io.github.cyanheads/art-institute-chicago-mcp-server

Measured conclusion: Deep-tested. L2 outcome: tools_ok.

Search the Art Institute of Chicago collection: artworks, artists, exhibitions, and audio guides.

Measured statistics

Add to your agent

Copy this into your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp",
      "transport": "streamable-http"
    }
  }
}

Measured tools (6)

• artic_search_artworks read-only

  Search the Art Institute of Chicago collection by text and structured filters, ranked by relevance or sorted by date. Text matches all words across titles, artists, descriptions, provenance, and other catalog fields. Filters combine with AND. Results reach the first 1,000 matches; narrow with filters for more. Set limit to 0 with facets to get only counts. Use artic_lookup_vocabulary for filter values and artic_get_artworks for full records.

  Parameters:

  • page — integer — Page to return (1-based); page times the applied limit may not exceed 1,000.
  • sort — string — relevance ranks by query text, or by museum popularity without it; date_asc and date_desc sort by start year.
  • limit — integer — Requested rows per page (0-1,000); at most 12 are returned. 0 returns only totalCount and facets.
  • query — string — Text matched against titles, artists, descriptions, provenance, and other catalog fields; every word must match. Supports "exact phrase", -exclude, and a | b.
  • style — string — Style title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Impressionism; matches preferred or alternate styles.
  • theme — string — Theme title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Women artists.
  • artist — string — Artist or culture name matched against every credited artist (all words must match).
  • facets — array — Facet counts to compute over the filtered set (top 15 values each): department, artwork_type, style, subject, classification, place_of_origin, artist. An array or a comma-separated string.
  • gallery — string — Gallery where the work is on view, such as Gallery 240 (a bare 240 is read as Gallery 240). Only on-view works carry a gallery.
  • subject — string — Subject title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored).
  • year_to — integer — Latest year; a work matches when its date span overlaps year_from to year_to. Negative for BCE.
  • material — string — Material title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as ink or gold leaf.
  • artist_id — integer — Agent id from artic_search_artists or an artist facet row; matches preferred and other credits.
  • has_image — boolean — Only works with an image.
  • technique — string — Technique title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as black-and-white photography or plain weaving.
  • year_from — integer — Earliest year; a work matches when its date span overlaps year_from to year_to. Negative for BCE.
  • department — string — Department title exactly as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Prints and Drawings.
  • artwork_type — string — Artwork type title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Painting or Print.
  • on_view_only — boolean — Only works on view at the museum now.
  • classification — string — Classification title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as oil on canvas or etching.
  • place_of_origin — string — Place of origin as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as france.
  • public_domain_only — boolean — Only public-domain works, whose images are CC0.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive not declared · idempotent yes · open-world yes

• artic_get_artworks read-only

  Fetch full Art Institute of Chicago records for the first 10 artworks by id, returning deferred_ids for the rest: description, provenance, exhibition and publication history, dimensions, inscriptions, credit line, categorization, gallery, image URLs with rights status, and related multimedia. Long histories are opt-in through sections. Ids come from artic_search_artworks, artic_search_exhibitions, or artic_search_artists.

  Parameters:

  • ids (required) — array — Artwork ids as an array or comma-separated string, up to 1,000 supplied entries including blanks and duplicates. Comma strings also have a 100,000-character ceiling. Artwork page URLs are read as their id; blanks and duplicates are dropped. Fetches the first 10; deferred_ids names the remainder.
  • sections — array — Heavy text sections to include: description (also short_description), provenance, exhibition_history, publication_history, catalogue. Defaults to description and provenance; pass an empty array for none.
  • include_related_media — boolean — Load related multimedia (lectures, audio stops) for the records, up to 20 items per call.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive not declared · idempotent yes · open-world yes

• artic_search_artists read-only

  Find artists, cultures, and organizations in the Art Institute of Chicago collection by name, or fetch them by id. Each result carries life dates, agent type, alternate names, how many of the museum's artworks credit them, and up to three of their works, the museum's highlighted works first. Pass an id to artic_search_artworks as artist_id to browse all of their works.

  Parameters:

  • ids — array — Agent ids as an array or comma-separated string, up to 1,000 supplied entries including blanks and duplicates. Comma strings also have a 100,000-character ceiling. Blanks and duplicates are dropped; fetches the first 25 and returns deferred_ids. Pass query or ids, not both; other filters and page apply to query only.
  • page — integer — Query mode: page to return (1-based); page times the applied limit may not exceed 1,000.
  • limit — integer — Query mode: requested agents per page (1-1,000); at most 25 are returned.
  • query — string — Name to find, matched against names and alternate names; every word must match. Pass query or ids, not both.
  • born_to — integer — Query mode: latest birth year, negative for BCE.
  • born_from — integer — Query mode: earliest birth year, negative for BCE.
  • artists_only — boolean — Query mode: only agents the museum records as artists. Set false to include donors, funds, and organizations.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive not declared · idempotent yes · open-world yes

• artic_search_exhibitions read-only

  Search Art Institute of Chicago exhibitions by text, date, artwork_id, or artist_id. Relationship filters cover recorded museum links; an absent link does not prove an artwork or artist never appeared in a show. Results carry dates, gallery, summary, web page, and listed artworks. Pass artwork ids to artic_get_artworks for full records.

  Parameters:

  • page — integer — Page to return (1-based); page times the applied limit may not exceed 1,000.
  • sort — string — relevance ranks by query text; start_desc and start_asc sort by opening date. Defaults to relevance with a query, else start_desc; relevance without a query sorts as start_desc.
  • when — string — current: open today; upcoming: opens after today; past: closed before today; any: no date condition.
  • limit — integer — Requested exhibitions per page (1-1,000); at most 25 are returned.
  • query — string — Text matched against exhibition titles, descriptions, and other fields; every word must match.
  • date_to — string — Latest date, YYYY-MM-DD; an exhibition matches when its run overlaps date_from to date_to.
  • artist_id — integer — Exact museum agent id, from artic_search_artists or an artwork artist_id; matches recorded exhibition relationships. Combined with every other condition using AND.
  • date_from — string — Earliest date, YYYY-MM-DD; an exhibition matches when its run overlaps date_from to date_to.
  • artwork_id — integer — Exact museum artwork id, from artic_search_artworks or artic_get_artworks; matches recorded exhibition relationships. Combined with every other condition using AND.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive not declared · idempotent yes · open-world yes

• artic_search_audio_guide read-only

  Search the Art Institute of Chicago's mobile audio-guide stops by text, matching stop titles and transcripts. Returns each stop's title, MP3 URL, and transcript text. Stops carry no artwork id, so match a stop to a work by its title; for a known artwork, artic_get_artworks related_media lists the recordings linked to it. Some stops are in Spanish, and titles are sometimes internal file names. This content is for noncommercial educational and personal use only: keep the copyright notice and cite the Art Institute of Chicago.

  Parameters:

  • query (required) — string — Text matched against stop titles and transcripts; every word must match. An artwork's title or the artist's surname works well.
  • page — integer — Page to return (1-based); page times the applied limit may not exceed 1,000.
  • limit — integer — Requested stops per page (1-1,000); at most two whole stops are returned.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive not declared · idempotent yes · open-world yes

• artic_lookup_vocabulary read-only

  List the values of an Art Institute of Chicago collection vocabulary with how many artworks carry each, most common first, optionally narrowed by a substring. Each value passes to the artic_search_artworks filter of the same name exactly as listed (case is ignored). Counts here span the whole collection; for counts within a filtered set of artworks, request facets from artic_search_artworks.

  Parameters:

  • vocabulary (required) — string — Vocabulary to list; its values feed the artic_search_artworks filter of the same name.
  • limit — integer — Requested values, most common first (1-1,000); at most 100 are returned. Narrow with contains for more specific values.
  • contains — string — Case- and accent-insensitive substring the values must contain, such as "impress" for Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, or "applique" for appliqué (technique). Omit to list the most common values.
  • public_domain_only — boolean — Count only public-domain artworks.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive not declared · idempotent yes · open-world yes

Repository

Measured by MCPYP probing. Untested fields are omitted, never estimated. Listing is always free; MCPYP never proxies calls or stores user tokens.