The Met Museum MCP Server for VS Code Copilot 8 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
GitHub Copilot in VS Code is the most widely adopted AI coding assistant, embedded directly into the world's most popular code editor. With MCP support in Agent mode, Copilot can access external data and APIs to generate context-aware code grounded in real-time information.
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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.
GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings The Met Museum data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 8 tools. Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.
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 VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the The Met Museum MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.
Create MCP config
Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project root
Add the server config
Paste the JSON configuration above
Enable Agent mode
Open GitHub Copilot Chat and switch to Agent mode using the dropdown
Start using The Met Museum
Ask Copilot: "Using The Met Museum, help me...". 8 tools available
Why Use VS Code Copilot with the The Met Museum MCP Server
GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code provides unique advantages when paired with The Met Museum through the Model Context Protocol.
VS Code is used by over 70% of developers. adding MCP tools to Copilot means your team can leverage external data without leaving their primary editor
Project-scoped MCP configs (`.vscode/mcp.json`) let you commit server configurations to your repository, ensuring the entire team shares the same tool access
Copilot's Agent mode integrates MCP tools seamlessly with file editing, terminal commands, and workspace search in a single agentic loop
GitHub's enterprise compliance and audit features extend to MCP tool usage, providing visibility into how AI interacts with external services
The Met Museum + VS Code Copilot Use Cases
Practical scenarios where VS Code Copilot combined with the The Met Museum MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Live API integration: Copilot can query an MCP server, inspect the response schema, and generate typed API client code in the same step
DevSecOps workflows: security teams can give developers access to domain intelligence tools directly in their editor for real-time vulnerability assessment during code review
Data pipeline development: Copilot fetches sample data via MCP and generates transformation scripts, validators, and test fixtures from actual API responses
Documentation generation: Copilot queries available tools and auto-generates README sections, API reference docs, and usage examples
The Met Museum MCP Tools for VS Code Copilot (8)
These 8 tools become available when you connect The Met Museum to VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your VS Code Copilot 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 VS Code Copilot
Common issues when connecting The Met Museum to VS Code Copilot through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
MCP tools not available
The Met Museum + VS Code Copilot FAQ
Common questions about integrating The Met Museum MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.
Which VS Code version supports MCP?
How do I switch to Agent mode?
Can I restrict which MCP tools Copilot can access?
Does MCP work in VS Code Remote or Codespaces?
.vscode/mcp.json work in Remote SSH, WSL, and GitHub Codespaces environments. The MCP connection is established from the remote host, so ensure the server URL is accessible from that environment.Connect The Met Museum with your favorite client
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Connect The Met Museum to VS Code Copilot
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 8 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.