DPLA Catalog vs Smithsonian MCP Server
A side-by-side look at the DPLA Catalog and Smithsonian MCP Server MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose DPLA Catalog for art & culture work as a local process; choose Smithsonian MCP Server for art & culture as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose DPLA Catalog when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_items, search_items_advanced, facet_items.
Choose Smithsonian MCP Server when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
SMITHSONIAN_API_KEY, MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, SMITHSONIAN_TERMS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS. - You want tools like
smithsonian_search_objects, smithsonian_list_terms, smithsonian_get_object.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Art & Culture | Art & Culture |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 57/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | SMITHSONIAN_API_KEYMCP_TRANSPORT_TYPESMITHSONIAN_TERMS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 2 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 6 | 6 |
| Full listing | View DPLA Catalog | View Smithsonian MCP Server |
Tools & capabilities
DPLA Catalog tools 6
search_itemsThe everyday search: words, title, place, a date range, holding institution, hub, item type. Each hit names its holding institution, the item's address there (`is_shown_at`), its rights statement, and whether page images can be listed. Copies of one work held in several places are flagged.search_items_advancedThe same, with every filter DPLA offers: county, state and city as DPLA geocoded them, subject, collection, publisher, format, creator, identifier, the period an item is *about*, rights, exact matching, any-of matching, sorting, and leaving out National Archives records.facet_itemsCounts before searching: which institutions hold plat books of a county, which years a run of directories covers, which hubs cover a place.get_itemUp to 20 records in full, each with `citation_parts`: the holding institution, title, date, the institution's own identifiers (call numbers, local ids, OCLC numbers, read from the harvested record too), `is_shown_at`, rights, and the DPLA id as a finder. Optionally the raw harvested record.get_item_imagesThe page images, from the IIIF manifest on the holding institution's site (Presentation API 2 and 3), a stretch of the list at a time. When a site refuses scripts, it says so and gives the address to open in a browser.api_statusWhether a key is configured (never the key), this session's calls and cache hits, and the last error. Makes no request.
Smithsonian MCP Server tools 6
smithsonian_search_objectsSearch across 14.5M objects by text query with optional filters (museum, type, date term, culture, place, topic, name, online-only, CC0). Returns curated summaries with total count.smithsonian_list_termsEnumerate the valid term vocabulary for an indexed filter field (unit_code, culture, place, date, online_media_type, topic). Call before filtering to avoid empty results from invalid values; pass `contains` to resolve a guessed value to its exact term(s). `unit_code` terms come back with their muse…smithsonian_get_objectFetch a normalized catalog metadata projection for an object by ID: title, dates, materials, dimensions, exhibition history, credit line, and identifiers.smithsonian_get_mediaReturn all CC0-licensed images for an object at multiple resolutions (thumbnail, screen, high-res JPEG/TIFF). Only CC0 images returned, never an empty list — a distinct error reason names why, whether the object has nothing digitized, only non-image media, or only restricted images.smithsonian_browse_categoryBrowse objects within one exact category (museum, culture, period, medium, topic) with total count, a page of objects, and museum breakdown. Requires an exact indexed category term.smithsonian_find_relatedDiscover cross-collection objects related to an anchor, matched on shared culture, named-party, topic, and period signals.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
DPLA Catalog
{
"mcpServers": {
"dpla-catalog": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"dpla-catalog-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Smithsonian MCP Server
{
"mcpServers": {
"smithsonian-mcp-server": {
"command": "bunx",
"args": [
"@cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server@latest"
],
"env": {
"SMITHSONIAN_API_KEY": "YOUR_SMITHSONIAN_API_KEY_HERE",
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "YOUR_MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE_HERE",
"SMITHSONIAN_TERMS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS": "YOUR_SMITHSONIAN_TERMS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
DPLA Catalog is categorized under Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Smithsonian MCP Server belongs to Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick DPLA Catalog for art & culture work and Smithsonian MCP Server for art & culture.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
DPLA Catalog has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Smithsonian MCP Server has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add dpla-catalog and smithsonian-mcp-server as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, DPLA Catalog has a quality signal of 52/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Smithsonian MCP Server has 57/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars.