Metmuseum MCP vs Musicbrainz MCP
A side-by-side look at the Metmuseum MCP and Musicbrainz MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Metmuseum MCP for art & culture work as a local process; choose Musicbrainz MCP 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 Metmuseum MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
list-departments, search-museum-objects, get-museum-object.
Choose Musicbrainz MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
musicbrainz_lookup, musicbrainz_search, musicbrainz_browse.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Art & Culture | Art & Culture |
| Quality signal | 64/100 · Good | 61/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 35 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 7 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | 9 |
| Full listing | View Metmuseum MCP | View Musicbrainz MCP |
Tools & capabilities
Metmuseum MCP tools 4
list-departmentsList all departments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met Museum)search-museum-objectsSearch for objects in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met Museum). Will return Total objects found, followed by a paginated list of Object Ids. If the Met Explorer app (open-met-explorer) is open and the user is referring to its existing results, prefer using those results from context instead of calling this tool. The parameter title should be set to true if you want to search for objects by title. The parameter hasImages is false by default, but can be set to true to return only objects with images. Additional optional filters are available for highlights, tags, on-view status, artist/culture match, medium, geographic location, and date range. Use page and pageSize to paginate results.get-museum-objectGet a museum object by its ID, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection. Use this when the user asks for deeper details on a specific object ID.open-met-explorerOpen the interactive Met Explorer app for browsing and filtering objects. For exploration intents, pass q so the app can run a live search on open. After opening, keep your chat handoff short and UI-focused. For deeper details on a specific object ID, prefer get-museum-object.
Musicbrainz MCP tools 9
musicbrainz_lookupFetch a single MusicBrainz entity (artist, release, recording, release-group, label, work, area, place, event, instrument, series, genre, url) by its MBID. Use `inc` to pull linked sub-entities and relationships, e.g. inc: ["releases","release-groups"] on an artist, or ["recordings","labels"] on a release, or ["artist-credits","url-rels"] on most entities. Your own tags/ratings (inc: ["user-tags"], ["user-ratings"], …) need OAuth (MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_*). Read-only. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.musicbrainz_searchSearch a MusicBrainz entity type with a Lucene query and get back ranked matches with their MBIDs. Plain text matches the entity name; fielded Lucene also works, e.g. `artist:"Miles Davis" AND country:US`, `release:"Kind of Blue" AND format:Vinyl`, or `recording:"So What" AND dur:[540000 TO 560000]`. Feed a returned MBID into musicbrainz_lookup for full detail. Read-only. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.musicbrainz_browseList all entities of one type directly linked to a given entity — e.g. every release by an artist (entity: "release", linkedBy: "artist", mbid: <artist>), recordings on a release, releases in a collection (a private collection needs OAuth: MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_*), or events at a place. This is the complete, paged set for a relationship (unlike search, which ranks fuzzy matches). Use `inc` for extra detail and limit/offset to page (max 100/page). Read-only. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.musicbrainz_cover_artFetch Cover Art Archive image metadata for a release or release-group MBID — front/back cover URLs, thumbnails, and image types. Returns the image URLs (you can open or download them); it does not embed the bytes. Errors clearly when no art exists for the MBID. Read-only. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.musicbrainz_resolveTurn a musicbrainz.org URL (e.g. https://musicbrainz.org/artist/<mbid> or /release-group/<mbid>) into the underlying entity by extracting its type + MBID and looking it up. Handy when a user pastes a MusicBrainz link. Pass `inc` to include linked sub-entities. Read-only. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.musicbrainz_healthcheckConfirm the MusicBrainz API is reachable (and our User-Agent accepted) by looking up a stable entity, and report whether the OAuth write path is configured. Reports {ok, reachable, oauth_configured} with a plain-English hint. Read-only.musicbrainz_submit_tagsApply user tags to a MusicBrainz entity on YOUR account (needs OAuth: MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_* with the `tag` scope). Default `vote: upvote` adds the tags; `downvote` opposes them; `withdraw` removes your vote. Asks the user to confirm first: a confirmation prompt where the client supports one; otherwise the first call returns a preview and a confirmToken, and only a repeat call with that token proceeds (see MCP_CONFIRM_MODE). The preview shows the exact XML; nothing is sent before confirmation. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.musicbrainz_submit_ratingSet YOUR rating for a MusicBrainz entity (needs OAuth: MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_* with the `rating` scope). Rating is 0–100 (MusicBrainz shows it as 1–5 stars in steps of 20; 0 removes your rating). Asks the user to confirm first: a confirmation prompt where the client supports one; otherwise the first call returns a preview and a confirmToken, and only a repeat call with that token proceeds (see MCP_CONFIRM_MODE). Nothing is sent before confirmation. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.musicbrainz_modify_collectionAdd or remove entities (releases, artists, recordings, release-groups, works, labels, places, areas, events) in one of YOUR MusicBrainz collections (needs OAuth: MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_* with the `collection` scope). Get the collection MBID from its URL (musicbrainz.org/collection/<mbid>). Asks the user to confirm first: a confirmation prompt where the client supports one; otherwise the first call returns a preview and a confirmToken, and only a repeat call with that token proceeds (see MCP_CONFIRM_MODE). Nothing is changed before confirmation. Data from MusicBrainz (https://musicbrainz.org), the open music encyclopedia.
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.
Metmuseum MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"mikechao-metmuseum-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"metmuseum-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Musicbrainz MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"musicbrainz-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"musicbrainz-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Metmuseum MCP is categorized under Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Musicbrainz MCP belongs to Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Metmuseum MCP for art & culture work and Musicbrainz MCP 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.
Metmuseum MCP is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. Musicbrainz MCP is listed as free. 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 mikechao-metmuseum-mcp and musicbrainz-mcp as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Metmuseum MCP has a quality signal of 64/100 (Good) with 7 views, 0 installs and 35 GitHub stars. Musicbrainz MCP has 61/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.