art-institute-chicago-mcp-server

v0.1.2 pre-1.0

Search the Art Institute of Chicago collection: artworks, artists, exhibitions, and audio guides via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.

art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp
claude mcp add --transport http art-institute-chicago-mcp-server https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp
codex mcp add art-institute-chicago-mcp-server --url https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
gemini mcp add --transport http art-institute-chicago-mcp-server https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago-mcp-server": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago-mcp-server": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
curl -X POST https://art-institute-chicago.caseyjhand.com/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-11-25","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"curl","version":"1.0.0"}}}'

Tools

6

artic_search_artworks

open-world

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.

read
invocation
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "artic_search_artworks",
    "arguments": {}
  }
}
schema
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "query": {
      "description": "Text matched against titles, artists, descriptions, provenance, and other catalog fields; every word must match. Supports \"exact phrase\", -exclude, and a | b.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 200
    },
    "artist": {
      "description": "Artist or culture name matched against every credited artist (all words must match).",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "artist_id": {
      "description": "Agent id from artic_search_artists or an artist facet row; matches preferred and other credits.",
      "type": "integer",
      "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    },
    "department": {
      "description": "Department title exactly as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Prints and Drawings.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "artwork_type": {
      "description": "Artwork type title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Painting or Print.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "style": {
      "description": "Style title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Impressionism; matches preferred or alternate styles.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "subject": {
      "description": "Subject title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored).",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "classification": {
      "description": "Classification title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as oil on canvas or etching.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "material": {
      "description": "Material title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as ink or gold leaf.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "technique": {
      "description": "Technique title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as black-and-white photography or plain weaving.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "theme": {
      "description": "Theme title as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as Women artists.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "place_of_origin": {
      "description": "Place of origin as artic_lookup_vocabulary lists it (case ignored), such as france.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "gallery": {
      "description": "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.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "year_from": {
      "description": "Earliest year; a work matches when its date span overlaps year_from to year_to. Negative for BCE.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": -8000,
      "maximum": 2100
    },
    "year_to": {
      "description": "Latest year; a work matches when its date span overlaps year_from to year_to. Negative for BCE.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": -8000,
      "maximum": 2100
    },
    "public_domain_only": {
      "description": "Only public-domain works, whose images are CC0.",
      "default": false,
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "on_view_only": {
      "description": "Only works on view at the museum now.",
      "default": false,
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "has_image": {
      "description": "Only works with an image.",
      "default": false,
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "facets": {
      "description": "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.",
      "maxItems": 7,
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "department",
          "artwork_type",
          "style",
          "subject",
          "classification",
          "place_of_origin",
          "artist"
        ]
      }
    },
    "sort": {
      "description": "relevance ranks by query text, or by museum popularity without it; date_asc and date_desc sort by start year.",
      "default": "relevance",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "relevance",
        "date_asc",
        "date_desc"
      ]
    },
    "page": {
      "description": "Page to return (1-based); page times limit may not exceed 1,000.",
      "default": 1,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 1000
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Rows per page (0-12; capped so a page of long catalog records with every facet stays within common tool-output limits); 0 returns only totalCount and facets.",
      "default": 10,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 12
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "public_domain_only",
    "on_view_only",
    "has_image",
    "sort",
    "page",
    "limit"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
view source ↗

artic_get_artworks

open-world

Fetch full Art Institute of Chicago records for up to 10 artworks by id: 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.

read
invocation
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "artic_get_artworks",
    "arguments": {
      "ids": "<ids>"
    }
  }
}
schema
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "ids": {
      "description": "Artwork ids, 1 to 10, as an array or a comma-separated string; https://www.artic.edu/artworks/<id> page URLs are read as their id. Duplicates are dropped.",
      "minItems": 1,
      "maxItems": 10,
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "integer",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 9007199254740991
      }
    },
    "sections": {
      "description": "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.",
      "default": [
        "description",
        "provenance"
      ],
      "maxItems": 5,
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "description",
          "provenance",
          "exhibition_history",
          "publication_history",
          "catalogue"
        ]
      }
    },
    "include_related_media": {
      "description": "Load related multimedia (lectures, audio stops) for the records, up to 20 items per call.",
      "default": true,
      "type": "boolean"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "ids",
    "sections",
    "include_related_media"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
view source ↗

artic_search_artists

open-world

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.

read
invocation
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "artic_search_artists",
    "arguments": {}
  }
}
schema
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "query": {
      "description": "Name to find, matched against names and alternate names; every word must match. Pass query or ids, not both.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120
    },
    "ids": {
      "description": "Agent ids to fetch (up to 25), such as an artwork's artist_id, as an array or a comma-separated string. Pass query or ids, not both; the other filters and page apply to query only.",
      "maxItems": 25,
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "integer",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 9007199254740991
      }
    },
    "artists_only": {
      "description": "Query mode: only agents the museum records as artists. Set false to include donors, funds, and organizations.",
      "default": true,
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "born_from": {
      "description": "Query mode: earliest birth year, negative for BCE.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": -8000,
      "maximum": 2100
    },
    "born_to": {
      "description": "Query mode: latest birth year, negative for BCE.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": -8000,
      "maximum": 2100
    },
    "page": {
      "description": "Query mode: page to return (1-based); page times limit may not exceed 1,000.",
      "default": 1,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 100
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Query mode: agents per page (1-25).",
      "default": 10,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 25
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "artists_only",
    "page",
    "limit"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
view source ↗

artic_search_exhibitions

open-world

Search Art Institute of Chicago exhibitions by text and date: what is on now, what is coming, or past shows on a topic. Results carry dates, gallery, summary, web page, and the artworks shown when the museum lists them. Pass artwork ids to artic_get_artworks for full records.

read
invocation
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "artic_search_exhibitions",
    "arguments": {}
  }
}
schema
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "query": {
      "description": "Text matched against exhibition titles, descriptions, and other fields; every word must match.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 200
    },
    "when": {
      "description": "current: open today; upcoming: opens after today; past: closed before today; any: no date condition.",
      "default": "any",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "any",
        "current",
        "upcoming",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    "date_from": {
      "description": "Earliest date, YYYY-MM-DD; an exhibition matches when its run overlaps date_from to date_to.",
      "type": "string",
      "format": "date",
      "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))$"
    },
    "date_to": {
      "description": "Latest date, YYYY-MM-DD; an exhibition matches when its run overlaps date_from to date_to.",
      "type": "string",
      "format": "date",
      "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))$"
    },
    "sort": {
      "description": "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.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "relevance",
        "start_desc",
        "start_asc"
      ]
    },
    "page": {
      "description": "Page to return (1-based, 1-40); page times limit may not exceed 1,000.",
      "default": 1,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 40
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Exhibitions per page (1-25).",
      "default": 10,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 25
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "when",
    "page",
    "limit"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
view source ↗

artic_search_audio_guide

open-world

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.

read
invocation
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "artic_search_audio_guide",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "<query>"
    }
  }
}
schema
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "query": {
      "type": "string",
      "minLength": 1,
      "maxLength": 200,
      "description": "Text matched against stop titles and transcripts; every word must match. An artwork's title or the artist's surname works well."
    },
    "page": {
      "description": "Page to return (1-based); page times limit may not exceed 1,000.",
      "default": 1,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 200
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Stops per page (1-20).",
      "default": 5,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 20
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "query",
    "page",
    "limit"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
view source ↗

artic_lookup_vocabulary

open-world

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.

read
invocation
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "artic_lookup_vocabulary",
    "arguments": {
      "vocabulary": "<vocabulary>"
    }
  }
}
schema
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "vocabulary": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "department",
        "artwork_type",
        "style",
        "subject",
        "classification",
        "material",
        "technique",
        "theme",
        "place_of_origin",
        "gallery"
      ],
      "description": "Vocabulary to list; its values feed the artic_search_artworks filter of the same name."
    },
    "contains": {
      "description": "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.",
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 60
    },
    "public_domain_only": {
      "description": "Count only public-domain artworks.",
      "default": false,
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Values to return, most common first (1-100).",
      "default": 25,
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 100
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "vocabulary",
    "public_domain_only",
    "limit"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
view source ↗

Resources

1

Read one Art Institute of Chicago artwork record by id as JSON: the artic_get_artworks record with the description and provenance sections and related media, plus the API license text, the CC BY 4.0 attribution when description text is present, and a notice when related media was capped or could not load.

uri artic://artworks/{id} mime application/json