Michigan State University

aid: michigan-state-university
name: Michigan State University
x-type: university
x-category: Public Research University
description: 'Michigan State University is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, and a founding
  member of the Big Ten and the AAU. It runs no central developer portal, issues no API keys, and operates no self-service
  onboarding of any kind, and this profile does not pretend otherwise. What it genuinely operates, on its own msu.edu hosts,
  is a small set of real machine surfaces run by MSU Libraries and MSU IT: a keyless VuFind 11.0.4 REST API for the library
  discovery index at catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1, whose OpenAPI 3.0.3 the university itself publishes live at /api/v1/?swagger;
  two OAI-PMH 2.0 providers, one over the catalog and one over the digital repository at d.lib.msu.edu, the latter running
  oai_repo — an OAI-PMH server library MSU Libraries wrote themselves and release Apache-2.0 on GitHub, which is real institutional
  engineering rather than a vendor deployment; and a Shibboleth SAML 2.0 identity provider registered in InCommon as urn:mace:incommon:msu.edu.
  MSU also publishes an llms.txt and a /.well-known/ai.txt naming three AI content endpoints, though the Imperva edge in front
  of msu.edu answers every non-browser client with a JavaScript challenge, so those declared endpoints are not actually reachable
  by the agents they are addressed to. Two vendor platforms are recorded as tenant relationships rather than as MSU contracts:
  D2L Brightspace (d2l.msu.edu, CNAME msu.brightspace.com) and Academic Analytics (Scholars @ MSU at scholars.msu.edu). Student
  records, registration, HR and finance are behind institutional SSO and are not public APIs.'
type: Index
deliveryModel:
  model: saas
  open_source: false
  commercial: false
  callable_host: true
  label: Hosted service · you call their endpoint
  confidence: high
  source:
  - openapi
  - pricing
  generated: '2026-08-30'
  method: probed
accessModel:
  pricing: free
  onboarding: none
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: true
  label: Free · no key, no registration
  confidence: high
  source:
  - probed
  - plans
  generated: '2026-08-30'
  method: probed
position: Consuming
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/michigan-state-university.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/michigan-state-university/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
tags:
- Education
- Higher Education
- University
- Public Research University
- Land-Grant University
- Big Ten
- United States
- Michigan
- Library
- Library Catalog
- Digital Repository
- Metadata
- OAI-PMH
- Identity Federation
- Shibboleth
- Research Computing
tags_raw:
- Education
- Higher Education
- University
- Public Research University
- Land Grant University
- Big Ten
- United States
- Michigan
- Library
- Library Catalog
- Digital Repository
- Metadata
- OAI-PMH
- Identity Federation
- Shibboleth
- Research Computing
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-08-30'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
apis:
- aid: michigan-state-university:michigan-state-university-record-api
  name: MSU Libraries Catalog Record API
  x-operator: institution
  description: 'Record-retrieval half of the MSU Libraries VuFind 11.0.4 REST API, served from the university''s own host
    at catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1. Keyless and read-only: GET /record, /index2/record and /web/record return bibliographic
    and web records from the discovery index. Verified live on 2026-08-30 — GET /api/v1/search?lookfor=test&limit=1 returned
    200 with a populated SearchResponse, and GET /api/v1/record with no id returned the modelled 400 {"status":"ERROR","statusMessage":"Missing
    id"}. The contract is VuFind''s product contract, but MSU publishes it itself from its own deployment, on its own domain,
    and MSU Libraries maintains its VuFind customisations publicly at github.com/MSU-Libraries/catalog.'
  humanURL: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/?swagger
  baseURL: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1
  tags:
  - Record
  - Library
  - Library Catalog
  - Bibliographic
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/michigan-state-university-record-api-openapi.yml
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/?swagger
  - type: Authentication
    url: authentication/michigan-state-university-authentication.yml
  - type: Scopes
    url: scopes/michigan-state-university-scopes.yml
  - type: Errors
    url: errors/michigan-state-university-errors.yml
  - type: Lifecycle
    url: lifecycle/michigan-state-university-lifecycle.yml
  - type: x-json-schema
    url: json-schema/michigan-state-university-record-schema.json
  - type: x-json-schema
    url: json-schema/michigan-state-university-searchresponse-schema.json
  - type: x-json-structure
    url: json-structure/michigan-state-university-record-structure.json
  - type: x-example
    url: examples/michigan-state-university-record-example.json
  - type: x-spectral-rules
    url: rules/michigan-state-university-rules.yml
  - type: x-vocabulary
    url: vocabulary/michigan-state-university-vocabulary.yml
  - type: x-json-ld-context
    url: json-ld/michigan-state-university-context.jsonld
- aid: michigan-state-university:michigan-state-university-search-api
  name: MSU Libraries Catalog Search API
  x-operator: institution
  description: Search half of the same MSU Libraries VuFind 11.0.4 REST API on catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1 — GET /search, /index2/search
    and /web/search return result sets and facets over the library discovery index. Keyless, read-only, no registration. Verified
    live on 2026-08-30. Same institution-operated deployment as the Record API; the two entries are a per-tag split of one
    contract, not two separate programmes.
  humanURL: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/?swagger
  baseURL: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1
  tags:
  - Search
  - Library
  - Library Catalog
  - Discovery
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/michigan-state-university-search-api-openapi.yml
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/?swagger
  - type: Authentication
    url: authentication/michigan-state-university-authentication.yml
  - type: Scopes
    url: scopes/michigan-state-university-scopes.yml
  - type: Errors
    url: errors/michigan-state-university-errors.yml
  - type: Lifecycle
    url: lifecycle/michigan-state-university-lifecycle.yml
  - type: x-json-schema
    url: json-schema/michigan-state-university-searchresponse-schema.json
  - type: x-json-structure
    url: json-structure/michigan-state-university-searchresponse-structure.json
  - type: x-example
    url: examples/michigan-state-university-search-example.json
  - type: x-spectral-rules
    url: rules/michigan-state-university-rules.yml
  - type: x-vocabulary
    url: vocabulary/michigan-state-university-vocabulary.yml
  - type: x-json-ld-context
    url: json-ld/michigan-state-university-context.jsonld
- aid: michigan-state-university:catalog-oai
  name: MSU Libraries Catalog OAI-PMH
  x-operator: institution
  description: 'OAI-PMH 2.0 metadata harvesting provider over the MSU Libraries catalog, on the university''s own host. Verified
    live on 2026-08-30: verb=Identify returns repositoryName "Michigan State University Libraries Catalog", protocolVersion
    2.0, adminEmail LIB.DL.pubcat@msu.edu, earliestDatestamp 2000-01-01; ListMetadataFormats advertises oai_dc and marc21.
    Unauthenticated. Protocol errors return HTTP 200 with an in-body <error code="badVerb">, which is correct OAI-PMH behaviour,
    not a defect.'
  humanURL: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/OAI/Server?verb=Identify
  baseURL: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/OAI/Server
  tags:
  - Library
  - Metadata
  - OAI-PMH
  - Harvesting
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/OAI/Server?verb=Identify
  - type: Conformance
    url: conformance/michigan-state-university-conformance.yml
  - type: Errors
    url: errors/michigan-state-university-errors.yml
- aid: michigan-state-university:dlib-oai
  name: MSU Libraries Digital Repository OAI-PMH
  x-operator: institution
  description: 'OAI-PMH 2.0 provider over the MSU Libraries Digital Repository at d.lib.msu.edu. Verified live on 2026-08-30:
    verb=Identify returns repositoryName "MSU Libraries Digital Repository", repositoryIdentifier d.lib.msu.edu, adminEmail
    LIB.DL.repoteam@msu.edu, earliestDatestamp 1588-01-01; ListMetadataFormats advertises oai_dc, mods (mods-3-4) and marcxml.
    This is the surface most worth crediting to MSU rather than to a platform: it is served by oai_repo, the OAI-PMH server
    library MSU Libraries authored and publish Apache-2.0 at github.com/MSU-Libraries/oai_repo and on PyPI. The repository
    is MSU''s own, the software is MSU''s own, and no vendor contract is involved.'
  humanURL: https://d.lib.msu.edu/oai?verb=Identify
  baseURL: https://d.lib.msu.edu/oai
  tags:
  - Library
  - Digital Repository
  - Metadata
  - OAI-PMH
  - Harvesting
  - Digital Collections
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://d.lib.msu.edu/oai?verb=Identify
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://github.com/MSU-Libraries/oai_repo
  - type: Conformance
    url: conformance/michigan-state-university-conformance.yml
  - type: Errors
    url: errors/michigan-state-university-errors.yml
- aid: michigan-state-university:idp
  name: MSU Identity Provider (Shibboleth / SAML 2.0)
  x-operator: institution
  description: 'MSU''s federated single sign-on. The Shibboleth Identity Provider publishes SAML 2.0 metadata unauthenticated
    at idp.idm.msu.edu/idp/shibboleth — verified live on 2026-08-30, returning an md:EntityDescriptor with entityID urn:mace:incommon:msu.edu
    and an IDPSSODescriptor supporting urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol. This is institution-operated by definition and
    is a genuinely machine-readable surface, but it is not an onboardable API: obtaining assertions requires a registered
    service provider in InCommon plus an MSU NetID, i.e. institutional affiliation rather than a developer credential.'
  humanURL: https://idp.idm.msu.edu/idp/shibboleth
  baseURL: https://idp.idm.msu.edu/idp/shibboleth
  tags:
  - Identity
  - Identity Federation
  - Authentication
  - SSO
  - Shibboleth
  - SAML
  - InCommon
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://idp.idm.msu.edu/idp/shibboleth
  - type: Authentication
    url: authentication/michigan-state-university-authentication.yml
  - type: Conformance
    url: conformance/michigan-state-university-conformance.yml
- aid: michigan-state-university:brightspace-lms
  name: D2L Brightspace at MSU (tenant)
  x-operator: tenant
  description: MSU's learning management system is D2L Brightspace, running as an MSU-branded tenant at d2l.msu.edu, which
    CNAMEs to msu.brightspace.com — confirmed by DNS on 2026-08-30, with the login page titled "Homepage - Michigan State
    University". The tenancy is a real institutional fact and the course, enrolment and LTI data inside it are MSU's. The
    API contract, its LTI conformance and its versioning are D2L's, shared by every Brightspace customer, and are deliberately
    NOT saved into this repository. Access is affiliation-gated; no public API surface is exposed at this host.
  humanURL: https://d2l.msu.edu/
  baseURL: https://msu.brightspace.com
  tags:
  - Learning Management System
  - LMS
  - Tenant
  - Brightspace
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://d2l.msu.edu/
  x-vendor:
    name: D2L
    platform: Brightspace
    generic_host: brightspace.com
    evidence: DNS CNAME d2l.msu.edu -> msu.brightspace.com (2026-08-30)
- aid: michigan-state-university:scholars-msu
  name: Scholars @ MSU (Academic Analytics tenant)
  x-operator: tenant
  description: MSU's public research-expertise portal at scholars.msu.edu. The host is MSU-branded, but the application is
    an Angular single-page client whose compiled bundle (main-VSM345O5.js, fetched 2026-08-30) calls only academicanalytics.com
    and insight.discovery.academicanalytics.com — the platform is Academic Analytics' Discovery product, not MSU engineering.
    The scholar, publication and grant data is MSU's; the contract behind it is the vendor's generic one and is not saved
    here. No public, documented API is exposed at scholars.msu.edu itself.
  humanURL: https://scholars.msu.edu/
  baseURL: https://scholars.msu.edu
  tags:
  - Research Profiles
  - Expertise
  - Tenant
  - Research
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://scholars.msu.edu/
  x-vendor:
    name: Academic Analytics
    platform: Discovery
    generic_host: insight.discovery.academicanalytics.com
    evidence: only external origins in the SPA bundle are academicanalytics.com hosts (2026-08-30)
common:
- type: License
  name: Apache-2.0
  url: https://github.com/MSU-Libraries/oai_repo/blob/master/LICENSE
- type: Website
  url: https://www.msu.edu
- type: APIReference
  url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/?swagger
- type: LibraryCatalog
  url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/
- type: ResearchRepository
  url: https://d.lib.msu.edu/
- type: IdentityFederation
  url: https://idp.idm.msu.edu/idp/shibboleth
- type: ResearchComputing
  url: https://icer.msu.edu/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://docs.icer.msu.edu/
- type: AIPolicy
  url: https://ai.msu.edu/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/MSU-Libraries
- type: GitHub
  url: https://github.com/Michigan-State-University
- type: SourceCode
  url: https://github.com/msu-icer
- type: LLMsTxt
  url: https://www.msu.edu/llms.txt
- type: Sitemap
  url: https://msu.edu/sitemap.xml
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://msu.edu/privacy
- type: Support
  url: https://msu.edu/contact
- type: Blog
  url: https://msutoday.msu.edu
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/school/michigan-state-university/
- type: Conformance
  url: conformance/michigan-state-university-conformance.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/michigan-state-university-authentication.yml
- type: Scopes
  url: scopes/michigan-state-university-scopes.yml
- type: Errors
  url: errors/michigan-state-university-errors.yml
- type: Lifecycle
  url: lifecycle/michigan-state-university-lifecycle.yml
- type: CapabilityMap
  url: capabilities/michigan-state-university-capability-edges.yml
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/michigan-state-university-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/michigan-state-university-domain-security.yml
- type: Plans
  url: plans/michigan-state-university-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/michigan-state-university-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/michigan-state-university-finops.yml
- type: Review
  url: review.yml
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com
x-coverage:
  state: covered
  reason: covered
  detail: 'Five institution-operated machine surfaces were found and verified live on 2026-08-30: a keyless VuFind 11.0.4
    REST API on catalog.lib.msu.edu whose OpenAPI 3.0.3 MSU publishes itself at /api/v1/?swagger (re-fetched and compared
    against openapi/_original — info, all six paths and all 17 component schemas match exactly), two OAI-PMH 2.0 providers,
    and a Shibboleth SAML 2.0 IdP registered in InCommon as urn:mace:incommon:msu.edu. Three education-regime domain standards
    are evidenced from those endpoints — oai-pmh, shibboleth, saml. Two vendor platforms are recorded as tenant relationships
    rather than as MSU contracts, and neither vendor''s spec is saved here: D2L Brightspace (DNS CNAME d2l.msu.edu -> msu.brightspace.com)
    and Academic Analytics (Scholars @ MSU). No Figshare, Pure, Ex Libris, Dataverse or Symplectic tenancy could be confirmed
    — msu.figshare.com and michigan-state.figshare.com both answer 202 with an empty body, which is figshare''s wildcard behaviour
    and not evidence of an MSU tenant, so none is claimed. What MSU does not have: no developer portal, no API key issuance,
    no OAuth authorization server, no changelog, no status page, no deprecation policy, no open data portal (data.msu.edu
    does not resolve), and no public course-catalog or registrar API. Two probe hazards on this institution, both recorded
    in errors/: msu.edu and tech.msu.edu sit behind Imperva, which returns HTTP 200 with a JavaScript challenge for EVERY
    path including nonsense ones, so a 200 from those hosts proves nothing — page existence here was confirmed from msu.edu/sitemap.xml
    instead; and catalog.lib.msu.edu / d.lib.msu.edu front their HTML with a go-away bot filter that answers 418, while leaving
    /api/v1 and the OAI endpoints open. One genuine contradiction worth naming: MSU publishes /.well-known/ai.txt declaring
    three AI-Endpoints (msu.edu/ai/summary.json, /ai/faq.json, /ai/service.json) and an llms.txt pointing at sitemap-llm.xml,
    but the Imperva edge serves a JS challenge instead of JSON to every one of those endpoints, and sitemap-llm.xml is an
    empty urlset. The stated agent policy and the deployed edge behaviour disagree.'
  evidence:
  - url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/?swagger
    status: 200
  - url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/search?lookfor=test&limit=1
    status: 200
  - url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/api/v1/record
    status: 400
  - url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/OAI/Server?verb=Identify
    status: 200
  - url: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/OAI/Server?verb=ListMetadataFormats
    status: 200
  - url: https://d.lib.msu.edu/oai?verb=Identify
    status: 200
  - url: https://d.lib.msu.edu/oai?verb=ListMetadataFormats
    status: 200
  - url: https://idp.idm.msu.edu/idp/shibboleth
    status: 200
  - url: https://www.msu.edu/llms.txt
    status: 200
  - url: https://msu.edu/.well-known/ai.txt
    status: 200
  - url: https://msu.edu/sitemap.xml
    status: 200
  - url: https://msu.edu/sitemap-llm.xml
    status: 200
  - url: https://msu.edu/ai/summary.json
    status: 200
  - url: https://github.com/MSU-Libraries/oai_repo
    status: 200
  - url: https://d2l.msu.edu/
    status: 200
  - url: https://scholars.msu.edu/
    status: 200
  - url: https://icer.msu.edu/
    status: 200
  - url: https://docs.icer.msu.edu/
    status: 200
  - url: https://ai.msu.edu/
    status: 200
  - url: https://msutoday.msu.edu
    status: 200
  - url: https://msutoday.msu.edu/rss
    status: 404
  - url: https://data.msu.edu
    status: 0
  - url: https://d.lib.msu.edu/api
    status: 401
  - url: https://msu.figshare.com
    status: 202