# smithsonian-mcp-server MCP server

Search 19.4M Smithsonian Open Access objects, get CC0 images, find cross-collection connections.

## Links
- Registry page: https://www.getdrio.com/mcp/io-github-cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server
- Repository: https://github.com/cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server

## Install
- Command: `npx -y @cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server`
- Endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp
- Auth: Auth required by registry metadata

## Setup notes
- Package: Npm @cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server v0.1.6
- Environment variable: SMITHSONIAN_API_KEY (required)
- Environment variable: MCP_LOG_LEVEL (default info)
- Package: Npm @cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server v0.1.6
- Environment variable: SMITHSONIAN_API_KEY (required)
- Environment variable: MCP_HTTP_HOST (default 127.0.0.1)
- Environment variable: MCP_HTTP_PORT (default 3010)
- Environment variable: MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATH (default /mcp)
- Environment variable: MCP_AUTH_MODE (default none)
- Environment variable: MCP_LOG_LEVEL (default info)
- The upstream registry signals required auth or secrets.
- Remote endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp

## Tools
- smithsonian_search (Search Smithsonian Collections) - Search across 19.4 million Smithsonian objects by text query and optional filters. Filters narrow by museum unit, object type, decade, culture, geographic place, and online/CC0 availability. Returns curated summaries (title, date, museum, thumbnail URL, CC0 flag) with the total match count. The record_id in each result is the identifier for smithsonian_get_object, smithsonian_find_related, and smithsonian_get_media. Endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp
- smithsonian_list_terms (List Valid Filter Terms) - Enumerate the valid term vocabulary for an indexed Smithsonian filter field (unit_code, culture, place, date, online_media_type). Smithsonian uses a controlled vocabulary where terms are often plural or qualified (e.g. "Paintings", not "Painting"), so filter values guessed rather than drawn from this vocabulary tend to return empty results. Returns a page of the field's distinct term values; large vocabularies (place has 100k+ terms) page via start and rows. Endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp
- smithsonian_get_object (Get Smithsonian Object) - Fetch a normalized catalog metadata projection for a Smithsonian object by its record_id (from smithsonian_search results). Returns the exposed catalog fields — title, dates, description, makers, materials, dimensions, place and culture associations, topics, exhibition history, credit line, accession identifiers, rights statement, and a media summary. The media summary is a count; full image URLs come from smithsonian_get_media. Endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp
- smithsonian_get_media (Get Smithsonian Object Media) - Return all available CC0 images for a Smithsonian object at multiple resolutions. Only CC0 (open access) images are returned; an object whose media is entirely non-CC0 yields no downloadable images. Each image entry includes thumbnail (~120px), screen-size (~800px), and high-resolution JPEG/TIFF URLs with pixel dimensions. The cc0_only filter on smithsonian_search surfaces objects that have downloadable CC0 images. Endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp
- smithsonian_explore (Explore Smithsonian by Category) - Browse Smithsonian collections by category to answer "what does the Smithsonian have about X?" questions. Constructs and executes a category-constrained search, then returns an overview: total count, a curated set of sample objects, and a breakdown of which museums hold matching objects. Four browse modes: museum (by unit code or name), culture (by culture term), period (by decade), medium (by object type). Use as the entry point for open-ended research. Endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp
- smithsonian_find_related (Find Related Smithsonian Objects) - Discover objects across Smithsonian collections related to a given anchor object, matched on shared metadata signals — culture, period, object type, maker names, and topic terms. Each related object is tagged with the signals that connected it to the anchor. Cross-museum discovery is the differentiator — an NASM aerospace anchor may surface related objects from NMNH, SAAM, and NMAH. Endpoint: https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp

## Resources
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## Prompts
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## Metadata
- Owner: io.github.cyanheads
- Version: 0.1.6
- Runtime: Npm
- Transports: STDIO, HTTP
- License: Not captured
- Language: Not captured
- Stars: Not captured
- Updated: Jun 4, 2026
- Source: https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io