# Artsdata (remote · mcp.artsdata.ca)

Search Artsdata for authoritative data on Canadian events, artists, organizations, and places.

- Trust score: 78/100 (medium)
- Change this week: +3
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-09-20

## Components

- remote · `mcp.artsdata.ca`: 78/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/ca-artsdata-mcp/mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/ca-artsdata-mcp/mcp)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.0.0`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically against the live server, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-09-20.

- **Endpoint Security**: 63/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - Authorisation not fully verified: no authorisation is required to call this server, and 5 tool(s) never declared a destructiveHint. The MCP spec treats an absent hint as destructive by default, so we cannot call this surface safe.
  - HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path.
  - The HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) header is present.
  - DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC.
- **Transport & Reachability**: 100/100
  - Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 78/100
  - 100% of prompts and resources have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the item's name).
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 1386 tokens (~231/item across 6 items; 5 tools + 1 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 77/100
  - Stability observed for 23 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **Tool Coverage**: 100/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 100% of tool parameters carry a description.
  - Structured output schemas are declared (100% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 5 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 7 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a current MCP spec version (2026-07-28).

## Install

### How do I install the Artsdata MCP server?

Artsdata is a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp, so there is nothing to install locally. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http ca-artsdata-mcp 'https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ca-artsdata-mcp": {
      "url": "https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "ca-artsdata-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.ca-artsdata-mcp]
url = "https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "ca-artsdata-mcp": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add ca-artsdata-mcp --url 'https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  ca-artsdata-mcp:
    url: "https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "ca-artsdata-mcp": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add ca-artsdata-mcp -t streamable-http -u 'https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ca-artsdata-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-09-20 (score 78, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 73 to 77. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 22 days of observed history at the previous scan, 23 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-19 (score 77, 0)

- [security] Tool “search_events” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “places”

### 2026-09-18 (score 77, 0)

- [security] Tool “search_entities” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “search_events” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 191 → 220
- [cosmetic] “search_entities” added an optional parameter “in_scheme”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “has_event_type_concept”

### 2026-09-17 (score 77, +1)

- [security] Tool “search_events” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional improvement] Schema quality: 214 → 191
- [cosmetic] “search_events” added an optional parameter “has_event_type_concept”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “artists”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “organizations”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “places”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” dropped the optional parameter “types”

### 2026-09-16 (score 76, 0)

- [functional regression] Schema quality: 164 → 214
- [functional] Schema quality: good → excellent
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “artists”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “language”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “organizations”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “places”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “types”

### 2026-09-15 (score 76, 0)

- [functional regression] Schema quality: 148 → 164
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “artists”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “organizations”
- [cosmetic] “search_events” reworded the description of “places”

### 2026-09-14 (score 76, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 53 to 57. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 16 days of observed history at the previous scan, 17 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-12 (score 75, 0)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: pass → fail
- [functional] New tool “get_schema”
- [functional] New tool “sparql_query”

## MCP tools (5)

### `search_entities` (~207 tokens)

Tool to search for entities in the Artsdata knowledge graph by name, with optional filters on entity type and on the controlled vocabulary (skos:ConceptScheme) a concept belongs to.

Input parameters:

- `in_scheme` (array): Optional list of Artsdata controlled vocabulary (skos:ConceptScheme) URIs (e.g., ['http://kg.artsdata.ca/resource/ArtsdataEventTypes']). Paired with types: ['http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#Conce…
- `language` (string): Language code, restricted to 'en' or 'fr'.
- `limit` (integer): Number of results to return.
- `query` (string, required): Non-empty mandatory search query.
- `types` (array): Optional list of type filters; can be empty.

Output parameters:

- `results` (array)

### `get_entity` (~34 tokens)

Tool to get entities details from Artsdata Knowledge Graph by entity URI.

Input parameters:

- `uri` (string, required): The Artsdata entity URI.

Output parameters:

- `additional_properties` (array)
- `alternate_names` (array)
- `description` (array)
- `disambiguatingDescription` (array)
- `end_date`: End date or end date-time of an event (ISO 8601).
- `event_attendance_mode` (string): Attendance mode of the event, it can one from the enumeration members of https://schema.org/EventAttendanceModeEnumeration
- `event_status` (string): Status of the event, it can one from the enumeration members of https://schema.org/EventStatusType
- `has_event_type_concept` (array): Concept URIs from the Artsdata Event Types vocabulary (adr:ArtsdataEventTypes)
- `id` (string): Unique identifier of the entity.
- `location` (array): List of locations, each with its Artsdata id, URI and name.
- `main_entity_of_page` (string): URI of the main entity page.
- `name` (array)
- `organizer` (array): List of organizers, each with its Artsdata id, URI and name.
- `performer` (array): List of performers, each with its Artsdata id, URI and name.
- `same_as` (array)
- `start_date`: Start date or start date-time of an event (ISO 8601).
- `types` (array)
- `uri` (string): URI representing the entity.

### `search_events` (~620 tokens)

Tool to search for events in the Artsdata knowledge graph by place, artist, organization, has_event_type_concept and language. Places, artists and organizations are Artsdata entity URIs; the has_event_type_concept filter takes concept URIs from the Artsdata Event Types vocabulary (adr:ArtsdataEventTypes), not schema.org classes. Resolve any name or label to its URI with search_entities first. Places must be venues; for events in a city or region, use sparql_query (see the places parameter).

Input parameters:

- `artists` (array): Optional list of Artsdata artist URIs (e.g., ["http://kg.artsdata.ca/resource/K2-6574"]). If you only have a name, use search_entities (types: ['Person']) to find its URI first. Can be left empty.
- `has_event_type_concept` (array): Optional list of concept URIs from the Artsdata Event Types vocabulary (http://kg.artsdata.ca/resource/ArtsdataEventTypes). Must be valid concept URIs (e.g., http://kg.artsdata.ca/resource/ClassicalM…
- `language` (string): Language for the labels in the response (e.g. 'en', 'fr'); default is 'en'. This selects the output language only — it does NOT filter events by the language they are performed in.
- `limit` (integer): Number of results to return.
- `organizations` (array): Optional list of Artsdata organization URIs (e.g., ["http://kg.artsdata.ca/resource/K5-72"]). If you only have a name, use search_entities (types: ['Organization']) to find its URI first. Can be left…
- `places` (array): Optional list of Artsdata VENUE URIs (e.g., ["http://kg.artsdata.ca/resource/K11-2"]) for a theatre, hall, auditorium, room or stage. Only venue URIs work: a city, region or country (e.g. 'Toronto',…
- `startDateFrom` (string): Optional lower bound filter. Includes events starting on or after this date/time. ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ).
- `startDateTo` (string): Optional upper bound filter. Includes events starting on or before this date/time. ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ).

Output parameters:

- `results` (array)

### `get_schema` (~129 tokens)

Returns the data model of the Artsdata Knowledge Graph: its entity classes (Event, Place, Organization, Person, LivePerformanceWork...), the properties of each with required/optional, cardinality, value types, linked classes and allowed values, the controlled vocabularies, the SPARQL prefixes, and conventions for querying. Derived from the Artsdata Ontology and the Artsdata CORE graph SHACL shapes. Call this before writing a SPARQL query to run with sparql_query against https://query.artsdata.ca/query, since Artsdata's model is not general knowledge. Takes no input.

Output parameters:

- `about` (object)
- `classes` (array)
- `conventions` (array): How to read the digest and write SPARQL against the graph.
- `prefixes` (object): Prefix name -> namespace IRI.
- `vocabularies` (array)

### `sparql_query` (~244 tokens)

Runs a read-only SPARQL 1.1 SELECT or ASK query against the Artsdata Knowledge Graph (https://query.artsdata.ca/query) and returns the result as SPARQL 1.1 Query Results JSON, exactly as the endpoint returns it: head.vars and results.bindings for SELECT, boolean for ASK. Call get_schema first and build the query from the classes, properties, prefixes and conventions it returns, since Artsdata's model is not general knowledge. Declare every PREFIX you use and always add a LIMIT: at most 1000 rows are returned (the rest is cut and truncated is true; page with OFFSET), and a query gets 25 seconds. If the endpoint rejects the query, its error message is returned so you can fix the query and retry. For the details of an entity URI in the results use get_entity; to find an entity's URI from its name use search_entities.

Input parameters:

- `query` (string, required): A complete SPARQL 1.1 SELECT or ASK query, with a PREFIX declaration for every prefix it uses. Build it from the classes, properties and prefixes returned by get_schema, and add a LIMIT.

Output parameters:

- `boolean` (boolean): The answer to an ASK query.
- `head` (object)
- `results` (object)
- `truncated` (boolean): Present and true when the endpoint returned more rows than the server's row cap and only the first rows are included. Add or lower the LIMIT, or page with OFFSET.

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ca-artsdata-mcp/mcp#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-09-20: 78
- 2026-09-19: 77
- 2026-09-18: 77
- 2026-09-17: 77
- 2026-09-16: 76
- 2026-09-15: 76
- 2026-09-14: 76
- 2026-09-13: 75
- 2026-09-12: 75
- 2026-09-11: 75
- 2026-09-10: 74
- 2026-09-09: 74
- 2026-09-08: 73
- 2026-09-07: 72
- 2026-09-06: 72
- 2026-09-05: 71
- 2026-09-04: 68
- 2026-09-03: 68
- 2026-09-02: 67
- 2026-09-01: 67
- 2026-08-31: 66
- 2026-08-30: 66
- 2026-08-29: 49
- 2026-08-28: 48

## Common questions

### What is the Artsdata MCP server?

Artsdata is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as ca.artsdata/mcp. Search Artsdata for authoritative data on Canadian events, artists, organizations, and places. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp).

### Is the Artsdata MCP server safe to use?

Artsdata scores 78 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the Artsdata MCP server expose?

Artsdata exposes 5 tools: search_entities, get_entity, search_events, get_schema, sparql_query. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 1,234 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the Artsdata MCP server require authentication?

No. We connected to Artsdata without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.

### Is the Artsdata MCP server still maintained?

Artsdata is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 20 September 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://mcp.artsdata.ca/mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/culturecreates/artsdata-mcp-server
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ca-artsdata-mcp/mcp.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ca-artsdata-mcp/mcp.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/ca-artsdata-mcp/mcp