met-museum-mcp-server

MET Museum collection via MCP — 500K+ artworks, metadata, provenance, open-access images.

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What it can do

    What data it sees

    Do you need an account

    No: the server works without sign-in

    MET Museum collection via MCP — 500K+ artworks, metadata, provenance, open-access images.

    How to connect

    How to connect met-museum-mcp-server to Claude

    The server address to paste into Claude settings:

    https://met-museum.caseyjhand.com/mcp

    1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
    2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
    3. Click Add custom connector.
    4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
    5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

    Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

    Authorization

    After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

    How to connect met-museum-mcp-server to ChatGPT

    The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

    https://met-museum.caseyjhand.com/mcp

    1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
    2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
    3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
    4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
    5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
    6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

    OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

    Authorization

    On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

    How to connect met-museum-mcp-server to Cursor

    The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

    https://met-museum.caseyjhand.com/mcp

    Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

    Manually:

    1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
    2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
    3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

    Authorization

    If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

    Server tool list (3)

    Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

    met_list_departmentsReturn the 19 curatorial departments at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, each with its numeric departmentId and display name — the valid values for the met_search_collections departmentId filter.
    met_search_collectionsSearch the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection by keyword and optional filters. Returns the total match count and a page of matching object IDs, which met_get_object resolves to full records. Relevance is keyword-based, not semantic; department and geographic filters narrow results more than a longer query. The medium parameter maps to the classification field (pass "Paintings", "Drawings", etc., not material descriptions like "Oil on canvas"). Every filter draws on a partial upstream index, so a filtered search omits some objects whose own record satisfies the filter — the results are not exhaustive, and dropping the filter is what widens them. A filtered search is checked against the same query run unfiltered, so its results match the keyword; when that check is too costly to complete the page is returned unchecked and the response says so in its notice. isPublicDomain selects CC0-licensed images; hasImages also includes copyrighted works. isPublicDomain and isHighlight are opt-in filters that accept true only; the upstream index is unsound on the false arm. isOnView restricts results to works currently on display in a Met gallery.
    met_get_objectFetch full records for one or more Met Museum object IDs. Accepts up to 20 IDs per call and returns partial success — a single 404 does not fail the whole batch; per-ID failures are reported separately. Object IDs come from met_search_collections. Non-public-domain objects return empty image URLs. The constituents array is null for anonymous or unattributed works; tags and measurements are null when the Met records none. Records are returned whole and never truncated, so a batch of unusually large records may return fewer than requested — any that did not fit are listed in deferred[] with their sizes, to be re-requested in a follow-up call.