collections-vam API for agents (unofficial) — JSON over curl | clify
V&A Explore the Collections: a JSON CLI over the Victoria and Albert Museum's public collections API. It can search and filter museum objects, fetch object records, IIIF manifests and image info, get facet counts, autocomplete makers, search archives, export results as CSV and browse organisation pages.
Host: collections.vam.ac.uk. Call these verified read commands with plain curl; no install, key, or account. Use the public JSON API with plain curl. No install, key, account, or browser is needed. Example: curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/sites.json'. Start with /search?q=weather, then call /abc/COMMAND. Responses are one JSON object. The hosted MCP and GitHub repo are also available.
Commands
search-objects
Search V&A collection objects by keyword. Filters: maker, object name, material, place, accession number, category, place/material/technique/person/organisation/collection IDs, has-image and on-displa Params: q, q_actor, q_object_name, q_material_technique, q_place_name, q_accession_number, images_exist, kw_location_type, id_category, id_place, id_material, id_technique, id_person, id_organisation, id_collection, kw_object_type, year_made_from, year_made_to, order_by, order_sort, page, page_size
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/search-objects?q=teapot&q_actor=Wedgwood&id_category=THES48982'
export-objects-csv
Export object search results as CSV text. Takes the same main filters as search-objects. Params: q, q_actor, images_exist, kw_location_type, id_category, id_place, id_material, id_person, id_organisation, page, page_size
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/export-objects-csv?q=teapot'
get-object
Get the full catalogue record for one museum object by its system number (the digits after 'O', e.g. O151155 -> 151155). Params: object_num*
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/get-object'
get-object-manifest
Get the IIIF presentation manifest (all images with their image service URLs) for an object. Params: object_num*
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/get-object-manifest'
get-image-info
Get IIIF image info (dimensions, tile sizes, supported formats) for an image asset ID such as _primaryImageId. Params: asset_ref*
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/get-image-info'
get-facet-counts
Get facet counts (categories, people, places, materials, techniques, etc.) for an object search. Params: q, q_actor, images_exist, kw_location_type, id_category, id_place, cluster_size
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/get-facet-counts?q=teapot'
list-facet-values
List the values and counts of one facet type (e.g. place, material, category) for an object search. Use this to find facet IDs for search-objects. Params: cluster_type*, q, cluster_size
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/list-facet-values?q=teapot'
autocomplete-names
Search-as-you-type suggestions for people and organisations (makers), returning their IDs for use in id_person / id_organisation filters. Params: q*, page_size, page
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/autocomplete-names?q=Wedgwood'
search-archives
Search the V&A archives index (archive collections and records) by keyword. Params: q, q_archive_title, q_creator, page, page_size
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/search-archives?q=teapot'
list-suggested-facets
List the site's built-in suggested facets (popular places, etc.) with their system-number IDs. Params: none
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/list-suggested-facets'
list-organisations
List organisations in the collection A–Z for a given starting letter, with their organisation IDs and profile URLs. Params: letter*
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/list-organisations'
get-organisation-objects
Open an organisation profile page and list its featured collection objects. Params: org_id*, slug*
curl 'https://clify-dev.netlify.app/collections-vam/get-organisation-objects'