MCP server
Every site can also answer the Model Context Protocol at /mcp, so an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or an editor’s agent can search the collection itself. The endpoint is stateless, needs no account and only reads.
Turn it on
Section titled “Turn it on”Set DCE_MCP=1. Links the server hands out are built from the address the assistant used; behind a proxy or CDN that rewrites it, also set DCE_PUBLIC_URL to the address visitors use, with the path if the site lives under one.
DCE_MCP=1 DCE_DATA_DIR=data/collections/my-collection python -m src.backend.mainThe deploy scripts set both for you. On any Linux machine, add --mcp and --public-url to deploy/bootstrap.sh install, or later run sudo deploy/bootstrap.sh mcp --name my-collection --on. On AWS, add --mcp to deploy/aws/deploy.sh, or later run deploy/aws/mcp.sh my-collection --on. With Docker Compose, set MCP=1 and PUBLIC_URL. Turning it on or off restarts the site, which takes about a minute.
Connect an assistant
Section titled “Connect an assistant”claude mcp add --transport http my-collection https://collection.example.org/mcpIn Claude or ChatGPT, add a custom connector with the same address. Assistants that call the endpoint from the cloud need a public https:// address; on AWS, deploy with --https.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
describe_collection |
The collection’s title, groups with their sizes, institutions and licenses, its license, and suggested searches |
search_collection |
The site’s search, in Auto, Appearance or Catalog mode, for some groups or catalog values; up to 20 objects, each with why it was found |
find_similar |
Objects whose images look most like one object |
search_by_image |
Objects that look like a collection image, a crop of one, or an image the assistant sends |
list_catalog_values |
The values the catalog uses for kinds of object, places, cultures, topics, names and dates |
get_object |
One object’s record, its images, its institution and license, the link to the institution’s record, and where else it appears |
The three search tools take catalog, which keeps only objects whose record holds the given values: a year range, kinds of object, places, cultures, topics or names, spelled as list_catalog_values gives them. A term such as date:1860s or place:china in the query instead searches the catalog text alone. Both need a collection whose catalog has been prepared with these categories.
What assistants see
Section titled “What assistants see”Every result links to its page on the site and to its image, and says why it was found, how alike it is to the query, and which catalog fields matched. Hosts that support MCP Apps show the results as an image wall: each picture beside its own title, opening the object’s page when clicked, with “More like this” to follow similar images. The wall loads pictures only from DCE_PUBLIC_URL and from the servers that keep the collection’s images, such as an IIIF server, so set it for the pictures to appear.
Limits
Section titled “Limits”Searches count against the same limits as visitors’ searches, and an image sent as base64 against the upload limit. The endpoint never fetches a web address it is given. Text from catalog records reaches the assistant as data, not as instructions.