MCP server for browsing and downloading open-licensed imagery from Wellcome Collection, Met Museum, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Open Access, and Europeana (which fully indexes Rijksmuseum + 4000 other institutions). For editorial projects that need authored archival material instead of AI-generated stock.
Server has 12 well-named tools with consistent verb_noun patterns (wellcome_search, met_get_object, etc.). All tools have descriptions (avg ~100 chars, within baseline 34-392). Input schemas are present with types and descriptions for all parameters. However, output schemas are NOT documented, LLMs cannot predict response structure. Parameter descriptions lack constraint details (e.g., pageSize ranges, enum values for 'kind'). Error handling is minimal; no recovery guidance. The download_image tool accepts arbitrary URLs without validation, creating security risk. Missing idempotency hints and permission declarations.
Download an image from any URL and save it to the local filesystem
Get detailed information about a specific Europeana record
Search Europeana (which indexes 50+ EU institutions including British Library and full Rijksmuseum coverage)
Get detailed information about a specific Library of Congress item including all available images
Search the Library of Congress collection
Get detailed information about a specific Met Museum object
Search the Met Museum collection for objects
Output schemas not documented. LLMs cannot predict response structure (e.g., what fields wellcome_search returns, what download_image returns on success/failure). Forces agents to guess field names for downstream operations.
Parameter constraints missing. 'pageSize' has no min/max (baseline: 1 - 100). 'kind' in wellcome_search should be enum ['works', 'images'], not free-form string. 'size' in wellcome_image_url lacks IIIF format documentation. LLMs will pass invalid values.
| Scored | Grade | Overall | Spec posture | Rubric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-23 | D | 57 | 2026-07-28+ | v2 |
Get detailed information about a specific Smithsonian object
Search the Smithsonian Open Access collection
Get detailed information about a specific Wellcome Collection work including all associated images
Generate a direct image URL for a Wellcome Collection IIIF image with optional size parameter
Search the Wellcome Collection for works or images
download_image accepts arbitrary URLs without validation or sandboxing. No file path traversal protection (e.g., outputDir='../../etc/passwd'). No file type whitelist. Poses security risk if agent is compromised or prompt-injected.
No error recovery guidance. Tools throw HTTP errors (e.g., 'HTTP 404 for https://...') with no actionable next step. LLM cannot determine if error is retryable, user-fixable, or fatal.
No tool annotations (readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint). LLM cannot distinguish safe read-only tools from destructive download_image. Missing idempotency hints for search tools.