CONTENTdm State Archives
PYPI · CONTENTDM-MCP
Search US state archives' record images on CONTENTdm; read items, pages and transcripts.
Available components
Last scanned (9 hours ago)
Scores higher than 79% of PyPI servers
Category Education and Research
How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically from public evidence about the published package, including repeated runs of it in an isolated sandbox, and we only credit what we can confirm. How we score → Why this is hard to score →
Supply Chain Security100
- No malware found by supply-chain analysis.Pass
- No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.Pass
- Runs hatchling.build at install time, a recognised build step with no custom scripting around it. View diagnostics → Pass
- 1 of 33 dependencies flagged as unhealthy. View diagnostics → Partial
Provenance & Transparency100
- Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL. View diagnostics → Pass
- Cryptographically verified build provenance (signed, bound to ianderso/contentdm-mcp). View diagnostics → Pass
- Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).Pass
- Actively maintained (last published 11 days ago).Pass
- Publishes a security disclosure policy (SECURITY.md).Pass
Schema Quality & AI Usability60
- AI-judged instruction clarity (good).Pass
- Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 1784 tokens (~223/item across 8 items; 8 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 Management0
- Stability not yet verified: not enough scan history yet (needs a 30-day window).Unverified
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
Tool Safety100
- No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.Pass
- We read all 8 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.Pass
- An AI judge read all 9 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
Unverified: 1 category
A category scored 0 because we could not verify it: a data source with nothing on this package, evidence we could not reach, or a check we could not run. We only credit what we can confirm.
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.
- 14 Oct 26 +29
- Injection markers: unverified → pass ▲ security
- First check of Judged manipulation: pass security
- Stability: Stability not yet verified: not enough scan history yet (needs a 30-day window). security
- Tool coverage: unverified → 100 ▲ functional
- MCP protocol: unverified → pass ▲ functional
- First check of Schema quality: fail functional
- First check of Destructive annotations: pass functional
- First check of Schema quality: fail functional
- First check of Schema quality: good functional
- First check of Tool coverage: 100 functional
- 12 Oct 26 +15
- Malware scan: unverified → pass ▲ security
- 8 Oct 26 35
First indexed and scored.
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 18 Oct 2026 · Analysed pypi/contentdm-mcp@0.1.0
Provenance Verified
A signed build attestation was found and verified, binding this exact artifact to the source repository it claims to come from.
| Result | Verified |
|---|---|
| Ecosystem | pypi |
| Reason | Verified |
| Discovered via | Registry attestation endpoint |
| Source repo | ianderso/contentdm-mcp |
| Certificate issuer | https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com |
| Certificate SAN | https://github.com/ianderso/contentdm-mcp/.github/workflows/release.yml@refs/tags/v0.1.0 |
| Rekor log index | 3115892934 |
| Predicate type | PyPI publish attestation https://docs.pypi.org/attestations/publish/v1 |
| Subject digest | sha256:9b18976a62cf7ccd7da7f877ac5aabb148f54481fbd426d2e057894eed108a67 |
Background: How many MCP packages publish verified provenance →
Install scripts 1 script
| Hook | Tier | Command |
|---|---|---|
| build_backend | allowlisted | hatchling.build |
Background: Why install scripts are a supply-chain risk →
Dependencies 33 packages
| Packages resolved | 33 |
|---|---|
| No linked repository | 1 |
| Tree resolution | Complete |
Background: SBOMs and build attestations, explained →
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 →
cache_status ~26
Report this session's requests, by site, and cache use. Makes no network call.
Input schema present but exposes no named parameters.
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
get_collection ~147
Read one collection's fields: what search's `field` can name, and which hold text. Field names are per collection: the same label has different nicks on different collections, and `full_text` (a transcript or OCR) is marked by type, whatever it is called.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection | string | yes | The collection's alias, from list_collections. |
| instance | string | yes | A key from list_instances, or an https://NAME.contentdm.oclc.org address. |
| refresh | boolean | – | True asks the site again instead of using the cache, and replaces the cached copy. Searches are kept a day, items 7 days, collection lists 30. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
get_image ~273
Download one page image through the site's IIIF service, so it can be read. This is the step that turns a hit into evidence. The image is written as a JPEG to `destination`, never returned inline: a new .jpg or .jpeg file, not hidden, not under ~/Library, and inside the operator's download folder when one is set. Audio and video cannot be rendered. Cite the page by the `citation` returned, not by the file.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection | string | – | The collection alias. |
| destination | string | yes | Absolute path of a new .jpg file, e.g. '/path/to/images/page-461.jpg'. The directory must exist and the file must not: nothing is overwritten. |
| instance | string | – | A key from list_instances, or an https://NAME.contentdm.oclc.org address. |
| max_pixels | integer | – | Longest side in pixels; 0 for the largest the site will render. |
| page | – | – | For a compound object: which page, 1-based. Default 1. |
| pdf_page | – | – | For a multi-page PDF item: which of its pages, 1-based. |
| pointer | string | – | The item's or page's number. |
| url | string | – | Instead of the three above: the item's address. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
get_item ~281
Read one item: its metadata, any transcript or OCR text, and how to cite it. `text` is a lead, not the record: read the image (get_image). A compound object's own text is usually empty; its pages carry it (get_pages). For a page, `page_of` names the object and page number. `cite_as` is the institution's own citation where it gives one; `rights` its terms. An address on an unlisted site's own domain is refused: use its cdmNNNNN.contentdm.oclc.org form.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection | string | – | The collection alias. |
| instance | string | – | A key from list_instances, or an https://NAME.contentdm.oclc.org address. |
| pointer | string | – | The item's number, e.g. '16539'. |
| refresh | boolean | – | True asks the site again instead of using the cache, and replaces the cached copy. Searches are kept a day, items 7 days, collection lists 30. |
| text_chars | integer | – | Transcript or OCR characters to return per field; 0 for none. |
| url | string | – | Instead of the three above: the item's address, e.g. from DPLA's isShownAt (/digital/collection/... or an old /cdm/... form). |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
get_pages ~238
List a compound object's pages in order, each with its own number and address. A volume, a file or a newspaper issue is one compound object of many pages, and each page is an item with its own pointer. A PDF page can itself hold several pages: get_image's pdf_page reaches them. `query` marks which pages match, which is how to find a name in a long index.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection | string | – | The collection alias. |
| count | integer | – | Pages to list (1-500). |
| first | integer | – | First page to list, 1-based. |
| instance | string | – | A key from list_instances, or an https://NAME.contentdm.oclc.org address. |
| pointer | string | – | The compound object's number. |
| query | string | – | Mark the pages whose text or metadata match these words. |
| refresh | boolean | – | True asks the site again instead of using the cache, and replaces the cached copy. Searches are kept a day, items 7 days, collection lists 30. |
| url | string | – | Instead of the three above: the object's address. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
list_collections ~126
List a site's collections and the alias each is searched by. Use the alias, not the short number some sites put in their web addresses. A site that lists no collections has usually moved elsewhere.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| instance | string | yes | A key from list_instances, or an https://NAME.contentdm.oclc.org address. |
| name_contains | string | – | Keep collections whose name has this. |
| refresh | boolean | – | True asks the site again instead of using the cache, and replaces the cached copy. Searches are kept a day, items 7 days, collection lists 30. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
list_instances ~137
List the curated CONTENTdm sites, and any the operator added: who runs each, what it holds. Makes no network call. Each `instance` value is what the other tools take. Sites that have left CONTENTdm stay listed with where they went. Any other CONTENTdm site works by its https://cdmNNNNN.contentdm.oclc.org address, which every site has; other hosts are refused.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| include_unsupported | boolean | – | Also list sites that have left CONTENTdm or are blocked. |
| state | string | – | Two-letter state codes to keep, e.g. 'TN' or 'GA,AL'. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
search ~379
Search one CONTENTdm site, or several side by side, for items or pages. `answered`, `failed`, `timed_out` and `not_searched` say which sites the answer covers: a negative is only as wide as `answered`. Matching covers metadata and any transcript or OCR field, never the image itself, and many record images have no text at all. A compound object's text is on its pages: use page_hits=true, or get_pages with a query, to find the page. Hits are leads: open the item and read the image.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection | string | – | An alias, with one instance only. |
| count | integer | – | Hits per site: up to 50 for one, 5 for several. |
| field | string | – | Search one field by its nick (get_collection); default all. |
| instance | – | – | One site (a key, or an https://NAME.contentdm.oclc.org address), a list of them, or omit for every supported curated site. |
| mode | string | – | all: every word; any: any word; exact: the words as a phrase. |
| page | integer | – | Page of results, 1-based. |
| page_hits | boolean | – | True returns the matching pages inside compound objects instead of the objects: where a transcript or OCR match actually is. |
| query | string | yes | Words to find, e.g. 'alvin york'. Empty lists everything (one collection only). A trailing * matches word beginnings. |
| refresh | boolean | – | True asks the site again instead of using the cache, and replaces the cached copy. Searches are kept a day, items 7 days, collection lists 30. |
| state | string | – | With no instance, only sites in these states, e.g. 'TN,GA'. |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
How do I install the CONTENTdm State Archives MCP server?
CONTENTdm State Archives runs locally as a PyPI package, launched with uvx contentdm-mcp. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.
pypi · contentdm-mcp
claude mcp add ianderso-contentdm-mcp -- uvx contentdm-mcp
What is the CONTENTdm State Archives MCP server?
CONTENTdm State Archives is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.ianderso/contentdm-mcp. Search US state archives' record images on CONTENTdm; read items, pages and transcripts. This page covers its PyPI package (contentdm-mcp).
Is the CONTENTdm State Archives MCP server safe to use?
CONTENTdm State Archives scores 79 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 18 October 2026. Its build provenance is signed and verified. 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 CONTENTdm State Archives MCP server expose?
CONTENTdm State Archives exposes 8 tools: list_instances, list_collections, get_collection, search, get_item, and 3 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 1,607 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Is the CONTENTdm State Archives MCP server still maintained?
CONTENTdm State Archives is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 18 October 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.
What licence is the CONTENTdm State Archives MCP server under?
CONTENTdm State Archives declares the MIT licence, which is OSI-approved. That covers the source only, and says nothing about the cost of any service it calls.