# Va Museum [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🎨 Art & Culture  
**Repository:** https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-va-museum  
**GitHub Stars:** 2  
**npm Downloads (last month):** 446  
**Views:** 2  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/va-museum

## Description
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) Collections MCP.

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **search_objects** — Search the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) — the world's leading art & design museum. Find objects across 1M+ items (furniture, fashion, ceramics, photographs, paintings, jewellery, sculpture) by keyword. Returns id, title, maker, date, place, type, and thumbnail. Use the returned id with get_object…
- **get_object** — Get the full record for a single V&A object by its system number (e.g. "O72610", as returned by search_objects). Returns title, maker, object type, materials, description, date, place, dimensions, and a usable image URL. Keyless.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `npx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "va-museum": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y","@pipeworx/mcp-va-museum"]
  }
}
```

## Documentation

## What the Va Museum MCP server does

The Va Museum MCP server exposes two tools for working with Victoria and Albert Museum collection data. It is intended for agents that need to find museum objects and then inspect individual catalog records without requiring a separate museum API credential.

`search_objects` performs keyword searches across more than one million V&A items. The collection scope includes furniture, fashion, ceramics, photographs, paintings, jewellery, and sculpture. Each result can include a system number, title, maker, date, place, object type, and thumbnail. The returned identifier is designed to be passed to `get_object` for a more complete record.

`get_object` retrieves one object using its V&A system number, such as `O72610`. Its response includes the title, maker, object type, materials, description, date, place, dimensions, and an image URL that can be used by an application or agent.

## How it works

The Va Museum MCP server supports MCP tool discovery and tool calls. An agent can first search for a subject or object, select a result, and then request the full record using that result's system number. Both listed tools are keyless.

The hosted option uses the Pipeworx gateway. The pack endpoint is `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/va-museum/mcp`, while the broader gateway is available at `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp`. The pack endpoint lists the V&A tools together with shared Pipeworx gateway tools. The full gateway lists tools from the wider catalog directly; the material states that both gateway URLs reach the same gateway and data sources.

A local package is also available through `@pipeworx/mcp-va-museum`. In local mode, the process communicates over standard input and output and exposes only the V&A pack tools, without the gateway's shared meta-tools.

## Setup and configuration

For an MCP client that accepts a remote URL, add the pack endpoint as the server URL. The README specifically shows configurations for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf. For a local connection, configure the server with the `npx` command and the `-y @pipeworx/mcp-va-museum` arguments.

The package can also be started directly with `npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-va-museum` to confirm that it launches. No environment variables or account settings are documented as required. The README also provides an HTTP route for calling `search_objects` directly at `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_objects`.

## Tools and capabilities

- Search V&A objects by keyword.
- Return compact search metadata and thumbnails.
- Retrieve full records by V&A system number.
- Expose materials, descriptions, dates, places, dimensions, and image URLs.
- Use hosted MCP, local stdio MCP, or direct HTTP access.

## Limitations and notes

The Va Museum MCP server's dedicated functionality is limited to the two listed V&A collection tools. Hosted pack connections also include shared Pipeworx meta-tools, so the tool count shown by `tools/list` can exceed the two pack tools. Local stdio mode does not include those shared tools.

Search results must provide an object identifier before a detailed record can be requested. The material does not document filtering options beyond keyword search, pagination behavior, rate limits, or the freshness of collection data. The MIT license applies to the package.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/va-museum/readme_