pp-nypl-digital-collections

Nypl Digital Collections — Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer:

   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install nypl-digital-collections --cli-only
   

2. Verify: nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli --version
3. Ensure $GOPATH/bin (or $HOME/go/bin) is on $PATH.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.5 or newer):

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/other/nypl-digital-collections/cmd/nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the install step did not put the binary on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

New York Public Library Digital Collections API. Source docs: https://api.repo.nypl.org/. Note: NYPL states the Repo API is being deprecated and will no longer be available starting August 1st, 2026.

Command Reference

collections — Manage collections

• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli collections get — Returns paginated child captures for a collection or subcollection/container UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli collections list — Returns paginated information about collections.

items — Manage items

• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-counts — Returns collection item counts.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-details — Returns MODS for a capture UUID plus related capture information. UUID must belong to a valid capture.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-featured — Returns featured items.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-mets-alto — Returns METS ALTO for a given capture UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-minified-alto — Returns minified ALTO for a given capture UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-mods-captures — Returns MODS and capture information for a capture, item, container, or collection UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-plain-text — Returns parsed plain text ALTO for a given capture UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-rights — Returns rights profile information for a UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items get-total — Returns the total number of digitized items.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items list-all-collection-captures — Returns all capture UUIDs, image IDs, item links, and titles for a capture, item, container, or collection UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items list-captures — Returns capture UUIDs, image IDs, item links, and titles for an item, container, or collection UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items list-collection-captures — Returns capture UUIDs, image IDs, item links, and titles for a capture, item, container, or collection UUID.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items list-recent — Returns the most recently added captures.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items list-root — Returns all top-level UUIDs for collections and orphan items.
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items lookup-identifier — Returns UUIDs for a given identifier type and identifier value such as local_image_id, local_bnumber, local_barcode
• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli items search-digital — Returns results matching keywords anywhere in a MODS metadata record.

mods — Manage mods

• nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli mods <uuid> — Returns MODS bibliographic data for a capture, item, container, or collection UUID.

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Auth Setup

Run nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli auth setup to print the URL and steps for getting a key (add --launch to open the URL). Then set:

export NYPL_DIGITAL_COLLECTIONS_NYPL_TOKEN="<your-key>"

Or persist it in ~/.config/nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli/config.toml.

Run nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

• Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

• Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

  nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli collections list --agent --select id,name,status
  

• Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending

• Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

• Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag

• Explicit retries — use --idempotent only when an already-existing create should count as success

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (--json, --csv, --compact, --quiet, --plain, --select) is set — piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally at ~/.local/share/nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless NYPL_DIGITAL_COLLECTIONS_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or NYPL_DIGITAL_COLLECTIONS_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.

nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli --profile briefing collections list
nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli profile list --json
nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli profile show briefing
nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

1. Empty, help, or --help → show nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli --help output
2. Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
3. Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)

MCP Server Installation

1. Install the MCP server:

   go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/other/nypl-digital-collections/cmd/nypl-digital-collections-pp-mcp@latest
   

2. Register with Claude Code:

   claude mcp add nypl-digital-collections-pp-mcp -- nypl-digital-collections-pp-mcp
   

3. Verify: claude mcp list

Direct Use

1. Check if installed: which nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
2. Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
3. Execute with the --agent flag:

   nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
   

4. If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: nypl-digital-collections-pp-cli <command> --help.