The Met Museum MCP Server for Cursor 8 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
Cursor is an AI-first code editor built on VS Code that integrates LLM-powered coding assistance directly into the development workflow. Its Agent mode enables autonomous multi-step coding tasks, and MCP support lets agents access external data sources and APIs during code generation.
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{
"mcpServers": {
"the-met-museum": {
"url": "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.
Cursor's Agent mode turns The Met Museum into an in-editor superpower. Ask Cursor to generate code using live data from The Met Museum and it fetches, processes, and writes. all in a single agentic loop. 8 tools appear alongside file editing and terminal access, creating a unified development environment grounded in real-time information.
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 Cursor 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 Cursor via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the The Met Museum MCP Server with Cursor.
Open MCP Settings
Press Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) → search "MCP Settings"
Add the server config
Paste the JSON configuration above into the mcp.json file that opens
Save the file
Cursor will automatically detect the new MCP server
Start using The Met Museum
Open Agent mode in chat and ask: "Using The Met Museum, help me...". 8 tools available
Why Use Cursor with the The Met Museum MCP Server
Cursor AI Code Editor provides unique advantages when paired with The Met Museum through the Model Context Protocol.
Agent mode turns Cursor into an autonomous coding assistant that can read files, run commands, and call MCP tools without switching context
Cursor's Composer feature can generate entire files using real-time data fetched through MCP. no copy-pasting from external dashboards
MCP tools appear alongside built-in tools like file reading and terminal access, creating a unified agentic environment
VS Code extension compatibility means your existing workflow, keybindings, and extensions all work alongside MCP tools
The Met Museum + Cursor Use Cases
Practical scenarios where Cursor combined with the The Met Museum MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Code generation with live data: ask Cursor to generate a security report module using live DNS and subdomain data fetched through MCP
Automated documentation: have Cursor query your API's tool schemas and generate TypeScript interfaces or OpenAPI specs automatically
Infrastructure-as-code: Cursor can fetch domain configurations and generate corresponding Terraform or CloudFormation templates
Test scaffolding: ask Cursor to pull real API responses via MCP and generate unit test fixtures from actual data
The Met Museum MCP Tools for Cursor (8)
These 8 tools become available when you connect The Met Museum to Cursor 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 Cursor
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Cursor 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 Cursor
Common issues when connecting The Met Museum to Cursor through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
Tools not appearing in Cursor
Server shows as disconnected
The Met Museum + Cursor FAQ
Common questions about integrating The Met Museum MCP Server with Cursor.
What is Agent mode and why does it matter for MCP?
Where does Cursor store MCP configuration?
mcp.json file. You can configure servers at the project level (.cursor/mcp.json in your project root) or globally (~/.cursor/mcp.json). Project-level configs take precedence.Can Cursor use MCP tools in inline edits?
How do I verify MCP tools are loaded?
Connect The Met Museum with your favorite client
Step-by-step setup guides for every MCP-compatible client and framework:
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Anthropic's agentic CLI for terminal-first development.
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Google's framework for building production AI agents.
Type-safe agent development for Python with first-class MCP support.
TypeScript toolkit for building AI-powered web applications.
TypeScript-native agent framework for modern web stacks.
Python framework for orchestrating collaborative AI agent crews.
Leading Python framework for composable LLM applications.
Data-aware AI agent framework for structured and unstructured sources.
Microsoft's framework for multi-agent collaborative conversations.
Connect The Met Museum to Cursor
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 8 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.