Log inSubmit server
Art logo

Art

Searches the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, retrieves artwork details, and lists curatorial departments without authentication.

InstallRepositoryWebsite
Full README Compare alternatives Embed widget Claim this listing

Install Art

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "art": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-art"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

We couldn’t confirm it starts correctly

The install command started, but didn't respond the way we expected when we tried to talk to it.

npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-art

initialize succeeded but no response to tools/list.

This is an experimental automated check and can have false negatives — missing environment variables, a slow cold install, etc. It doesn’t necessarily mean something’s wrong. Last checked 7d ago.

Overview

The art MCP server connects AI agents to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection API. It provides tools for ranked artwork searches, object-detail retrieval by ID, and department listing, with image URLs included where available. Use it to research artworks, identify collection items, or browse the Met's curatorial structure. Connect through the Pipeworx gateway or run the package locally over stdio.

Use cases

  • Search the Met collection by artist, subject, or keyword
  • Retrieve detailed metadata for a known artwork object
  • List curatorial departments and their numeric IDs
  • Provide artwork image URLs in research workflows

Key features

  • Ranked collection search with match-source labels
  • Artwork lookup by Metropolitan Museum object ID
  • Curatorial department listing
  • Artwork and high-resolution image URLs
  • Hosted gateway and local stdio access
  • No authentication required for the collection API

Tools3

What Art lets your agent do. Expand a tool for its parameters.

Self-reported~167 tokens of context

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked 3d ago

Recent health check succeeded.

7/7 checks healthy over the last 39d

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 4d ago via OSV.dev · @pipeworx/mcp-art (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

GitHub stars1Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads442Package downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit5d agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Install checkInconclusiveStarted but did not complete the MCP handshake in our test.
Tools exposed3Callable tools this server registers over MCP.
Directory activity1 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Art works

What the art MCP server does

The art MCP server gives an AI agent access to collection data from The Metropolitan Museum of Art through three focused tools. It can search for works using a subject, artist, or general keyword; retrieve a single record when given the Met object ID; and return the museum's curatorial departments with their numeric identifiers.

Search results prioritize title matches, followed by matches involving the artist or culture, and then broader full-text matches. Each result identifies the matching field through matched_on and includes core metadata such as title, artist, date, medium, and an image URL. Detailed artwork results add the department and a high-resolution image URL.

This listing belongs to the 🎨 Art & Culture category and is intended for collection research, artwork lookup, and agent workflows that need structured museum data.

How it works

The art MCP server is available in two forms. A hosted MCP endpoint is provided through the Pipeworx gateway at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/art/mcp. The gateway connection also exposes shared Pipeworx meta-tools, so its tool list is larger than the three collection-specific tools. Those shared tools can route questions to other catalog sources through ask_pipeworx.

A local package is also available through npm. It communicates over standard input and output and exposes only the art collection tools. The same hosted service can be called directly over HTTP with a tool-specific endpoint such as /v1/tools/art_search_artworks.

Setup and configuration

For a hosted connection, add the gateway URL to an MCP client's server configuration. The README names Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf as compatible connection options. No account is needed for the first hosted calls, and the collection API requires no authentication.

To run locally, configure the server with the npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-art command and no environment variables. Running that command directly starts the stdio MCP process. A separate full-gateway URL, https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp, exposes all Pipeworx packs directly rather than listing only the art pack's tools.

Tools and capabilities

  • search_artworks: Finds collection items by subject, artist, or keyword and returns ranked matches with identifying metadata.
  • get_artwork: Retrieves full information for an artwork using the object ID returned by search.
  • get_departments: Lists all Metropolitan Museum of Art curatorial departments and their numeric IDs.

The search and detail responses can include image URLs, making the server suitable for agents that need to reference or display collection imagery alongside text metadata.

Limitations and notes

The art MCP server is an independent, unofficial integration. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Artwork detail lookup depends on having the correct object ID, normally obtained from search_artworks.

The hosted pack endpoint includes shared gateway tools that cannot currently be removed from that connection. If an agent needs only the three collection tools, the local stdio package avoids those additional schemas and does not provide cross-catalog ask_pipeworx routing. The available tool scope and shared-tool list can change on the gateway; the MCP initialize response is authoritative for a specific connection.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

Reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to share how it worked for you.

Frequently Asked Questions about Art

art is an MCP server that connects AI agents to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection API. Its main tools search artworks by subject, artist, or keyword, retrieve full records by object ID, and list curatorial departments with numeric IDs. It is available through Pipeworx or as a local stdio package.

Run it locally with `npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-art` and configure that command as an MCP stdio server. You can also connect an MCP client to the hosted URL `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/art/mcp`. No environment variables or Pipeworx account are required for the local setup.

Yes, art works with Cursor through the hosted Pipeworx MCP URL. Add `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/art/mcp` as the server endpoint in the client configuration. The hosted connection includes the collection tools plus shared Pipeworx gateway tools.

Call `search_artworks` with a subject, artist, or keyword such as “sunflowers,” “monet,” or “ancient egypt.” Results rank title matches first, then artist or culture matches, followed by broader full-text matches, and report the matching basis in `matched_on`.

Related MCP servers

All in Art & Culture All alternatives
Add a badge to your READMEShow it’s listed — live SVG, Markdown or HTML.

AllMCPs Directory Badge

Full Badge Customizer

Showcase your server listing on GitHub or your project documentation. Embed this dynamic SVG badge to highlight official listing status and live engagement.

Badge Style:
Live Dynamic SVG PreviewArt AllMCPs Directory Badge
Markdown (GitHub README)
[![AllMCPs](https://allmcps.com/api/badge/art?style=directory)](https://allmcps.com/mcp/art)
HTML Embed
<a href="https://allmcps.com/mcp/art"><img src="https://allmcps.com/api/badge/art?style=directory" alt="Art on AllMCPs" /></a>