CollectiveAccess API

Name: CollectiveAccess API API
Brand: CollectiveAccess API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecStorageDocument Managementbasic8 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Search, browse, create, update, and delete catalog items in a CollectiveAccess Providence collection through 8 table-aware endpoints, including media-representation lookups.

Quickstart

Get started with CollectiveAccess API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"search a museum catalog"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with CollectiveAccess API API.

Search any catalog table with structured criteria via GET /find/{table}

Browse a table by facet or hierarchy via GET /browse/{table}

Retrieve a single item with all attributes via GET /item/{table}/id/{item_id}

Create a new catalog record via PUT /item/{table}

GET STARTED

Start building with CollectiveAccess API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

CollectiveAccess (Providence) is open-source collections management software used by museums, archives, and libraries. Its web service API provides JSON access to catalog items, search, browse, and metadata management on a self-hosted Providence installation. The API exposes 8 endpoints covering item CRUD, find and browse queries against any cataloging table, table model introspection, and media representation lookups, all authenticated with HTTP Basic credentials of a CollectiveAccess user.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use CollectiveAccess API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Programmatic Collection Cataloging

Bulk-import catalog records into a CollectiveAccess Providence instance by calling PUT /item/{table} for each new accession. Tables are vendor-defined (objects, entities, occurrences, places) and the same endpoint handles any of them; the table name is a path parameter. This pattern fits museum digitisation projects that need to seed a fresh collection from a spreadsheet or external CMS.

For each row in a spreadsheet, call PUT /item/objects with the parsed metadata payload to create the accession record

Public Search Front-End

Expose a public collection search by proxying GET /find/{table} from a custom front-end. CollectiveAccess returns structured results with attributes ready to render in a card list. A library or archive can build a custom Vue or React UI on top of Providence without exposing the back-office UI.

Call GET /find/objects with a query parameter for the user's keyword, then render the returned items in a search results page

Asset Reconciliation

Reconcile a digital asset library with the catalog by listing media representations on each object via /item/{table}/id/{item_id}/media/{representation_id}/representations. An audit script can flag objects with missing or duplicate representations so curators can correct them. This supports preservation workflows that require complete media coverage.

For each catalog object, call GET /item/objects/id/{item_id}/media/{representation_id}/representations and report any object with zero attached media

AI Agent Cataloging via Jentic

Drive cataloging from an LLM by searching Jentic for the operation needed (find items, create record, update description) and executing it. CollectiveAccess Basic credentials live in the Jentic vault and are injected at execution so the agent never sees the username and password. Useful for AI-assisted metadata enrichment and triage.

Use Jentic to search 'create a catalog item', load the PUT /item/{table} schema, and execute it with the generated metadata for the objects table

Key Endpoints

8 endpoints — collectiveaccess (providence) is open-source collections management software used by museums, archives, and libraries.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

PUT

/item/{table}

Create a new catalog item

PUT

/item/{table}/id/{item_id}

Update a catalog item

DELETE

/item/{table}/id/{item_id}

Delete a catalog item

GET

/item/{table}/id/{item_id}

Get a catalog item by ID

GET

/find/{table}

Search items in a table

GET

/browse/{table}

Browse items in a table

GET

/model/{table}

Get a table's data model

PUT

/item/{table}

Create a new catalog item

PUT

/item/{table}/id/{item_id}

Update a catalog item

DELETE

/item/{table}/id/{item_id}

Delete a catalog item

GET

/item/{table}/id/{item_id}

Get a catalog item by ID

GET

/find/{table}

Search items in a table

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

CollectiveAccess Basic auth credentials are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault and injected as the Authorization header at execution. Raw credentials never enter the agent context.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent (e.g., 'create a catalog item') and Jentic returns the matching CollectiveAccess operation with its parameter schema so the agent can call the right endpoint without browsing docs.

Time to first call

Direct integration: 1-2 days to model table-by-table differences and Basic auth handling. Through Jentic: under 1 hour — search, load schema, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Airtable API

Hosted relational database popular for lightweight collection cataloging

Choose Airtable when you want a hosted product without running your own server and do not need museum-specific data models

Alternative

Contentful API

Headless CMS with structured content models

Choose Contentful when content is for a public website and you need a CDN-backed delivery API

Complementary

Notion API

Lightweight knowledge base for staff documentation alongside the formal catalog

Pair with CollectiveAccess when curators need an internal wiki separate from the public catalog

FAQs

Specific to using CollectiveAccess API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the CollectiveAccess API use?

The API uses HTTP Basic authentication with the credentials of a CollectiveAccess Providence user. Through Jentic the username and password are stored encrypted in the vault and injected at execution so they never enter the agent's prompt.

Which tables can I query with the CollectiveAccess API?

All cataloging tables defined in your Providence installation are addressable through the {table} path parameter — objects, entities, occurrences, places, collections, and any custom tables. Use GET /model/{table} to introspect a table's fields before constructing queries.

Can I attach media files via the CollectiveAccess API?

Media representations attached to an item are listed via GET /item/{table}/id/{item_id}/media/{representation_id}/representations. The OpenAPI surface focuses on metadata CRUD and read access to existing media; uploading new media files is typically done through the Providence back-office.

Is CollectiveAccess hosted or self-hosted?

CollectiveAccess Providence is self-hosted. The base URL is {server_url}/service.php where {server_url} is your own Providence installation. There is no public multi-tenant endpoint — every deployment is independent.

What are the rate limits for the CollectiveAccess API?

Because each Providence install is self-hosted there are no central rate limits; throughput is bounded only by your server resources. Add caching in front of GET /find/{table} for high-traffic public search front-ends.

How do I create a catalog item with the CollectiveAccess API through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'create a catalog item', load the PUT /item/{table} schema, and execute it with the table name (e.g. objects) and the metadata payload. Jentic injects the Basic auth header from the vault.