{"slug": "15-years-of-hand-curated-architecture-art-and-design-as-an-mcp-server", "title": "15 years of hand-curated architecture, art and design as an MCP server", "summary": "Thisispaper, an independent art, architecture and design publication, launched a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that exposes over 2,500 hand-curated projects from its archive as a clean HTTP API and native MCP server for AI agents. The server offers nine tools including search, taste-based filtering, random project retrieval, and API key minting, with anonymous preview capped at 5 results and a free key providing 200 calls per month.", "body_md": "[←Intelligence](/intelligence/map)\n\nThisispaper is an independent art, architecture and design publication. Every project in the archive was curated by human editors since 2011.\n\n# The curated-taste API\n\nSearch, similarity and taste metadata over **2,500+** hand-selected\narchitecture, design, photography and art projects. Two decades of editorial\njudgement, exposed as a clean HTTP API and a native MCP server for AI agents.\n\nQuestions: [studio@thisispaper.com](mailto:studio@thisispaper.com)\n\n## Try it in 30 seconds\n\nThe MCP endpoint answers anonymously, no key and no signup. Anonymous calls are capped at 5 results; a free key (200 calls/month) unlocks full results.\n\n```\ncurl -X POST https://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api/mcp \\\n  -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"method\":\"tools/call\",\n       \"params\":{\"name\":\"search_projects\",\n                 \"arguments\":{\"query\":\"concrete chapel\"}}}'\n```\n\nOr skip curl entirely: [add the server to your AI client](#add-to-client)\nand ask it to search Thisispaper.\n\n## For AI agents (MCP)\n\nThe catalog is a remote **Model Context Protocol** server\n(Streamable HTTP, stateless), so Claude, ChatGPT and other AI agents can query it natively:\n\n```\nhttps://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api/mcp\n```\n\nWithout a key the tools run in anonymous preview mode, capped at 5 results.\nAdd `Authorization: Bearer tip_live_...`\n\nto the connector for full,\nmetered access. An agent can even mint its own key mid-conversation with\n`get_api_key`\n\n.\n\nThe server exposes nine tools:\n\nSearch the curated catalog by keywords. Args: `query`\n\n(required), `limit`\n\n(max 20). Returns ranked project summaries: name, studio, city, year, category, intro, thumbnail, URL, `citation_url`\n\n, `provenance`\n\n.\n\nSearch by taste metadata: `material`\n\n, `light`\n\n, `color`\n\n,\n`mood`\n\n, `composition`\n\n, `subject`\n\n.\nUnique to Thisispaper: these tags were written during human curation. Pass at least\none dimension, e.g. `{\"material\": \"rammed earth\", \"light\": \"dusk\"}`\n\n.\nResults are ranked by how many dimensions match, then by recency.\n\nNewest projects first. Optional `category`\n\nfilter: architecture, interiors, design, photography or art.\n\nOne project chosen at random from the archive. Editorial serendipity, the way a reader opens a magazine to an unplanned spread. No arguments.\n\nVisual + semantic neighbours for a project `slug`\n\n(precomputed SigLIP neighbours).\n\nFull metadata for one `slug`\n\n: description, design language, details, taste dimensions, URL, citation URL, provenance.\n\nMints a free API key (200 calls/month) for your `email`\n\n, right from the conversation. The key is shown once. Max 3 keys per email.\n\nConnector-contract search for clients that follow the ChatGPT connector spec.\nTakes a `query`\n\n, returns results as id, title and url. ChatGPT calls this tool in\nnormal chat.\n\nConnector-contract fetch: takes an `id`\n\nfrom search and returns the full record with\ntitle, text, url and metadata. The result also embeds the project's real thumbnail\nimage (up to 2 MB), which image-capable clients render inline.\n\nAny MCP client works; no session or OAuth handshake is required.\n\n## Add to your client\n\nSettings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste the server URL. Connectors added on claude.ai sync to Claude Desktop.\n\n```\nclaude mcp add --transport http thisispaper \\\n  https://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api/mcp\n```\n\nSettings → Connectors → add the server URL. Works in normal chat through\nthe `search`\n\nand `fetch`\n\ntools.\n\nIn `~/.codex/config.toml`\n\n:\n\n```\n[mcp_servers.thisispaper]\nurl = \"https://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api/mcp\"\ngemini extensions install https://github.com/zaxarovcom/thisispaper-mcp\n```\n\nA local stdio bridge to the same server, for clients without HTTP transport:\n\n```\nnpx thisispaper-mcp\n```\n\nAny other client that speaks Streamable HTTP: point it at the URL above, or bridge\nvia `npx mcp-remote https://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api/mcp`\n\n.\n\nTested with Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Grok, Gemini and Cursor.\n\n## Prompts worth stealing\n\nOnce the connector is added, ask your agent in plain language. Lines that work:\n\n- Architecture\"houses that stay cool without machines\"\n- Architecture\"concrete chapels in the Alps\"\n- Photography\"documentary photographers of vanishing ways of life\"\n- Photography\"portraits of remote communities\"\n- Art\"installations that use light as material\"\n- Art\"sculpture in aluminium\"\n- Design\"chairs that made minimalism warm\"\n- Design\"furniture in raw aluminium\"\n- Interiors\"apartments under 65 square meters that feel generous\"\n- Taste search\"material rammed earth, light dusk\"\n- Taste search\"mood melancholic, composition frontal\"\n\n## REST API\n\nThe same catalog over plain `GET`\n\nendpoints. Base URL:\n\n```\nhttps://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api/v1\n```\n\nAll endpoints return JSON and are CORS-open for browser apps. REST calls require\nan API key ([free, self-serve below](#get-key)); pass it as a bearer\ntoken, or `?key=`\n\nfor quick tests:\n\n```\ncurl \"https://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api/v1/search?q=concrete+chapel\" \\\n  -H \"Authorization: Bearer tip_live_...\"\n```\n\nEvery response carries `X-RateLimit-Limit`\n\nand\n`X-RateLimit-Remaining`\n\nheaders.\n\nLexical search across name, studio, city, category and intro.\n\n```\nGET /search?q=japanese+teahouse&limit=10\n{\n  \"query\": \"japanese teahouse\",\n  \"count\": 10,\n  \"results\": [\n    {\n      \"slug\": \"audeum-kengo-kuma\",\n      \"name\": \"Audeum Audio Museum by Kengo Kuma\",\n      \"studio\": \"Kengo Kuma & Associates\",\n      \"city\": \"Seoul, South Korea\",\n      \"year\": \"2024\",\n      \"category\": \"Architecture\",\n      \"intro\": \"...\",\n      \"published\": \"2026-01-26\",\n      \"thumbnail\": \"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5d70caf362d15d860bedae09/69c77bdb45cde0df63c2c62d_6982103c8b8bca7f0d513282_thisispaper-audeum-by-kengo-kuma.webp\",\n      \"url\": \"https://www.thisispaper.com/mag/audeum-kengo-kuma\",\n      \"citation_url\": \"https://www.thisispaper.com/mag/audeum-kengo-kuma\",\n      \"provenance\": {\n        \"curated_by\": \"Thisispaper editors\",\n        \"selected\": \"2026-01-26\",\n        \"in_archive_since\": 2026,\n        \"note\": \"One of 2,500+ projects selected by hand since 2011. Most of what we see is not published.\"\n      },\n      \"score\": 8.42\n    }\n  ]\n}\n```\n\nFull metadata for one project, including description, design language and taste dimensions.\n\n```\nGET /project/audeum-kengo-kuma\n```\n\nNearest projects by visual + semantic similarity (precomputed SigLIP neighbours).\n\n```\nGET /similar/audeum-kengo-kuma?limit=12\n```\n\n## Provenance\n\nEvery project response carries its provenance: who curated the work, the date it was\nselected for the archive, and a permanent `citation_url`\n\nyou can cite or link.\nThese fields appear on every result from the REST endpoints and the MCP tools alike.\nFields with no recorded value are `null`\n\n, never guessed.\n\n```\n\"citation_url\": \"https://www.thisispaper.com/mag/audeum-kengo-kuma\",\n\"provenance\": {\n  \"curated_by\": \"Thisispaper editors\",\n  \"selected\": \"2026-01-26\",\n  \"in_archive_since\": 2026,\n  \"note\": \"One of 2,500+ projects selected by hand since 2011. Most of what we see is not published.\"\n}\n```\n\n## Get a free key\n\nEnter your email. Your key is shown once, store it somewhere safe. Free tier: 200 calls/month, max 3 keys per email. The same key works on the REST endpoints and the MCP server.\n\n## Pricing\n\nPay with the same email your key was issued to and the upgrade applies automatically. When a monthly quota runs out, calls return a clear error pointing back to this page; nothing is billed silently.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/15-years-of-hand-curated-architecture-art-and-design-as-an-mcp-server", "canonical_source": "https://www.thisispaper.com/intelligence/api-docs", "published_at": "2026-07-23 14:42:38+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-23 14:52:56.947228+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["Thisispaper", "Model Context Protocol", "Claude", "ChatGPT", "Gemini", "Codex"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/15-years-of-hand-curated-architecture-art-and-design-as-an-mcp-server", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/15-years-of-hand-curated-architecture-art-and-design-as-an-mcp-server.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/15-years-of-hand-curated-architecture-art-and-design-as-an-mcp-server.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/15-years-of-hand-curated-architecture-art-and-design-as-an-mcp-server.jsonld"}}