session.camera.takePhoto().then((photo) => {
        session.logger.info(`Photo captured: ${photo.url}`);
        session.logger.info(`Resolution: ${photo.width}x${photo.height}`);
      });
    }
  });
});

app.start();

​
Permissions

Your app needs the camera permission to take photos. Add it in the Developer Console when creating or editing your app. Check permission at runtime: 
if (session.camera.hasPermission) {
  const photo = await session.camera.takePhoto();
  session.logger.info(`Captured: ${photo.url}`);
} else {
  session.logger.warn("Camera permission not granted");
}

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Options

Pass an options object to control the capture: 
const photo = await session.camera.takePhoto({
  size: "large",
  compression: "high",
  saveToGallery: true,
  sound: true,
  timeout: 10000,
});
OptionTypeDefaultDescription
size"small" | "medium" | "large" | "full""medium"Photo resolution
compressionstringundefinedCompression level
saveToGallerybooleanfalseSave the photo to the user’s gallery
soundbooleantruePlay a shutter sound on capture
timeoutnumber5000Timeout in milliseconds

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Return Value

takePhoto() returns a Promise<PhotoData> with the following fields:
FieldTypeDescription
urlstringURL to the captured photo
widthnumberPhoto width in pixels
heightnumberPhoto height in pixels
timestampnumberUnix timestamp of the capture
savedToGallerybooleanWhether the photo was saved to the gallery

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Photo Sizes

The resolution depends on the requested size and connection type.
SizeWiFi ResolutionBLE Resolution
small640x480400x300
medium1280x960640x480
large1920x1440800x600
full3264x24481024x768
All photos maintain a 4:3 aspect ratio. Over BLE, photos are compressed more aggressively to fit Bluetooth bandwidth constraints.

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Common Patterns

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Take a photo and upload it

app.onSession((session) => {
  session.transcription.on(async (data) => {
    if (!data.isFinal) return;

    if (data.text.toLowerCase().includes("capture")) {
      try {
        const photo = await session.camera.takePhoto({ size: "large" });
        session.logger.info(`Uploading photo: ${photo.url}`);

        await fetch("https://your-api.com/upload", {
          method: "POST",
          headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
          body: JSON.stringify({ imageUrl: photo.url }),
        });

        session.speaker.speak("Photo uploaded");
      } catch (error) {
        session.logger.error("Photo capture failed", error);
      }
    }
  });
});

​
Take multiple photos with a delay

async function captureSequence(session: MentraSession, count: number) {
  const photos = [];
  for (let index = 0; index < count; index++) {
    const photo = await session.camera.takePhoto({ size: "small" });
    photos.push(photo);
    session.logger.info(`Captured ${index + 1}/${count}`);
    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
  }
  return photos;
}

const photo = await session.camera.takePhoto({
  saveToGallery: true,
  size: "full",
});

session.logger.info(`Saved to gallery: ${photo.savedToGallery}`);

​
Migrating from v2

Three changes to be aware of:
  • requestPhoto() is now takePhoto(). The method name changed, but the usage pattern is the same.
  • customWebhookUrl and authToken options are removed. Photos are returned directly from the promise.
  • onPhotoTaken() is deprecated. Use the promise returned by takePhoto() instead.
// v2
const photo = await session.camera.requestPhoto({ size: "large" });

// v3
const photo = await session.camera.takePhoto({ size: "large" });
See the Migration Guide for the full list of changes.