archival-imagery-mcp
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
No arguments | |||
Instructions
Guidance the server publishes about itself, which clients place ahead of the tool catalog so the model reads it before choosing anything.
This server publishes no instructions, or was last inspected before Glama recorded them.
Capabilities
Features and capabilities supported by this server
Protocol revision2025-11-25
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| tools | {} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| wellcome_searchA | Search the Wellcome Collection catalogue (UK). kind='works' for catalogue entries, kind='images' for direct IIIF image hits. Rich in medical/scientific/esoteric/astrological history; mostly CC-BY or Public Domain Mark. No API key. |
| wellcome_get_workA | Fetch a Wellcome work by ID with all associated IIIF image URLs. |
| wellcome_image_urlA | Build a direct Wellcome IIIF image URL at any IIIF Image API size ('1200,', ',900', 'full', etc.). |
| met_searchA | Search the Met Museum (US). Defaults filter to hasImages + isPublicDomain (CC0), so every result is freely usable. 470k+ objects; narrow queries help. No API key. |
| met_get_objectA | Fetch a Met object by numeric ID with all image URLs (primary + additionals) and metadata. |
| loc_searchB | Search the Library of Congress (US). Massive collection across photos, manuscripts, prints, maps, newspapers, films. No API key. Use the category param to restrict (e.g. 'photos', 'maps', 'manuscripts'). |
| loc_get_itemA | Fetch a Library of Congress item by full URL (e.g. 'https://www.loc.gov/item/2003663891/'). Returns metadata and all image file URLs. |
| smithsonian_searchA | Search the Smithsonian Open Access (US). 4.5M+ items, defaults to CC0-only images. Requires SMITHSONIAN_API_KEY env var (free, sign up at api.data.gov). |
| smithsonian_get_objectB | Fetch a Smithsonian object by ID with all image URLs and metadata. |
| europeana_searchA | Search Europeana (EU aggregator covering British Library, Rijksmuseum, Louvre, and 4000+ other institutions). Defaults to open-licensed media only. Requires EUROPEANA_API_KEY env var (free, sign up at pro.europeana.eu). |
| europeana_get_recordA | Fetch a Europeana record by ID (e.g. '/2048128/618580'). Requires EUROPEANA_API_KEY. |
| download_imageA | Download any image URL to a local file path. Parent directories are created automatically. Works with images returned from any of the above sources. |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No prompts | |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No resources | |
TDQS
Scored across 12 tools
Each tool is clearly scoped to a specific institution and action (search vs. fetch vs. utility). The institution prefixes make it immediately clear which API a tool targets, and search/fetch pairs within each institution are unambiguous. Even the generic download_image is distinct as a utility.
The naming follows a predictable {institution}_{search|get_*} pattern for the source-specific tools, with snake_case throughout. The only deviation is wellcome_image_url, which uses a noun phrase instead of a verb, but it is still recognizable and consistent in style.
12 tools is well-scoped for a multi-institution archival imagery server. Each institution has at least a search and a fetch tool, plus a generic download utility and a IIIF URL builder. No tool feels redundant or unnecessary.
The server covers the complete lifecycle for the domain: search each institution's collections, retrieve detailed metadata and image URLs, and download images. All included institutions have both search and fetch capabilities, so there are no dead ends or obvious missing operations.