io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server
REMOTE · SMITHSONIAN.CASEYJHAND.COM · 2 COMPONENTS · SCANNED SEP 28
Search 14.5M Smithsonian Open Access objects, get CC0 images, find cross-collection connections.
Available components
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. How we score → Why this is hard to score →
Endpoint Security83
- The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key. View diagnostics → Pass
- No authorisation is required to call this server. Every tool declares its destructiveHint and none is destructive, so open access doesn't expose one. See how to fix → View diagnostics → Partial
- HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path. View diagnostics → Pass
- The HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) header is present. View diagnostics → Pass
- DNSSEC is configured correctly; the domain's records validate against the full chain to the root. View diagnostics → Pass
Transport & Reachability100
- Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake. View diagnostics → Pass
Schema Quality & AI Usability65
- AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).Pass
- Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 1820 tokens (~303/item across 6 items; 6 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params. See how to fix → Fail
- Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples. See how to fix → Fail
Stability & Change Management100
- No destabilizing schema changes in the last 30 days.Pass
Tool Coverage100
- 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).Pass
- 100% of tool parameters carry a description.Pass
- Structured output schemas are declared (100% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.Pass
Tool Safety100
- No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.Pass
- We read all 6 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.Pass
- An AI judge read all 7 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.Pass
Capabilities100
- Implements a current MCP spec version (2026-07-28).Pass
How do I install the io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server server?
io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server is a hosted endpoint at https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/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.
remote · smithsonian.caseyjhand.com
claude mcp add --transport http cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server 'https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp'
{
"mcpServers": {
"cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server": {
"url": "https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
} {
"servers": {
"cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
} [mcp_servers.cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server] url = "https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
{
"$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
"mcp": {
"cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server": {
"type": "remote",
"url": "https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp",
"enabled": true
}
}
} openclaw mcp add cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server --url 'https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp' --transport streamable-http
mcp_servers:
cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server:
url: "https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp" {
"McpServers": {
"cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server": {
"Transport": "http",
"Url": "https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
} assistant mcp add cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server -t streamable-http -u 'https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp'
{
"mcpServers": {
"cyanheads-smithsonian-mcp-server": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
} The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.
Every change we have recorded for this component, newest first. Security-relevant changes are always shown. ▲ marks a change for the better, ▼ a change for the worse; unmarked changes are neutral.
- 28 Sept 26 +7
- We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server See what changed → functional
- 25 Sept 26 0
- We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server See what changed → functional
- 20 Sept 26 0
- Server version: 0.3.6 → 0.3.7 functional
- 9 Sept 26 0
- Stability: 0.97 → pass security
- 8 Sept 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 93 to 97. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 28 days of observed history at the previous scan, 29 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 7 Sept 26 −1
- Stability: pass → 0.93 functional
- 27 Aug 26 0
- Stability: 0.97 → pass security
- 26 Aug 26 0
- We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server See what changed → functional
Diagnostic detail from the automated scan of this channel: what the scanner observed at each step, so you can see exactly where a check passed or failed. It is informational only and never changes the trust score.
Captured 28 Sept 2026 · Probed https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp
TLS valid
Negotiated TLS 1.3 with TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 .
| Subject | Issuer | Valid from | Valid until | Key | Signature | Serial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN=caseyjhand.com | CN=WE1,O=Google Trust Services,C=US | 4 Sept 2026 | 3 Dec 2026 | ECDSA 256 | ECDSA-SHA256 | a6985204ed51ae050e7738aa6be668e9 |
| SANs: caseyjhand.com, *.caseyjhand.com | ||||||
| CN=WE1,O=Google Trust Services,C=US (CA) | CN=GTS Root R4,O=Google Trust Services LLC,C=US | 13 Dec 2023 | 20 Feb 2029 | ECDSA 256 | ECDSA-SHA384 | 7ff31977972c224a76155d13b6d685e3 |
| CN=GTS Root R4,O=Google Trust Services LLC,C=US (CA) | CN=GlobalSign Root CA,OU=Root CA,O=GlobalSign nv-sa,C=BE | 15 Nov 2023 | 28 Jan 2028 | ECDSA 384 | SHA256-RSA | 7fe530bf331343bedd821610493d8a1b |
Background: What to check on a remote MCP endpoint →
DNSSEC secure
Validation of smithsonian.caseyjhand.com. — Secure
| Zone | DS | Keys | Algorithms | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | trust_anchor | 20326, 38696 | 8, 8 | Verified |
| com. | present | 19718 | 13 | Verified |
| caseyjhand.com. | present | 2371 | 13 | Verified |
| smithsonian.caseyjhand.com. | Verified address RRset verified with the apex keys |
Authentication No authorisation required
The endpoint answered without asking for a token. Anyone who knows the URL can reach it.
| Result | No authorisation required |
|---|---|
| HTTP status | 200 |
| Header | Value |
|---|---|
| strict-transport-security | max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload |
| x-content-type-options | nosniff |
Background: How OAuth 2.1 works in the 2026 MCP spec →
Transports 2 probes
| Transport | URL | Outcome | Status | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| streamable-http | https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp | Verified | 200 | |
| http (plaintext) | http://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp | HTTPS enforced | 301 | https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp |
The tools this component advertises to a client, with an estimated token cost for each. Expand a tool to see its parameters and schema. The per-tool counts are indicative and are not scored directly; the schema's total context footprint is one signal in Schema Quality & AI Usability. A tool's description is untrusted text the model reads on every call, which is what makes this list a security surface and not just an inventory: how tool poisoning works →
smithsonian_browse_category Browse Smithsonian by Category ~557
Browse Smithsonian objects within one exact category — a single museum (mode "museum"), culture, indexed date term (mode "period"), object type (mode "medium"), or subject term (mode "topic"). The value must be an exact indexed category term, not free text: resolve museum, culture, period, and topic vocabulary with smithsonian_list_terms first (object_type is not enumerable there — harvest it from smithsonian_search_objects results, and treat each casing as its own category, since a harvested object_type covers only the casing it was written in). Returns the category total count, a page of matching objects, and a museum breakdown of that page; page the full category with start and rows. For open-ended or topic discovery, start with smithsonian_search_objects instead.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| mode | string | yes | Browse dimension: "museum" (by unit code), "culture" (by culture term), "period" (by indexed date term like "1940s" or "500-1500"), "medium" (by object type like "Paintings"), "topic" (by subject ter… |
| rows | integer | – | Number of sample objects to return (default 10, max 50). |
| start | integer | – | Pagination offset — 0-indexed. Page contiguously with start = page × rows. |
| value | string | yes | Category value appropriate to the mode. museum: a unit code like "NASM", "SAAM", or "NMNHBIRDS", matched literally and case-sensitively — not a museum name. culture: term, often plural or qualified (… |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cap | number | – | The rows cap that was applied. |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| mode | string | – | Browse dimension used for this request (one of "museum", "culture", "period", "medium", "topic"). |
| museum_breakdown | array | – | When mode is not "museum": top contributing museums from the sample, helping plan museum-focused follow-up searches. |
| notice | string | – | Guidance naming the input that retrieves the objects this page omitted. |
| sample_objects | array | – | The requested page of objects matching the category, in upstream order. Empty when start is past the end of the category. |
| shown | number | – | Number of sample objects returned. |
| total_count | number | – | Total number of Smithsonian objects matching this category. |
| truncated | boolean | – | True when matching objects remain past this page. False on a terminal or past-the-end page, where nothing is being withheld. |
| truncationCeiling | number | – | Total matching objects (upper bound for omitted items). |
| value | string | – | Category value queried, as provided in the request. |
No examples provided.
smithsonian_find_related Find Related Smithsonian Objects ~228
Discover objects across Smithsonian collections related to a given anchor object, matched on shared metadata signals — culture, period, object type, named parties, and topic terms. Each related object is tagged with the signals that connected it to the anchor; a named-party signal carries the catalog's own role for that party (maker, Collector, Donor, issuing authority, …), not a fixed "maker" label. Matches surface across museums — an NASM aerospace anchor can pull related objects from NMNHPALEO, SAAM, and NMAH.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | yes | record_id of the anchor object (e.g. "nasm_A19670093000") from smithsonian_search_objects or smithsonian_get_object. |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of related objects to return (default 10, max 20). |
| start | integer | – | Pagination offset — 0-indexed. Page contiguously with start = page × limit; each signal is reachable to a depth of 5000 objects, beyond which truncated stays true but deeper pages aren't retrievable. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| anchor | object | – | Summary of the anchor object used to drive the fan-out searches. |
| cap | number | – | The limit cap that was applied. |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| notice | string | – | Guidance naming the inputs that retrieve the related objects this page omitted — start for the next page, signals[].search_continuation for a signal past this tool's reach. |
| related | array | – | Related objects interleaved across the fan-out signals so each signal contributes. Empty when no related objects were found across all fan-out searches. |
| search_signals_used | array | – | Metadata fields that drove the fan-out searches. |
| shown | number | – | Number of related objects returned. |
| signals | array | – | Per-signal breakdown of every fan-out that returned. Use search_continuation with smithsonian_search_objects to retrieve a signal's matches past this tool's 5000-per-signal reach. A signal whose upst… |
| truncated | boolean | – | True when the related list is incomplete — either capped by the limit or more results exist upstream past the current page (advance start to retrieve them). |
| truncationCeiling | number | – | Upper bound on the related objects reachable by paging with start. Cross-signal overlaps are not subtracted, so it can overcount. Signals larger than this tool's per-signal reach are counted at that… |
No examples provided.
smithsonian_get_media Get Smithsonian Object Media ~167
Return every CC0 (open-access) image for a Smithsonian object at multiple resolutions. The tool never returns an empty list — it names the reason instead: an object with nothing digitized, an object whose media is entirely non-image (scanned books, 3D models, sound recordings), and an object whose images are entirely non-CC0 each fail with their own reason. Each image entry includes thumbnail (~120px), screen-size (~800px), and high-resolution JPEG/TIFF URLs with pixel dimensions. The cc0_only filter on smithsonian_search_objects surfaces objects that have downloadable CC0 images.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | yes | record_id of the object (e.g. "nasm_A19670093000") from smithsonian_search_objects or smithsonian_get_object. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| images | array | – | CC0-licensed images for this object. |
| is_cc0 | boolean | – | True when the object-level metadata is CC0. The Open Access corpus is CC0 throughout, so this rarely varies; the per-image is_cc0 flag is what gates delivery. |
| record_id | string | – | Smithsonian catalog record ID for the object. |
| title | string | – | Object title from the catalog record. |
No examples provided.
smithsonian_get_object Get Smithsonian Object ~115
Fetch a normalized catalog metadata projection for a Smithsonian object by its record_id (from smithsonian_search_objects results). Returns the exposed catalog fields — title, dates, description, makers, materials, dimensions, places, cultures, topics, exhibitions, credit line, identifiers, rights, and a media summary. The media summary is a count; full image URLs come from smithsonian_get_media.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | yes | Object record_id from smithsonian_search_objects results (e.g. "nasm_A19670093000"). |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| credit_line | string | – | Attribution or credit string. |
| culture | array | – | Culture associations. |
| dates | array | – | All date fields in the catalog record. |
| description | string | – | Best available prose description (Summary, Physical Description, or Brief Description notes). |
| dimensions | array | – | Dimension and measurement strings. |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| exhibitions | array | – | Exhibition history. |
| identifiers | array | – | All accession and catalog identifiers. |
| is_cc0 | boolean | – | True when the object metadata is CC0 (open access). The Smithsonian Open Access corpus is CC0 throughout, so this flag rarely varies — read media_summary.has_cc0_images to predict whether smithsonian… |
| makers | array | – | All named parties associated with this object. |
| materials | array | – | Physical material descriptions. |
| media_summary | object | – | Media availability summary. Call smithsonian_get_media for full image URLs. |
| museum_name | string | – | Full museum name. A few rarely-indexed archive sub-unit codes have no mapped name and fall back to the raw unit code. |
| object_rights | string | – | Rights statement from the catalog. |
| place | array | – | Geographic place associations. |
| record_id | string | – | Unique object identifier. |
| record_link | string | – | Canonical Smithsonian Institution URL for this object. |
| title | string | – | Object title. |
| topics | array | – | Subject and topic terms. |
| unit_code | string | – | Museum unit code. |
No examples provided.
smithsonian_list_terms List Valid Filter Terms ~337
Enumerate the valid term vocabulary for an indexed Smithsonian filter field (unit_code, culture, place, date, online_media_type, topic). Terms are a controlled vocabulary — often plural or qualified (e.g. "Paintings", not "Painting") — so guessed filter values tend to return nothing. Returns a page of the field's distinct term values; large vocabularies (topic has 133k terms, place 114k) page via start and rows. For unit_code, each code is returned with its museum name and contains matches the name as well as the code, so a museum name resolves to its code in one call.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| contains | string | – | Case-insensitive substring filter on the term vocabulary — resolve a filter value (e.g. "greek") to its exact controlled-vocabulary term(s). For unit_code the substring also matches each code's museu… |
| field | string | yes | Indexed field to enumerate. Choices: unit_code (museum codes like "NASM"), culture (e.g. "Aztecs"), place (geographic terms), date (decade/era values like "1920s"), online_media_type (media formats l… |
| rows | integer | – | Number of terms to return per page (default 50, max 100). |
| start | integer | – | Pagination offset (0-indexed). Use with rows to page through large vocabularies. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cap | number | – | The rows cap that was applied. |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| field | string | – | The enumerated field, as provided in the request. |
| labels | object | – | Museum name for each unit_code on this page that has one — present only when field is "unit_code". A few rarely-indexed archive sub-unit codes have no mapped name and are absent from this map; their… |
| notice | string | – | Guidance naming the input that retrieves the terms this page omitted, or how to broaden a contains filter that matched nothing. |
| shown | number | – | Number of terms returned in this page. |
| terms | array | – | The field's distinct term values for this page, in the Smithsonian index's native order. No per-term object counts are available upstream. |
| total | number | – | Total number of distinct terms for this field (the full vocabulary size; terms is one page of it). |
| truncated | boolean | – | True when matching terms remain past this page. False on a terminal or past-the-end page, where nothing is being withheld. |
| truncationCeiling | number | – | Distinct terms available for this query (the full vocabulary, or the contains-match count) — upper bound for omitted items. |
No examples provided.
smithsonian_search_objects Search Smithsonian Objects ~233
Recommended first step for open-ended or topic discovery: free-text search across 14.5 million Smithsonian objects, with optional exact filters. Filters narrow by museum unit, object type, indexed date term, culture, geographic place, subject topic, named party, and online/CC0 availability. Returns curated summaries (title, date, museum, thumbnail URL, CC0 flag) with the total match count. The record_id in each result is the identifier for smithsonian_get_object, smithsonian_find_related, and smithsonian_get_media. To browse one exact category — a single museum, culture, date term, object type, or topic — use smithsonian_browse_category instead.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| filters | object | – | Optional structured filters to narrow the search. |
| query | string | yes | Free-text search. Use specific terms for precision ("Tlingit totem pole") or broad terms for browsing ("quilt"). |
| rows | integer | – | Page size (default 20, max 100). |
| start | integer | – | Pagination offset — 0-indexed. Use with rows for paging through large result sets. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cap | number | – | The rows cap that was applied. |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| notice | string | – | Guidance naming the input that retrieves the objects this page omitted. |
| objects | array | – | Curated object summaries for the current page. |
| shown | number | – | Number of objects returned in this page. |
| total_count | number | – | Total matching objects in the Smithsonian catalog before pagination. |
| truncated | boolean | – | True when matching objects remain past this page. False on a terminal or past-the-end page, where nothing is being withheld. |
| truncationCeiling | number | – | Total matching objects (upper bound for omitted items). |
No examples provided.
What is the io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server server?
io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server is listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server. Search 14.5M Smithsonian Open Access objects, get CC0 images, find cross-collection connections. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://smithsonian.caseyjhand.com/mcp).
Is the io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server server safe to use?
io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server scores 87 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 io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server server expose?
io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server exposes 6 tools: smithsonian_search_objects, smithsonian_list_terms, smithsonian_get_object, smithsonian_get_media, smithsonian_browse_category, smithsonian_find_related. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 1,637 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Does the io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server server require authentication?
No. We connected to io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.
Is the io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server server still maintained?
io.github.cyanheads/smithsonian-mcp-server is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 28 September 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.