The Met Museum MCP Server for Claude Code 8 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic CLI for terminal-first development. Add The Met Museum as an MCP server in one command and Claude Code will discover every tool at runtime. ideal for automation pipelines, CI/CD integration, and headless workflows via Vinkius.
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Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.
Vinkius Desktop App
The modern way to manage MCP Servers — no config files, no terminal commands. Install The Met Museum and 2,500+ MCP Servers from a single visual interface.
# Your Vinkius token. get it at cloud.vinkius.com
claude mcp add the-met-museum --transport http "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure
About The Met Museum MCP Server
Connect to The Met Museum and explore one of the world's largest art collections through natural conversation — no API key needed.
Claude Code registers The Met Museum as an MCP server in a single terminal command. Once connected, Claude Code discovers all 8 tools at runtime and can call them headlessly. ideal for CI/CD pipelines, cron jobs, and automated workflows where The Met Museum data drives decisions without human intervention.
What you can do
- Artwork Search — Search 470,000+ artworks by artist name, title, culture, medium or any term
- Artwork Details — Get full metadata including title, artist, date, medium, dimensions, credit line and images
- Department Browse — Explore artworks by department (European Paintings, Egyptian Art, Asian Art, etc.)
- Highlights — Discover curator-selected highlights from the collection
- On-View Objects — Find artworks currently displayed in the museum galleries
- Date Range Search — Filter artworks by century or specific date ranges
- Image Discovery — Find artworks with Open Access CC0 images
The The Met Museum MCP Server exposes 8 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Claude Code in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.
How to Connect The Met Museum to Claude Code via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the The Met Museum MCP Server with Claude Code.
Install Claude Code
Run npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code if not already installed
Add the MCP Server
Run the command above in your terminal
Verify the connection
Run claude mcp to list connected servers, or type /mcp inside a session
Start using The Met Museum
Ask Claude: "Using The Met Museum, show me...". 8 tools are ready
Why Use Claude Code with the The Met Museum MCP Server
Claude Code provides unique advantages when paired with The Met Museum through the Model Context Protocol.
Single-command setup: `claude mcp add` registers the server instantly. no config files to edit or applications to restart
Terminal-native workflow means MCP tools integrate seamlessly into shell scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and automated DevOps tasks
Claude Code runs headlessly, enabling unattended batch processing using The Met Museum tools in cron jobs or deployment scripts
Built by the same team that created the MCP protocol, ensuring first-class compatibility and the fastest adoption of new protocol features
The Met Museum + Claude Code Use Cases
Practical scenarios where Claude Code combined with the The Met Museum MCP Server delivers measurable value.
CI/CD integration: embed The Met Museum tool calls in your deployment pipeline to validate configurations or fetch secrets before shipping
Headless batch processing: schedule Claude Code to query The Met Museum nightly and generate reports without human intervention
Shell scripting: pipe The Met Museum outputs into other CLI tools for data transformation, filtering, and aggregation
Infrastructure monitoring: run Claude Code in a cron job to query The Met Museum status endpoints and alert on anomalies
The Met Museum MCP Tools for Claude Code (8)
These 8 tools become available when you connect The Met Museum to Claude Code via MCP:
get_departments
Useful for filtering searches by department (e.g. European Paintings, Egyptian Art, Asian Art, Arms and Armor). Get all museum departments
get_object
Returns title, artist, culture, date, medium, dimensions, credit line, repository URL, image URLs and more. All Open Access images are CC0 public domain. Get detailed info for a specific artwork by object ID
get_objects_by_department
Use get_departments first to find the department ID. Returns list of object IDs which can be used with get_object for full details. Get all object IDs for a specific department
search_by_century
Returns object IDs which can be used with get_object for full artwork details including images. Search for objects created in a specific century
search_highlights
These represent some of the most significant and popular works in the collection. Search for highlighted (curator-selected) objects
search_objects
Supports filtering by department, date range, medium, images, highlights and on-view status. Returns object IDs which can be used with get_object for full details. Search The Met collection for artworks
search_on_view
Useful for planning museum visits. Search for objects currently on view in the museum
search_with_images
Useful for finding visual artworks. Supports all standard search filters plus has_images=true. Search for objects that have images
Example Prompts for The Met Museum in Claude Code
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Claude Code agent to start working with The Met Museum immediately.
"Search for paintings by Monet."
"Show me the highlights from Egyptian Art."
"Find sculptures from the 1800s."
Troubleshooting The Met Museum MCP Server with Claude Code
Common issues when connecting The Met Museum to Claude Code through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
Command not found: claude
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeConnection timeout
The Met Museum + Claude Code FAQ
Common questions about integrating The Met Museum MCP Server with Claude Code.
How do I add an MCP server to Claude Code?
claude mcp add --transport http "" in your terminal. Claude Code registers the server and discovers all tools immediately.Can Claude Code run MCP tools in headless mode?
How do I list all connected MCP servers?
claude mcp in your terminal to see all registered servers and their status, or type /mcp inside an active Claude Code session.Connect The Met Museum with your favorite client
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Connect The Met Museum to Claude Code
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 8 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.