@cyanheads/met-museum-mcp-server
Search the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, browse it by department or update date, fetch full artwork records and open-access images via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.
4 Tools
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**Public Hosted Server:** [https://met-museum.caseyjhand.com/mcp](https://met-museum.caseyjhand.com/mcp)
---
## Overview
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of 500,000+ works spanning 5,000 years. Search by keyword and filters, browse by department, and fetch full object records with provenance and CC0 open-access images.
### Tools
| Tool | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `met_list_departments` | Return all 19 curatorial departments with their numeric IDs and display names |
| `met_search_collections` | Search the collection by keyword, optionally matched in titles or tags only, with filters for department, date range, medium, geography, image availability, on-view status, and highlight designation |
| `met_list_objects` | List every object ID in a department, every object created or revised since a date, or both, without a keyword |
| `met_get_object` | Fetch full records for one or more object IDs — metadata, provenance, artist info, CC0 image URLs, tags, and Wikidata links — optionally with up to 3 CC0 images as image content |
## Capability reference
### `met_list_departments` tool
- No input; returns all 19 curatorial departments, each a numeric `departmentId` with its `displayName` (e.g., "Egyptian Art")
- `departmentId` values are the valid input for the `departmentId` filter on `met_search_collections` and `met_list_objects`
- Typed errors: `upstream_blocked`, `upstream_unavailable` (the Met answered 500/502/503/504 through every retry), `upstream_rate_limited` (the Met answered 429), and `retry_deadline_exceeded` (the call's time budget ran out)
---
### `met_search_collections` tool
- Keyword `q` (required), matched across all text fields unless `matchField` narrows it to `"title"` or `"tags"`; `"*"` matches everything, for a search by filters alone. Filters: `departmentId`, `medium` (case-sensitive, e.g. `"Paintings"`), `dateBegin`/`dateEnd` (integer years, negative = BCE, set together), one `geoLocation`, `hasImages`, `isOnView`, and `isHighlight` (`true` only)
- Up to 500 IDs per page (default 20), paged by `offset` / `nextOffset` through the first 10,000 matches; `total` reports the full count. `departmentId` 7 (The Cloisters) and 17 (Medieval Art) share one result set at the Met, so a page can hold fewer than `limit` IDs, which a `notice` flags
- Zero matches is a result with a `notice`, not an error; every result echoes the applied query as `effectiveQuery`. Typed errors: `invalid_date_range`, `invalid_filter` (a blank `q`, `medium`, or `geoLocation`), `invalid_department`, `upstream_blocked`, `upstream_unavailable`, `upstream_rate_limited`, `retry_deadline_exceeded`
---
### `met_list_objects` tool
- Filters `departmentId` (from `met_list_departments`) and `updatedSince` (`YYYY-MM-DD`, records created or revised on or after that day), alone or together; with neither, the whole collection (over 500,000 IDs). Up to 500 IDs per page (default 20) in ascending order, paged by `offset` / `nextOffset` with no depth limit
- An empty list is a result with a `notice`, not an error; every result echoes the applied filters as `effectiveQuery`. Typed errors: `invalid_department`, `invalid_date` (an impossible date such as `2026-02-30`), `upstream_blocked`, `upstream_unavailable`, `upstream_rate_limited`, `retry_deadline_exceeded`
- Lists are cached for up to an hour, so a record revised in the last hour may not appear yet
---
### `met_get_object` tool
- Fetches 20 distinct IDs per call, from `met_search_collections` or `met_list_objects`; a list of up to 500 is accepted, and the IDs past the first 20 come back in `remainingIDs`. The index can list IDs the Met no longer serves, so drop an ID that 404s
- Partial success: per-ID errors land in `failed[]`, and the call fails only when every ID does (`all_not_found`, `upstream_blocked`, `upstream_rate_limited`, `retry_deadline_exceeded`, `upstream_unavailable`, or `all_failed`). Records past a 60,000-byte `structuredContent` budget are listed in `deferred[]` with their sizes, to re-request
- Non-public-domain objects (`isPublicDomain` / `hasCC0Image`) return empty `primaryImage`, `primaryImageSmall`, and `additionalImages`. `includeImages: true` attaches the CC0 image (about 600 px) of the first 3 records that have one as image content in `content[]` only, with each record's outcome in `images[]`
## Features
Built on [`@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core`](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core): stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (`none` / `jwt` / `oauth`), swappable storage (`in-memory`, `filesystem`, `Supabase`, `Cloudflare KV/R2/D1`), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.
Met Museum-specific:
- 500K+ artworks spanning 5,000 years from the Met's public collection API
- CC0 open-access data from [The Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.metmuseum.org/) — free to use without permission or attribution
- Parallel batch fetching with configurable concurrency for `met_get_object`
- Linked data on every object — Getty ULAN and AAT URLs, Wikidata entity URLs for artists, tags, and works
- Met API failures surface on every tool as typed errors (`upstream_blocked` for a 403 firewall block, `upstream_unavailable` for 5xx, `upstream_rate_limited` for 429), never as the Met's raw error page
- `met_get_object` stops requesting the rest of a batch once the Met is blocking, down, or throttling, so a bad batch costs only a few requests
Agent-friendly output:
- Provenance on every record: `isPublicDomain` and `hasCC0Image` flags show which images can be displayed
- Partial failure reporting: `met_get_object` returns `objects` and `failed` arrays, so successes arrive alongside per-ID errors
- Truncation signaling: `met_search_collections` and `met_list_objects` return `total`, `returned`, `truncated`, `remaining`, `nextOffset`, and the resolved `offset`
- Byte-budget disclosure: `met_get_object` lists `deferred[]` records with their sizes when a batch is too large
## Getting started
### Public Hosted Instance
A public instance is available at `https://met-museum.caseyjhand.com/mcp` — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"met-museum-mcp-server": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://met-museum.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
}
```
### Self-Hosted / Local
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"met-museum-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/met-museum-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with npx (no Bun required):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"met-museum-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/met-museum-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with Docker:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"met-museum-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
"ghcr.io/cyanheads/met-museum-mcp-server:latest"
]
}
}
}
```
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
```sh
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
```
### Prerequisites
- [Bun v1.4.0](https://bun.sh/) or higher (or Node.js v24+).
- No API key required — the Met Collection API is public and unauthenticated.
### Installation
1. **Clone the repository:**
```sh
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/met-museum-mcp-server.git
```
2. **Navigate into the directory:**
```sh
cd met-museum-mcp-server
```
3. **Install dependencies:**
```sh
bun install
```
4. **Configure environment:**
```sh
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env as needed (all vars are optional)
```
## Configuration
All configuration is validated at startup via Zod schemas in `src/config/server-config.ts`.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|:---|:---|:---|
| `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE` | Transport: `stdio` or `http` | `stdio` |
| `MCP_HTTP_PORT` | HTTP server port | `3010` |
| `MCP_SESSION_MODE` | HTTP session mode: `auto`, `stateful`, or `stateless` | `stateless` |
| `MCP_AUTH_MODE` | Authentication: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth` | `none` |
| `MCP_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (`debug`, `info`, `warning`, `error`) | `info` |
| `LOGS_DIR` | Directory for log files (Node.js only) | `/logs` |
| `LOG_TOOL_FAILURE_PAYLOADS` | Log each failed tool call's arguments and result, redacted by key name and capped at `LOG_TOOL_FAILURE_PAYLOAD_MAX_BYTES` (default `16384`). A secret inside a free-form value is not redacted. | `false` |
| `OTEL_ENABLED` | Enable OpenTelemetry instrumentation | `false` |
| `MET_BASE_URL` | Met Collection API root; override for local stubs | `https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/public/collection` |
| `MET_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS` | Per-request HTTP timeout in milliseconds | `10000` |
| `MET_CALL_DEADLINE_MS` | Time budget in milliseconds for one tool call, retries included; exceeding it fails with `retry_deadline_exceeded` | `30000` |
| `MET_BATCH_CONCURRENCY` | Max parallel fetches in `met_get_object` | `5` |
See [`.env.example`](./.env.example) for the full list of optional overrides.
## Running the server
### Local development
- **Build and run:**
```sh
# One-time build
bun run rebuild
# Run the built server
bun run start:stdio
# or
bun run start:http
```
- **Run checks and tests:**
```sh
bun run devcheck # Lint, format, typecheck, security
bun run test # Vitest test suite
bun run lint:mcp # Validate MCP definitions against spec
```
### Docker
```sh
docker build -t met-museum-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -p 3010:3010 met-museum-mcp-server
```
The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to `/var/log/met-museum-mcp-server`. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with `--build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false` to omit them.
## Project structure
| Directory | Purpose |
|:---|:---|
| `src/index.ts` | `createApp()` entry point — registers tools and inits the Met service. |
| `src/config` | Server-specific environment variable parsing and validation with Zod. |
| `src/mcp-server/tools` | Tool definitions (`*.tool.ts`) — `met_list_departments`, `met_search_collections`, `met_list_objects`, `met_get_object`. |
| `src/services/met` | Met Collection API client — HTTP, call deadline, response normalization, cached object-ID lists. |
| `tests/` | Unit and integration tests mirroring `src/`. |
## Development guide
See [`CLAUDE.md`](./CLAUDE.md) for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:
- Handlers throw, framework catches — no `try/catch` in tool logic
- Use `ctx.log` for request-scoped logging, `ctx.state` for tenant-scoped storage
- Register new tools via the arrays in `createApp()` in `src/index.ts`
- Wrap external API calls: validate raw → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields
## Contributing
Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:
```sh
bun run devcheck
bun run test
```
## Data attribution
Data from [The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection API](https://metmuseum.github.io/) (CC0).
## License
Apache-2.0 — see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.