Metmuseum MCP vs Va Museum
A side-by-side look at the Metmuseum MCP and Va Museum 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 Va Museum 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 Va Museum when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_objects, get_object.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Art & Culture | Art & Culture |
| Quality signal | 64/100 · Good | 52/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 35 | 2 |
| Directory activity | 6 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | 2 |
| Full listing | View Metmuseum MCP | View Va Museum |
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.
Va Museum tools 2
search_objectsSearch 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_objectGet 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.
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"
]
}
}
}
Va Museum
{
"mcpServers": {
"va-museum": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-va-museum"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Metmuseum MCP is categorized under Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Va Museum belongs to Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Metmuseum MCP for art & culture work and Va Museum 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. Va Museum 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 mikechao-metmuseum-mcp and va-museum 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 6 views, 0 installs and 35 GitHub stars. Va Museum has 52/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars.