Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API is a remote MCP server that gives an AI agent 8 tools, among them get-work, list-collections, search. It answers at https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp over streamable HTTP, and it listed its tools to an anonymous client, so no sign-in was needed for that. Our probes reached it 6 of 6 times since 11 September 2026; the last check, on 22 October 2026, succeeded.
Agent integration with the Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API
Description as the publisher wrote it.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
get-work | Retrieve the full metadata for a work from the NUL Digital Collections. Inputs: work_id |
list-collections | List collection records from the NUL Digital Collections. Inputs: public_only, max_results, page |
search | 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 Inputs: query, fields, public_only, max_results, page |
similarity-search | Find works that are similar to a given work. Uses semantic similarity based on work embeddings. Inputs: work_id, public_only, max_results, page |
view-collection | View a collection from the NUL Digital Collections in an interactive viewer. Inputs: collection_id |
view-search-results | View results from the search-works tool in an interactive viewer. Inputs: query, fields, public_only, max_results, page |
view-similar-works | View results from the similarity-search tool in an interactive viewer. Inputs: work_id, public_only, max_results, page |
view-work | View a work from the NUL Digital Collections in an interactive viewer. Inputs: work_id |
Every block below points at https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp. Pick your client and copy.
claude mcp add --transport http northwestern-university-librarie https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp
{
"mcpServers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"]
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"url": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}{
"servers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}{
"context_servers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"url": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"serverUrl": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"url": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}name: Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API
version: 0.0.1
schema: v1
mcpServers:
- name: Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections API
type: streamable-http
url: https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp{
"mcpServers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"httpUrl": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"northwestern-university-librarie": {
"url": "https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp"
}
}
}goose://extension?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.dc.library.northwestern.edu%2Fapi%2Fv2%2Fmcp&type=streamable_http&id=northwestern-university-librarie&name=Northwestern%20University%20Libraries%20Digital%20Collections%20API
It answered our last check on 22 October 2026 in 635 ms. Over 6 checks since 11 September 2026 it answered 6. Status here comes from Neuronto's own probes, not from the publisher.
8, as returned by the server's own tools/list on 17 September 2026: get-work, list-collections, search, similarity-search, view-collection, view-search-results, view-similar-works, view-work.
It answered our last check on 22 October 2026 in 635 ms. Over 6 checks since 11 September 2026 it answered 6.
Put the server under mcpServers in ~/.cursor/mcp.json with the URL https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/mcp. The exact JSON is above, with the same setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed, Gemini CLI and the rest.
It listed its tools to an anonymous client, so reading the tool list needs no key. Individual tools can still ask for credentials in their own inputs.
Publisher: io.github.nulib. Endpoint host: api.dc.library.northwestern.edu. ARD identifier: urn:air:io.github.nulib:mcp:dc-api.
First indexed 10 September 2026. The tools are exactly what the server returned; nothing on this page
is inferred from its name. Ranking in Neuronto search is never for sale.