We have a range of APIs and endpoints for accessing MDS data. Which one is best for your purposes?
The table below gives an overview of what we have available, with more detailed descriptions and examples schemas further down the page:
| API name | Endpoint | What it provides access to | Type of access |
| Explore Museums API | https://museumdata.uk/wp-json/wp/v2/museums | Information about museums in the ‘Explore Collections’ section of the MDS website, their locations, and descriptive overviews of what is in their collections, where available. | Public endpoint. No API tokens needed. |
| Search API | https://mds-data-2.ciim.k-int.com/api/v2/search | Searching and filtering of object records across the MDS objects dataset. | Search API token. See below for how to apply for one. |
| https://mds-data-2.ciim.k-int.com/api/v2/search/fields | A list of the fields that are searchable in via the Search API. | Search API token. See below for how to apply for one. | |
| https://mds-data-2.ciim.k-int.com/api/v2/get | Full object records, searchable via their PID. (Described as a Persistent shareable link in the object data) | Search API token. See below for how to apply for one. | |
| Extract API | https://mds-data-2.ciim.k-int.com/api/v1/extract | Downloads of MDS object records. The downloads are linked to searches done via the website interface. This can be a subset or the whole dataset. | Extract API token. See below for how to access this API token via the website interface. |
To access information about museums and descriptions of their collections – Explore museums
Explore Museums provides basic data and links to museum records in JSON format.
You can set a per_page parameter (max 100 by default), e.g. https://museumdata.uk/wp-json/wp/v2/museums?per_page=25 and navigate with a page parameter, e.g. https://museumdata.uk/wp-json/wp/v2/museums?per_page=25&page=2
You can also access a museum page directly using its Wikidata ID in a URL, e.g. for the Wikidata ID Q3552548, you’d write https://museumdata.uk/wp-json/wp/v2/museums?slug=q3552548
Below is an example of the scheme along with a table describing what the fields are:
[ { “date“: “2025-07-30T15:42:13”, “modified“: “2025-09-04T13:05:18”, “slug“: “q3552548”, “link“: “https://museumdata.uk/museums/q3552548/”, “title“: { “rendered”: “Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens” }, “acf”: { “wikidata_id“: “Q3552548”, “aliases“: “Ushaw College; Ushaw”, “site_or_service“: “site”, “longitude“: “-1.660705799037759”, “latitude“: “54.788128645720704”, “instance_of“: “museum; church building; Catholic seminary; tourist attraction; heritage site”, “status“: [ “accredited” ], “accredited_museum_number“: “2517”, “has_object_records”: false }, “_links“: { “self”: [ { “href”: “https://museumdata.uk/wp-json/wp/v2/museums/152259” } ] } } ]
| Field | Description |
| date | Date/time the museum record was created |
| modified | Date/time the museum record was last changed |
| slug | URL-friendly identifier for the museum record; it uses the Wikidata ID |
| link | Direct URL link to the museum record on the MDS website |
| title.rendered | Name of the museum |
| acf.wikidata_id | Wikidata ID of the museum or museum service |
| acf.aliases | Alternative names associated with the museum. This could be commonly used shorthand names, or previous names where a museum has rebranded or changed its governance. |
| acf.site_or_service | Indicates whether the record represents a museum or service. Possible options are: ‘site’ where it is an individual museum, ‘service’ where it is the name of a museum service and the individual sites will be named as part of that, or ‘both’, where, in a handful of cases, the museum is a service, but also acts as a site in its own right. |
| acf.longitude | Longitude of the museum/site |
| acf.latitude | Latitude of the museum/site |
| acf.instance_of | Semicolon-separated types / categories associated with the museum. Please note that these are non-exhausting and drawn from Wikidata in the first instance. |
| acf.status | The status of a museum – for example, whether the museum is accredited, or has a designated or recognised collection. |
| acf.accreditation_museum_number | The accreditation or temporary accreditation number of a museum |
| acf.has_object_records | Indicates whether there are object records for that museum also in the MDS dataset |
| _links | Links to any other museum related resources |
To access information about individual collection items – get an API token for Object Search
The object search part of the Museum Data Service has two APIs. An Extract API and a Search API. You can find documentation for both of these APIs on Swagger.
The Search API provides interactive, parameter-driven access to the entire Museum Data Service dataset. It’s designed for searching and filtering records based on keywords, fields, and logical operators (AND, OR, NOT, etc.). It returns summary results suitable for display or browsing, with the option to fetch full records via a separate endpoint.
Use the Search API when you need to query or explore the data dynamically — for example, building a website search, testing filters, or retrieving a small, focused set of records. A Search API token lasts for 10 years, making it a useful tool for anyone wishing to develop tools or websites using MDS data. To apply for a Search API token, please email the support[@]museumdata.uk email address with the following information.
– Name
– Organisation
– Proposed use
To download datasets for offline use – use the Extract API
The Extract API provides a bulk harvesting mechanism. It’s designed to download full datasets matching a saved search, using a resumption token obtained directly from the MDS website. The token allows you to step through the results in batches until the full set is retrieved.
At the bottom of the object search results page, there is a link to ‘Get an API token’. Follow that and fill in a short form that includes a declaration that you will respect the licensing terms applied to the records you plan to use. We’d love to know how you plan to use the data, so please give us a couple of lines that help us understand what users need from MDS. We do read your comments, and they do help us improve our services!
You can email the API token to yourself along with the query.
You can also use the MDS Data Fetcher tool to make it easier to download data as JSON or CSV. CSV files can be opened as spreadsheets.
- Extract API endpoint: https://mds-data-2.ciim.k-int.com/api/v2/search (please note: this will be changing to api.museumdata.uk)
- Extract API documentation on Swagger: https://mds-data-2.ciim.k-int.com/api/docs (please note: this will be changing to api.museumdata.uk)
Use this API when you need to collect or synchronise large numbers of records for offline analysis, research, or ingestion into another system.
Want to work with object data but you’re not all that geeky?
You can download a summary of Object Search results in a spreadsheet format (CSV) from the bottom of the search results page. This is limited to 1,000 records. Find out more in our data FAQs. You can also try the MDS Data Fetcher tool which will allow you to download more than 1,000 records in a CSV, following the process for the Extract API above.
Just want to search and browse different datasets?
Check out Explore collections and Search objects.
Please respect the licences for museum data
We work to meet museums where they are, which sometimes means that data reuse conditions might have some restrictions e.g. CC-BY or CC-NC. Please respect the conditions as set out in our Search API terms and fair use guidance.
If you find that a specific museum’s license is limiting your ability to innovate with their records, please get in touch and tell us more.