Nypl

What the Nypl MCP server does

The Nypl MCP server exposes search and retrieval capabilities for the NYPL Digital Collections. It is suited to agents that need to locate collection records by keyword and then inspect a particular record in more detail.

The search tool accepts a keyword query and returns matching items. Results include an item identifier, title, creator or source information, date data, and links. The returned identifier can be passed to the item tool.

The item tool retrieves the full details for one NYPL Digital Collections item. It expects an NYPL item UUID, normally obtained from a previous search call. This makes the two tools useful as a simple search-then-fetch workflow.

How it works

The Nypl MCP server is available in two forms. The hosted option uses the Pipeworx gateway at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/nypl/mcp. MCP clients connect to that URL and can call the NYPL tools remotely.

The gateway endpoint also exposes shared Pipeworx meta-tools, including ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, and remember/recall. These additional tools are part of the gateway connection and are not NYPL-specific. The endpoint may list roughly 30 shared tools in addition to the pack tools; its initialize response and tools/list response provide the current scope.

A local package is also available through npm. Running @pipeworx/mcp-nypl starts a stdio MCP server that handles initialize, tools/list, and tools/call for the NYPL pack only. The local mode does not add the gateway's shared meta-tools or require a Pipeworx account.

Setup and configuration

For a hosted connection, add the following MCP server configuration to a compatible client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nypl": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/nypl/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For local stdio use, configure the client to run npm with the package name:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nypl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-nypl"]
    }
  }
}

You can verify the local process directly with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-nypl. The hosted gateway can also be called over HTTP without an MCP client. For example, POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/nypl_search with a JSON body such as {"query":"Civil War photographs"} invokes a search.

Tools and capabilities

• search: Finds NYPL Digital Collections items by keyword and returns identifying and descriptive fields.
• item: Fetches full information for one item using its NYPL UUID.
• Hosted ask_pipeworx: Lets the gateway route a natural-language question to an appropriate tool across the broader Pipeworx catalog.

Use the local server when the agent only needs NYPL functionality and a local stdio process. Use the hosted endpoint when gateway access or its shared routing tools is useful.

Limitations and notes

The item operation depends on an NYPL item UUID, so a search result is the normal starting point. The hosted pack endpoint does not list only the two NYPL tools; shared Pipeworx tools are included by design. The local package avoids those extra tools but provides no ask_pipeworx routing. The hosted and local forms use the same NYPL source and expose the same pack-specific tools.