Vinkius
Cooper Hewitt

Cooper Hewitt MCP for AI. Deep Design History Retrieval.

Claude Claude
ChatGPT ChatGPT
Cursor Cursor
Gemini Gemini
Windsurf Windsurf
VS Code VS Code
JetBrains JetBrains
Vercel Vercel
See Vinkius in Action

Works with every AI agent you already use

…and any MCP-compatible client

Cooper Hewitt MCP on Cursor AI Code EditorCooper Hewitt MCP on Claude Desktop AppCooper Hewitt MCP on OpenAI Agents SDKCooper Hewitt MCP on Visual Studio CodeCooper Hewitt MCP on GitHub Copilot AI AgentCooper Hewitt MCP on Google Gemini AICooper Hewitt MCP on Lovable AI DevelopmentCooper Hewitt MCP on Mistral AI AgentsCooper Hewitt MCP on Amazon AWS Bedrock

Connect to your AI in seconds.

The Cooper Hewitt MCP gives your agent direct access to the Smithsonian Design Museum collection data. You can search for design objects using keywords or time periods, pull detailed metadata on specific items, and even get the color palettes.

It lets you see what's currently on display in their physical galleries. This is essential for anyone researching art history, industrial design, or just needs deep context on a piece of cultural heritage.

What your AI can do

Get exhibition info

Retrieves detailed information about any specific museum exhibition.

Get exhibition objects

Lists all the objects that were part of a given exhibition.

Get object colors

Returns the full color palette used in an object, along with their hex codes.

+ 19 more capabilities included
Search the full collection

Find objects and people in the museum's archive using broad criteria like keywords or dates.

Get deep object details

Retrieve rich data on a single item, including its description, colors, and who was involved in its creation.

Track exhibition history

Determine which shows or exhibitions an object has been featured in throughout time.

Find related people

Identify the designers, artists, and participants associated with a specific artifact or collection piece.

Check current displays

See exactly which objects are featured in the museum's galleries right now.

Included with Plan

Waiting for input…

AI Agent

22 Tools for Museum & Design Research

Use these tools to query specific museum functions, from listing all exhibitions to retrieving the color palette of a single object.

Make your AI actually useful.

Add this MCP to Claude, Cursor, or Windsurf and your AI stops guessing. It gets real tools to look things up, take action, and handle the stuff you keep doing by hand.

Start using Cooper Hewitt on Vinkius

Get Exhibition Info

Retrieves detailed information about any specific museum exhibition.

Get Exhibition Objects

Lists all the objects that were part of a given exhibition.

Get Object Colors

Returns the full color palette used in an object, along with their hex codes.

Get Object Exhibitions

Shows which exhibitions a specific object has been featured in.

Get Object Images

Retrieves high-quality images associated with an object for visual reference.

Get Object Info

Gets detailed descriptive information about a single, identified museum object.

Get Object Participants

Identifies the people (designers, artists) who were involved with an object's creation or history.

Get Objects On Display

Provides a list of all museum objects currently visible in the physical galleries.

Get Person Images

Retrieves images related to a specific person associated with design history.

Get Person Info

Gets biographical and professional details about a person linked to the collection.

Get Person Objects

Lists all objects that are associated with a specific person's work.

Get Random Object

Pulls an object randomly from the entire collection to spark creative ideas.

List Exhibitions

Provides a complete list of all exhibitions recorded in the museum's database.

List Rooms

Lists every room available across all physical museum locations.

List Sites

Returns a list of all location sites where the museum has operated or housed...

Search Collection

Performs a broad search across the entire collection using keywords, colors, or...

Search Objects Faceted

Searches for objects and returns results broken down by specific criteria (e.g....

Search Objects

Focuses a keyword search specifically on individual objects in the collection.

Spec Formats

Returns a list of valid data formats the API can use.

Spec Methods

Lists all available API response methods for documentation purposes.

Test Echo

A test method that simply repeats back all the parameters you pass it, confirming...

Test Error

Return a test error from the API

Security and governance baked right in.

Pick your AI client below to get set up. Just create a Vinkius account, subscribe, and you're instantly up and running. We handle the entire backend infrastructure, delivering out-of-the-box support for HTTPS Streamable, SSE, and OAuth2—zero messy routing required.

Claude AI

Claude AI

1

Open Claude Settings

Go to claude.ai, click your profile icon, then navigate to Customize → Connectors.

2

Add Custom Connector

Click the "+" button and select Add custom connector. Paste your Vinkius endpoint URL:

https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp

Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your token from cloud.vinkius.com. For OAuth-protected servers, expand Advanced settings to add credentials.

3

Start a conversation

Open a new chat. The Cooper Hewitt integration is available immediately — no restart needed.

Choose How to Get Started

Build a custom MCP for your own tools, or connect a ready-made integration from our catalog.

Build Your Own

Turn any API into an MCP. Import a spec, define Agent Skills, or deploy with MCPFusion.

  • Import from OpenAPI, Swagger, or YAML specs
  • Create Agent Skills with progressive disclosure
  • Deploy to edge with MCPFusion framework
  • Built in DLP, auth, and compliance on every call
  • Real time usage dashboard and cost metering
  • Publish to catalog or keep private
Start building

Make Your AI Do More

Start with Cooper Hewitt, then connect any of our 5,100+ other servers whenever your AI needs more. One click, no limits.

  • Use this MCP plus 5,100+ others, all in one place
  • Add new capabilities to your AI anytime you want
  • Every connection is secured and compliant automatically
  • Track usage and costs across all your servers
  • Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and more
  • New servers added to the catalog every week
Cooper Hewitt MCP server cover

Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by Cooper Hewitt. All third-party trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Their use on this website is strictly for informational purposes to identify service compatibility and interoperability.

VINKIUS INFRASTRUCTURE

Cloud Hosted

Managed infra

V8 Isolated

Sandboxed per request

Zero-Trust Proxy

No stored credentials

DLP Enforced

Policy on every call

GDPR Compliant

EU data residency

Token Compression

~60% cost reduction

Your data is protected. See how we built it.

Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and more

The Model Context Protocol standardizes how applications expose capabilities to LLMs. Instead of operating in isolation, your AI gains direct access to external platforms, live data, and real-world actions through secure, standardized connections.

This connection provides 22 powerful capabilities that interface natively with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other compatible AI platforms. No middleware. No custom integration required.

Getting design history often means drowning in disparate web pages and PDFs.

Right now, if you want to know the full background of a piece—say, its color palette or every show it was featured in—you're clicking through multiple museum tabs. You pull up one page for general info, another for exhibitions, and a third just to find the hexadecimal code for the paint. It takes hours of copy-pasting across different documents.

With this MCP, you tell your agent exactly what you need: 'Give me all the details on object ID 18639529.' The system pulls together the description, the exhibition records via `get_object_exhibitions`, and the color data using `get_object_colors`—all in one clean output. It just works.

Get object details with `get_object_info`

Previously, getting a comprehensive profile required finding the main collection page and manually cross-referencing participant lists, color swatches, and historical writeups. It was piecing together an archaeological puzzle every single time.

Now, you just need to reference the object ID. The agent runs `get_object_info`, delivering a rich, structured data profile that includes participants via `get_object_participants` and the full story in one go. You're done.

What your AI can actually do with this

Need to research something historical but hate jumping between museum websites? Connect your agent to the Cooper Hewitt MCP. It lets you explore one of the world's deepest collections—everything from objects and textiles to people involved in design history. Instead of manually searching through dozens of web pages for a piece's background, your AI client handles it all.

You can ask about an object’s full exhibition history or pull its exact color codes. The system also lets you see what pieces are physically on view right now. Getting this data is much easier when you connect via Vinkius, making the entire catalog available to any MCP-compatible client.

Built · Hosted · Managed by Vinkius Cooper Hewitt MCP - Design History Data Access
Server ID 019e5d0b-c05c-7113-b43b-0d1c87e1ad08
Vinkius Inspector
Compliance Grade A+
Score 98.33/100
Vinkius Inspector Badge — Score 98.33/100

Questions you might have

How do I find out what colors an object has using get_object_colors? +

You provide the unique object ID to get_object_colors. The tool returns a structured list of all colors used on that piece, including their exact hex codes and descriptive names.

Can I find out who designed an object using get_object_participants? +

Yes. Give the agent the object ID, and get_object_participants pulls a list of every person—designers, artists, etc.—associated with that specific artifact.

What is the best way to search for objects by date? +

Use the search_collection tool and specify your desired time period in the query. This will pull results across all object types, giving you a broad view of that era.

How do I find out what is currently on display using get_objects_on_display? +

get_objects_on_display returns a clean list of IDs and names for every object physically available in the museum's galleries right now.

What credentials do I need before using get_object_info or search_collection? +

You must use a valid API Access Token for all calls. Vinkius requires you to pass this token during the setup process so your agent can authenticate with the Cooper Hewitt system.

How do I find out which objects are included in a specific exhibition using get_exhibition_objects? +

The get_exhibition_objects tool returns a list of all associated object IDs. You can then pass those IDs to other tools, like get_object_info, for full details.

Can I restrict my search results geographically using search_collection? +

Yes, you first call list_sites to get location names. You then use these site IDs within the search_collection parameters to narrow down results by physical area.

What kind of data can I pull about a person using get_person_info? +

The tool provides comprehensive data on an individual, including their biography and all associated object IDs. You'll need to use get_person_objects if you want the full list.

Can I search for objects by a specific color? +

Yes! Use the search_collection tool and provide a hex color or CSS name in the color parameter to find items matching that aesthetic.

How do I find out who designed a specific object? +

Use the get_object_participants tool with the Object ID. It will return the names and roles of the people involved in the item's creation.

Is it possible to see what is currently on display at the museum? +

Absolutely. The get_objects_on_display tool provides a paginated list of all objects currently featured in the physical galleries.

Built & Managed by Vinkius 30s setup 22 tools

We've already built the connector for Cooper Hewitt. Just plug in your AI agents and start using Vinkius.

No hosting. No infrastructure. No complex setup.
All 22 tools are live and waiting. You're up and running in seconds.

Vinkius runs on Claude Claude
Vinkius runs on ChatGPT ChatGPT
Vinkius runs on Cursor Cursor
Vinkius runs on Gemini Gemini
Vinkius runs on Windsurf Windsurf
Vinkius runs on VS Code VS Code
Vinkius runs on JetBrains JetBrains
Vinkius runs on Vercel Vercel
+ other MCP clients

Vinkius gives your AI agents access to the full catalog of app connectors, all fully managed, secure, and enterprise-ready. One subscription, every tool you need.

Zero hosting required Full MCP catalog included Enterprise-grade security Auto-updated by Vinkius

Built, hosted, and secured by Vinkius. You just connect and go.