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Smithsonian Open Access (BYOK) — connector documentation

  • MCP endpoint: https://byok-smithsonian.connectorbay.com/mcp
  • REST API: POST https://byok-smithsonian.connectorbay.com/v1/tools/{tool_name}, described by the OpenAPI 3.1 spec at https://byok-smithsonian.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
  • Transport: Streamable HTTP, stateless, MCP specification 2025-06-18 or later
  • Authentication: your own Smithsonian Open Access api.data.gov API key, sent in the X-Upstream-Key header of every request (never stored, logged or cached)
  • Health: https://byok-smithsonian.connectorbay.com/health · Tool schemas: https://byok-smithsonian.connectorbay.com/tools.json
  • Publisher: Unify Dynamics LLC · connectorbay.com/byok-smithsonian · agent@connectorbay.com

What Smithsonian Open Access (BYOK) is for

Smithsonian Open Access (BYOK) lets an AI assistant read your own Smithsonian Open Access data through the Smithsonian Open Access API with a key you supply (api.data.gov API key). Read-only: 5 tools (search_collections, search_by_category, get_record, list_terms, get_stats). The BYOK key travels with each request, is used for that one call only and is never stored, logged or cached; it is only ever sent to api.si.edu. Unofficial connector by Unify Dynamics LLC: not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Smithsonian Open Access. Smithsonian Open Access and its logos are trademarks of their owners and are used only to say which service the connector works with.

Ask your assistant things like:

  • "Find Smithsonian objects about Apollo spacesuits"
  • "Show Smithsonian science and technology records about meteorites"
  • "Show the Smithsonian record edanmdm-nmaahc_2012.36.4ab"
  • "Which Smithsonian topics start with 'astro'?"
  • "How many CC0 objects does Smithsonian Open Access have?"

What it does

  • search_collections: Search the Smithsonian Open Access records (objects, specimens, archives) by text and return matching records with title, unit, type and descriptive metadata.
  • search_by_category: Search Smithsonian Open Access records inside one broad category: art and design, history and culture, or science and technology.
  • get_record: Get one Smithsonian Open Access record by its id or url value, with the full descriptive metadata.
  • list_terms: List the controlled terms the Smithsonian records use in one category (topics, places, cultures, object types, units and others), optionally by prefix, to build searches.
  • get_stats: Show counts of CC0 objects and media in the Smithsonian Open Access collections.

BYOK key

You bring your own Smithsonian Open Access api.data.gov API key (https://api.data.gov/signup/). Your assistant sends it in the X-Upstream-Key header with each request. ConnectorBay uses it for that one call only: it is never stored, logged or cached, never shown in an answer, and it is only sent to api.si.edu over https, with no redirects followed. Create a key with the fewest permissions the tools need (read-only if the provider offers it), and revoke it at the provider whenever you like.

Data sources

Live from the Smithsonian Open Access API (api.si.edu) with a BYOK key; documentation: https://edan.si.edu/openaccess/apidocs/. Endpoints checked against that documentation on 2026-10-16.

What it is not

Unofficial connector by Unify Dynamics LLC: not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Smithsonian Open Access. Smithsonian Open Access and its logos are trademarks of their owners and are used only to say which service the connector works with. It is read-only: it never creates, changes, sends or deletes anything in your Smithsonian Open Access account.

Built for: Worldwide. Languages: English.