Science Museum Group website screenshot

Science Museum Group

The Science Museum Group operates five UK science and technology museums: the Science Museum (London), the Science and Industry Museum (Manchester), the National Railway Museum (York), the National Science and Media Museum (Bradford), and Locomotion (Shildon). The group provides an open Collection API giving developers programmatic access to over 7 million objects, people, and documents in the museum collections via a JSONAPI-compliant REST interface. The API is free to use and supports searching, filtering, and retrieval of collection items with rich metadata, images, and curatorial notes.

Science Museum Group publishes 4 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Documents API, Objects API, People API, and 1 more. Tagged areas include Museums, Collection, Cultural Heritage, Open Data, and Science.

The Science Museum Group catalog on APIs.io includes 1 JSON-LD context and 2 Spectral governance rulesets.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub
27.0/100 thin ▬ flat Agent 23/100 agent aware self hosted · MIT Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-09-08 · rubric v0.20.0
AccessFreemium
1 APIs
MuseumsCollectionCultural HeritageOpen DataScienceTechnologyUnited Kingdom

Kin Score

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-09-08 · rubric v0.20.0
Composite quality — 27.0/100 · thin
Contract Quality 12.5 / 19
Developer Ergonomics 1.4 / 15
Access Clarity 0.0 / 15
Operational Transparency 1.0 / 10
Contract Governance 2.6 / 9
Discoverability 5.1 / 8
Regulatory Posture 3.1 / 15
Open Source Surface 0.0 / 10
Agent readiness — 23/100 · agent aware
Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18
Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10
Documented Reversibility 6 / 6
MCP Server 0 / 12
Machine-Readable Auth 0 / 10
Idempotency 9 / 9
Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8
Request/Response Examples 7 / 7
Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7
Typed Event Surface 0 / 6
Agent Skills 0 / 5
Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4
Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3
A2A Agent Card 0 / 8
Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 4 / 4
Delegated User Identity 0 / 6
Protected Resource Metadata 0 / 5
Registration Without a Human 0 / 6
Agentic Commerce Well-Known Document 0 / 5
Regulatory Posture applies to this provider. Its tags matched the Government & Public Sector regime, so Regulatory Posture carries 15 points of the composite. If this regime is wrong for your business, say so on your provider repo — the applicability map is public and we will correct it.
Open Source Surface applies to this provider. This product is open source and we read its repository directly, so Open Source Surface carries 10 points of the composite. It is scored from what the repository actually publishes — a security policy, a contribution guide, a release history, a code of conduct — read live from the provider rather than inferred from our own catalog pointers. This facet adds; nothing was taken away to make room for it. An open-source project is not excused from the commercial facets, because exemption would strip it of the points it does earn. If we have the wrong repository, or this product is not open source, say so on your provider repo and we will drop the facet rather than have you publish against it.
Create-or-Update Ergonomics does not apply to this provider. The published contracts declare no write operations, and a read-only API cannot create-or-update. The facet is excluded from this provider's denominator entirely — not scored zero. A reference or data API is not deficient for being unable to upsert.
The six quality facets above are damped to 75 points between them, because both conditional facets apply and carry 25 points together. That is why each facet's contribution is shown against a damped maximum: raising a quality facet moves the composite by 75% of its nominal weight, not 100%. The full arithmetic is at apis.io/rating/.
Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. Every facet and dimension name above is a link: it opens that measurement's own page — what it means, the exact checks that feed it, how the whole catalog distributes on it, and the providers at the top of it. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Submit an artifact on GitHub — free → Manage your own listing — the Influence plan, $499/mo →

APIs 4

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Science Museum Group Documents API

Documents, archives, and written records in the collection

Science Museum Group Objects API

Scientific instruments, industrial artifacts, and cultural items in the collection

Science Museum Group People API

People associated with the museum collections including makers, scientists, and historical figures

Science Museum Group Search API

Full-text and filtered search across all collection types

Open Collections 6

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

API Collection

OPEN COLLECTION

Science Museum Group Collection API

OPEN COLLECTION

Science Museum Group Collection Documents API

OPEN COLLECTION

Science Museum Group Collection Documents Objects API

OPEN COLLECTION

Science Museum Group Collection Documents People API

OPEN COLLECTION

Science Museum Group Collection Documents Search API

OPEN COLLECTION

Pricing Plans 1

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

Science Museum Group Plans Pricing

3 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Science Museum Group Rate Limits

5 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Science Museum Group Finops

FINOPS

Semantic Vocabularies 1

JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.

Science Museum Group Context

23 classes · 19 properties

JSON-LD

Spectral Rules 2

Spectral governance rulesets for linting and validating these APIs.

Science Museum Group API Rules

5 rules · 4 warnings 1 info

SPECTRAL

Science Museum Group API Rules

10 rules · 3 errors 7 warnings

SPECTRAL

JSON Schema 1

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

Science Museum Group Collection Object

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

JSON Structure 1

JSON Structure definitions describing this provider's data shapes.

Science Museum Group Collection Object Structure

0 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Examples 2

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Science Museum Group Get Object Example

3 fields

EXAMPLE

Science Museum Group Search Objects Example

3 fields

EXAMPLE

Security Posture 1

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Science Museum Group Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS · DMARC

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

Science Museum Group Agentic Access

7 operations

7 operations · 0 acting

AGENTIC

Resources

Get Started 1

Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call

Collections Portal
Collections Portal

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess
AgenticAccess

Build 1

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHubOrganization
GitHubOrganization

Access & Security 1

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

DomainSecurity
DomainSecurity

Operate 1

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

IssueTracker
IssueTracker

Commercial 1

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

License
License

Company 2

The organization behind the API

LinkedIn
LinkedIn
 Website
Website

Source (apis.yml)

apis.yml Raw ↑ 
aid: science-museum-group
deliveryModel:
  model: self-hosted
  license: MIT
  open_source: true
  commercial: false
  callable_host: true
  label: Self-hosted open source · you run it yourself
  confidence: high
  source:
  - license
  - openapi
  generated: '2026-08-28'
  method: derived
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Freemium
  confidence: medium
  source:
  - plans
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/science-museum-group.png
name: Science Museum Group
description: 'The Science Museum Group operates five UK science and technology museums: the Science Museum (London), the Science
  and Industry Museum (Manchester), the National Railway Museum (York), the National Science and Media Museum (Bradford),
  and Locomotion (Shildon). The group provides an open Collection API giving developers programmatic access to over 7 million
  objects, people, and documents in the museum collections via a JSONAPI-compliant REST interface. The API is free to use
  and supports searching, filtering, and retrieval of collection items with rich metadata, images, and curatorial notes.'
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2026-05-02'
modified: '2026-05-19'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
tags:
- Museums
- Collection
- Cultural Heritage
- Open Data
- Science
- Technology
- United Kingdom
tags_raw:
- Museums
- Collections
- Cultural Heritage
- Open Data
- Science
- Technology
- United Kingdom
apis:
- aid: science-museum-group:science-museum-group-documents-api
  name: Science Museum Group Documents API
  description: Documents, archives, and written records in the collection
  humanURL: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  baseURL: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk
  tags:
  - Documents
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/science-museum-group-documents-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/TheScienceMuseum/collectionsonline-api
  - type: SpectralRules
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/rules/science-museum-group-rules.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-schema/science-museum-group-collection-object-schema.json
  - type: JSONLDContext
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-ld/science-museum-group-context.jsonld
  - type: Vocabulary
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/science-museum-group-vocabulary.yml
- aid: science-museum-group:science-museum-group-objects-api
  name: Science Museum Group Objects API
  description: Scientific instruments, industrial artifacts, and cultural items in the collection
  humanURL: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  baseURL: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk
  tags:
  - Objects
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/science-museum-group-objects-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/TheScienceMuseum/collectionsonline-api
  - type: SpectralRules
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/rules/science-museum-group-rules.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-schema/science-museum-group-collection-object-schema.json
  - type: JSONLDContext
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-ld/science-museum-group-context.jsonld
  - type: Vocabulary
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/science-museum-group-vocabulary.yml
- aid: science-museum-group:science-museum-group-people-api
  name: Science Museum Group People API
  description: People associated with the museum collections including makers, scientists, and historical figures
  humanURL: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  baseURL: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk
  tags:
  - People
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/science-museum-group-people-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/TheScienceMuseum/collectionsonline-api
  - type: SpectralRules
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/rules/science-museum-group-rules.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-schema/science-museum-group-collection-object-schema.json
  - type: JSONLDContext
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-ld/science-museum-group-context.jsonld
  - type: Vocabulary
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/science-museum-group-vocabulary.yml
- aid: science-museum-group:science-museum-group-search-api
  name: Science Museum Group Search API
  description: Full-text and filtered search across all collection types
  humanURL: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  baseURL: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk
  tags:
  - Search
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/science-museum-group-search-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/our-collection/using-our-collection-api
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/TheScienceMuseum/collectionsonline-api
  - type: SpectralRules
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/rules/science-museum-group-rules.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-schema/science-museum-group-collection-object-schema.json
  - type: JSONLDContext
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/json-ld/science-museum-group-context.jsonld
  - type: Vocabulary
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/science-museum-group/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/science-museum-group-vocabulary.yml
common:
- type: IssueTracker
  url: https://github.com/TheScienceMuseum/collectionsonline-api/issues
- type: License
  name: MIT
  url: https://github.com/TheScienceMuseum/collectionsonline-api/blob/master/LICENSE
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/science-museum-group-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/science-museum-group-domain-security.yml
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sciencemuseumgroup
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/TheScienceMuseum
- type: Website
  url: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/
- type: Collections Portal
  url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com

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