Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API
OCI · GHCR.IO/NULIB/DC-API-MCP · 3 COMPONENTS
Agent integration with the Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API
Last scanned (9 hours ago)
Scores higher than 89% of OCI 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 Security0
- No malware scan is available for this kind of package: the supply-chain vendors we use do not cover it. This is a permanent gap in our coverage, not a finding about the package.Unverified
- Known CVEs could not be checked: this artifact ships no SBOM or dependency manifest, so there is no dependency list to read.Unverified
- Install-script risk not yet assessed.Unverified
- Dependency health could not be checked: this artifact ships no SBOM or dependency manifest, so there is no dependency list to read.Unverified
Provenance & Transparency84
- Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL. View diagnostics → Pass
- Cryptographically verified build provenance (signed, bound to nulib/dc-api-v2). View diagnostics → Pass
- License check failed: the license (NOASSERTION) isn't a recognized OSI-approved license. See how to fix → Fail
- Actively maintained (last published 13 days ago).Pass
- Disclosure check failed: no security disclosure policy was found in the source repository. See how to fix → Fail
Schema Quality & AI Usability84
- 100% of prompts and resources have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the item's name).Pass
- AI-judged instruction clarity (good).Pass
- Tool/resource definitions use about 746 tokens (~82/item across 9 items; 8 tools + 1 resources), lean.Pass
- Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples. See how to fix → Fail
Stability & Change Management23
- Stability observed for 7 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.Partial
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 (88% 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 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
- Supports UI / widget rendering.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.
- 4 Nov 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 17 to 20. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 5 days of observed history at the previous scan, 6 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 2 Nov 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 10 to 13. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 3 days of observed history at the previous scan, 4 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 31 Oct 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 3 to 7. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 1 days of observed history at the previous scan, 2 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 29 Oct 26 50
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 5 Nov 2026 · Analysed oci/ghcr.io/nulib/dc-api-mcp@2.12.0
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 | oci |
| Reason | Verified |
| Discovered via | OCI referrers API |
| Source repo | nulib/dc-api-v2 |
| Certificate issuer | https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com |
| Certificate SAN | https://github.com/nulib/dc-api-v2/.github/workflows/publish-mcp.yml@refs/tags/v2.12.0 |
| Rekor log index | 3572093122 |
| Predicate type | SLSA build provenance https://slsa.dev/provenance/v1 |
| Subject digest | sha256:5ce5e46661f35cd734cdad667910005fa61614447822beaccc08fed264a40c27 |
Background: How many MCP packages publish verified provenance →
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 →
get-work Get Work ~37
Retrieve the full metadata for a work from the NUL Digital Collections.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| work_id | string | yes | The ID of the work to retrieve |
No output schema declared.
No examples provided.
list-collections List Collections ~67
List collection records from the NUL Digital Collections.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| max_results | number | – | The maximum number of search results to return per page |
| page | number | – | The page of search results to return |
| public_only | boolean | – | Only include publicly available works in search results |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| aggregations | – | – | – |
| data | array | yes | The search results returned from the Digital Collections API |
| explain | – | – | The explain output from Elasticsearch for the search query. Only included if the MCP is running in debug mode. |
| info | object | yes | – |
| pagination | object | yes | – |
No examples provided.
search Search ~245
Search for works in the Digital Collections using field-based and/or natural language queries. If both a natural language query and specific field values are provided, the natural language query will take priority, using the specified field values as additional constraints. The result will also include a list of aggregations that show how many results match different values for certain fields. For example, you could see how many results match each collection, work type, or visibility and use that information to refine your search. Perform an empty search to retrieve all works and their aggregations. NOTE: Structured field values enclosed in double quotes will be treated as exact, case-sensitive matches, while unquoted values will be treated as full-text searches.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| fields | object | – | Structured field search. Best when searching for specific known items or values, or for narrowing a search by specifying particular fields to search within. |
| max_results | number | – | The maximum number of search results to return per page |
| page | number | – | The page of search results to return |
| public_only | boolean | – | Only include publicly available works in search results |
| query | string | – | A natural language query. Best for exploratory / conceptual searches. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| aggregations | – | – | – |
| data | array | yes | The search results returned from the Digital Collections API |
| explain | – | – | The explain output from Elasticsearch for the search query. Only included if the MCP is running in debug mode. |
| info | object | yes | – |
| pagination | object | yes | – |
No examples provided.
similarity-search Search for Similar Works ~91
Find works that are similar to a given work. Uses semantic similarity based on work embeddings.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| max_results | number | – | The maximum number of search results to return per page |
| page | number | – | The page of search results to return |
| public_only | boolean | – | Only include publicly available works in search results |
| work_id | string | yes | ID of a work to find similar items for. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| aggregations | – | – | – |
| data | array | yes | The search results returned from the Digital Collections API |
| explain | – | – | The explain output from Elasticsearch for the search query. Only included if the MCP is running in debug mode. |
| info | object | yes | – |
| pagination | object | yes | – |
No examples provided.
view-collection View Collection ~38
View a collection from the NUL Digital Collections in an interactive viewer.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection_id | string | yes | The ID of the collection to view |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| iiifContentUrl | string | yes | A URL to a IIIF manifest or collection |
No examples provided.
view-search-results View Search Results ~121
View results from the search-works tool in an interactive viewer.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| fields | object | – | Structured field search. Best when searching for specific known items or values, or for narrowing a search by specifying particular fields to search within. |
| max_results | number | – | The maximum number of search results to return per page |
| page | number | – | The page of search results to return |
| public_only | boolean | – | Only include publicly available works in search results |
| query | string | – | A natural language query. Best for exploratory / conceptual searches. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| iiifContentUrl | string | yes | A URL to a IIIF manifest or collection |
No examples provided.
view-similar-works View Similar Works ~89
View results from the similarity-search tool in an interactive viewer.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| max_results | number | – | The maximum number of search results to return per page |
| page | number | – | The page of search results to return |
| public_only | boolean | – | Only include publicly available works in search results |
| work_id | string | yes | ID of a work to find similar items for. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| iiifContentUrl | string | yes | A URL to a IIIF manifest or collection |
No examples provided.
view-work View Work ~37
View a work from the NUL Digital Collections in an interactive viewer.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| work_id | string | yes | The ID of the work to view |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| iiifContentUrl | string | yes | A URL to a IIIF manifest or collection |
No examples provided.
How do I install the Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API MCP server?
Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API runs locally as a container image, launched with docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/nulib/dc-api-mcp:2.12.0. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 3 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.
oci · ghcr.io/nulib/dc-api-mcp
claude mcp add nulib-dc-api -- docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/nulib/dc-api-mcp:2.12.0
What is the Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API MCP server?
Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.nulib/dc-api. Agent integration with the Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API. This page covers its container image (ghcr.io/nulib/dc-api-mcp).
Is the Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API MCP server safe to use?
Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API scores 53 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. 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 Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API MCP server expose?
Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API exposes 8 tools: search, get-work, list-collections, similarity-search, view-work, and 3 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 725 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Is the Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API MCP server still maintained?
Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 5 November 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 Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API MCP server under?
Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API declares the NOASSERTION licence, which is not on the OSI-approved list. Read the terms before using it at work, and note this covers the source only, not the cost of any service it calls.