# Smithsonian Institution

**Canonical:** https://apis.io/providers/smithsonian-institution/  
**Website:** https://www.si.edu/  
**APIs profiled:** 3

The Smithsonian Institution provides open access APIs to its collections of over 22 million objects, artworks, and natural history specimens from 19 museums, 21 libraries, and 9 research centers. The Open Access API enables developers to search and retrieve collection data, images, and metadata across the world's largest museum and research complex.

## Kin Score — 32.6 / 100 (thin)

Scored 2026-08-21 under rubric 0.12.0. Trend: flat (+0.4 from 32.2).

| Facet | Score |
|---|---|
| Discoverability | 74.1 |
| Contract Quality | 60.8 |
| Governance | 13.6 |
| Contract Governance | 13.6 |
| Operational Transparency | 10.5 |
| Developer Ergonomics | 11.9 |
| Commercial Clarity | 15.8 |
| Access Clarity | 15.8 |

Regulatory layer — **Government & Public Sector**: 31.5 (matched via tags).

## Agent readiness — 34.7 (agent-ready)

| Dimension | Value |
|---|---|
| Spec Presence | yes |
| Agentic Access | derived |
| Reversibility Documented | na |
| MCP Server | no |
| Auth Clarity | yes |
| Idempotency | na |
| Error Semantics | no |
| OpenAPI Examples | no |
| Rate Limit Signal | documented |
| Event Surface Described | no |
| Agent Skills | no |
| Well Known Catalog | no |
| Consent Identity | no |
| Agent Card | no |
| Dry Run Mode | na |

## Access

Freemium · Self-serve signup — onboarding: self-serve, pricing: freemium, trial: no (confidence: high).

## APIs (3)

- **Smithsonian Institution Content API** — The Content API from Smithsonian Institution — 1 operation(s) for content.
- **Smithsonian Institution Metrics API** — The Metrics API from Smithsonian Institution — 1 operation(s) for metrics.
- **Smithsonian Institution Search API** — The Search API from Smithsonian Institution — 3 operation(s) for search.

## Agentic access (1)

- **Smithsonian Institution Agentic Access** — 5 operations

## Security (2)

- **Smithsonian Institution Authentication** — apiKey · 1 scheme
- **Smithsonian Institution Domain Security** — TLSv1.3 · DNSSEC · DMARC

## Plans (1)

- **Smithsonian Institution Plans Pricing**

## Tags

Collection, Cultural Heritage, Museums, Open Data, Art, Natural History, Research

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Profiled by [API Evangelist](https://apievangelist.com) and published on [APIs.io](https://apis.io/providers/smithsonian-institution/). Scores are computed from the provider's own public artifacts under a published rubric.