Available Tools¶

mcp-datahub provides 19 MCP tools for interacting with DataHub (12 read + 7 write).

Tool Annotations¶

All tools include MCP tool annotations that describe their behavior to AI clients:

Hint	Read Tools	Write Tools	Description
`ReadOnlyHint`	`true`	`false`	Whether the tool only reads data
`DestructiveHint`	(default)	`false`	Whether the tool may destructively update
`IdempotentHint`	`true`	`true`	Whether repeated calls produce the same result
`OpenWorldHint`	`true`	`true`	Whether the tool interacts with external entities

OpenWorldHint is true for all tools because every tool communicates with an external DataHub instance.

These annotations help MCP clients make informed decisions about tool invocation (e.g., auto-approving read-only tools). Library users can override annotations per-tool or per-toolkit; see the Tools API Reference.

Multi-Server Support¶

All tools accept an optional connection parameter to target a specific DataHub server in multi-server environments. Use datahub_list_connections to discover available connections.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use (see `datahub_list_connections`)

datahub_list_connections¶

List all configured DataHub server connections.

Parameters: None

Example Response:

{
  "connections": [
    {
      "name": "prod",
      "url": "https://prod.datahub.example.com",
      "is_default": true
    },
    {
      "name": "staging",
      "url": "https://staging.datahub.example.com",
      "is_default": false
    }
  ],
  "count": 2
}

Use Cases:

Discover available connections before querying
Verify multi-server configuration
Check which connection is the default

datahub_search¶

Search for datasets, dashboards, pipelines, and other assets.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`query`	string	Yes	Search query string
`entity_type`	string	No	Filter by entity type (DATASET, DASHBOARD, etc.)
`limit`	integer	No	Maximum results (default: 10, max: 100)
`offset`	integer	No	Pagination offset (default: 0)
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Request:

{
  "query": "customer",
  "entity_type": "DATASET",
  "limit": 5
}

Example Response:

{
  "entities": [
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)",
      "type": "DATASET",
      "name": "customers",
      "platform": "snowflake",
      "description": "Customer master data including contact information",
      "owners": ["Data Team"],
      "tags": ["pii", "customer-data"],
      "domain": "Sales"
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customer_orders,PROD)",
      "type": "DATASET",
      "name": "customer_orders",
      "platform": "snowflake",
      "description": "Order history by customer"
    }
  ],
  "total": 42,
  "offset": 0,
  "limit": 5
}

Common Use Cases:

Find datasets by name or description
Search within a specific domain
Discover dashboards related to a topic
Find entities by tag

Entity Type Values:

Value	Description
`DATASET`	Tables, views, files
`DASHBOARD`	BI dashboards
`CHART`	Individual visualizations
`DATA_FLOW`	Pipelines
`DATA_JOB`	Pipeline tasks
`GLOSSARY_TERM`	Glossary terms
`DOMAIN`	Domains
`DATA_PRODUCT`	Data products

datahub_get_entity¶

Get detailed metadata for an entity by URN.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	DataHub URN of the entity
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Request:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)"
}

Example Response:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)",
  "type": "DATASET",
  "name": "customers",
  "qualifiedName": "prod.sales.customers",
  "description": "Customer master data including contact information and preferences",
  "platform": "snowflake",
  "owners": [
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:corpuser:[email protected]",
      "name": "Jane Smith",
      "type": "DATAOWNER"
    }
  ],
  "tags": [
    {"name": "pii", "urn": "urn:li:tag:pii"},
    {"name": "customer-data", "urn": "urn:li:tag:customer-data"}
  ],
  "glossaryTerms": [
    {"name": "Customer", "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:Customer"},
    {"name": "PII", "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:Classification.PII"}
  ],
  "domain": {
    "name": "Sales",
    "urn": "urn:li:domain:sales"
  },
  "created": "2023-06-15T10:30:00Z",
  "lastModified": "2024-01-10T14:22:00Z",
  "properties": {
    "customProperties": {
      "retention_days": "365",
      "data_classification": "confidential"
    }
  }
}

Common Use Cases:

Get full details about a search result
Find owners for a dataset
Check tags and glossary terms
Get custom properties

datahub_get_schema¶

Get schema fields for a dataset with descriptions.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Dataset URN
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Request:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)"
}

Example Response:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)",
  "name": "customers",
  "fields": [
    {
      "fieldPath": "customer_id",
      "type": "NUMBER",
      "nativeType": "INT64",
      "description": "Unique customer identifier",
      "nullable": false,
      "isPrimaryKey": true
    },
    {
      "fieldPath": "email",
      "type": "STRING",
      "nativeType": "VARCHAR(255)",
      "description": "Customer email address",
      "nullable": true,
      "glossaryTerms": [
        {"name": "PII", "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:Classification.PII"},
        {"name": "Email", "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:ContactInfo.Email"}
      ]
    },
    {
      "fieldPath": "created_at",
      "type": "TIMESTAMP",
      "nativeType": "TIMESTAMP_NTZ",
      "description": "Account creation timestamp",
      "nullable": false
    },
    {
      "fieldPath": "address.street",
      "type": "STRING",
      "nativeType": "VARCHAR(500)",
      "description": "Street address",
      "nullable": true
    },
    {
      "fieldPath": "address.city",
      "type": "STRING",
      "nativeType": "VARCHAR(100)",
      "description": "City name",
      "nullable": true
    }
  ],
  "primaryKeys": ["customer_id"],
  "foreignKeys": []
}

Field Properties:

Property	Description
`fieldPath`	Full path including nested fields
`type`	Normalized type (STRING, NUMBER, etc.)
`nativeType`	Platform-specific type
`description`	Field description
`nullable`	Whether field can be null
`isPrimaryKey`	Whether field is a primary key
`glossaryTerms`	Associated glossary terms

datahub_get_lineage¶

Get upstream and downstream lineage for an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`direction`	string	No	UPSTREAM, DOWNSTREAM, or BOTH (default: BOTH)
`depth`	integer	No	Maximum traversal depth (default: 3, max: 5)
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Request:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.analytics.customer_metrics,PROD)",
  "direction": "BOTH",
  "depth": 2
}

Example Response:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.analytics.customer_metrics,PROD)",
  "upstream": [
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)",
      "name": "customers",
      "type": "DATASET",
      "platform": "snowflake",
      "degree": 1
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.orders,PROD)",
      "name": "orders",
      "type": "DATASET",
      "platform": "snowflake",
      "degree": 1
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.raw.customer_events,PROD)",
      "name": "customer_events",
      "type": "DATASET",
      "platform": "snowflake",
      "degree": 2
    }
  ],
  "downstream": [
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dashboard:(looker,customer_360)",
      "name": "Customer 360 Dashboard",
      "type": "DASHBOARD",
      "platform": "looker",
      "degree": 1
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.ml.churn_features,PROD)",
      "name": "churn_features",
      "type": "DATASET",
      "platform": "snowflake",
      "degree": 1
    }
  ]
}

Common Use Cases:

Impact analysis before schema changes
Root cause analysis for data issues
Understanding data flow
Discovering related datasets

datahub_get_column_lineage¶

Get fine-grained column-level lineage mappings for a dataset.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Dataset URN
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Request:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.analytics.customer_metrics,PROD)"
}

Example Response:

{
  "dataset_urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.analytics.customer_metrics,PROD)",
  "mappings": [
    {
      "downstream_column": "customer_id",
      "upstream_dataset": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)",
      "upstream_column": "id",
      "transform": "IDENTITY"
    },
    {
      "downstream_column": "total_orders",
      "upstream_dataset": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.orders,PROD)",
      "upstream_column": "order_count",
      "transform": "AGGREGATE",
      "confidence_score": 0.95
    },
    {
      "downstream_column": "last_order_date",
      "upstream_dataset": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.orders,PROD)",
      "upstream_column": "order_date",
      "transform": "AGGREGATE"
    }
  ]
}

Mapping Properties:

Property	Description
`downstream_column`	Column name in the target dataset
`upstream_dataset`	URN of the source dataset
`upstream_column`	Column name in the source dataset
`transform`	Transformation type (IDENTITY, AGGREGATE, etc.)
`query`	Optional SQL query that defines the transformation
`confidence_score`	Optional confidence score (0-1) for inferred lineage

Common Use Cases:

Fine-grained impact analysis for column changes
Understanding column-level data transformations
Tracing data from source to derived columns
Data quality root cause analysis at column level

datahub_get_queries¶

Get SQL queries associated with a dataset.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Dataset URN
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Response:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.sales.customers,PROD)",
  "queries": [
    {
      "query": "SELECT customer_id, email, created_at FROM prod.sales.customers WHERE created_at > DATEADD(day, -30, CURRENT_DATE())",
      "createdAt": "2024-01-10T09:15:00Z",
      "user": "[email protected]"
    },
    {
      "query": "SELECT COUNT(*) as total_customers FROM prod.sales.customers",
      "createdAt": "2024-01-09T14:30:00Z",
      "user": "dashboard_service"
    }
  ],
  "count": 2
}

datahub_get_glossary_term¶

Get glossary term definition and related assets.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Glossary term URN
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Request:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:Classification.PII"
}

Example Response:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:Classification.PII",
  "name": "PII",
  "description": "Personally Identifiable Information - data that can identify an individual",
  "definition": "PII includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, and other data that can be used to identify a specific person.",
  "termSource": "INTERNAL",
  "parentNode": {
    "name": "Classification",
    "urn": "urn:li:glossaryNode:Classification"
  },
  "relatedTerms": [
    {"name": "Sensitive Data", "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:Classification.Sensitive"},
    {"name": "PHI", "urn": "urn:li:glossaryTerm:Classification.PHI"}
  ],
  "owners": [
    {"name": "Data Governance Team", "type": "DATAOWNER"}
  ]
}

datahub_list_tags¶

List available tags in the catalog.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`filter`	string	No	Filter tags by name pattern
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Response:

{
  "tags": [
    {"name": "pii", "urn": "urn:li:tag:pii", "description": "Contains personally identifiable information"},
    {"name": "deprecated", "urn": "urn:li:tag:deprecated", "description": "This asset is deprecated"},
    {"name": "certified", "urn": "urn:li:tag:certified", "description": "Quality certified dataset"},
    {"name": "sensitive", "urn": "urn:li:tag:sensitive", "description": "Contains sensitive data"}
  ],
  "count": 4
}

datahub_list_domains¶

List data domains in the organization.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Response:

{
  "domains": [
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:domain:sales",
      "name": "Sales",
      "description": "Sales and revenue data",
      "entityCount": 45
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:domain:marketing",
      "name": "Marketing",
      "description": "Marketing campaigns and analytics",
      "entityCount": 32
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:domain:finance",
      "name": "Finance",
      "description": "Financial reporting and accounting",
      "entityCount": 28
    }
  ],
  "count": 3
}

datahub_list_data_products¶

List all data products in the catalog.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Response:

{
  "dataProducts": [
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataProduct:customer-360",
      "name": "Customer 360",
      "description": "Unified view of customer data across all touchpoints",
      "domain": "Sales"
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataProduct:revenue-analytics",
      "name": "Revenue Analytics",
      "description": "Revenue metrics and forecasting data",
      "domain": "Finance"
    }
  ],
  "count": 2
}

datahub_get_data_product¶

Get detailed information about a data product.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Data product URN
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Example Response:

{
  "urn": "urn:li:dataProduct:customer-360",
  "name": "Customer 360",
  "description": "Unified view of customer data across all touchpoints",
  "domain": {
    "name": "Sales",
    "urn": "urn:li:domain:sales"
  },
  "owners": [
    {"name": "Customer Data Team", "type": "DATAOWNER"}
  ],
  "assets": [
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.customer360.profile,PROD)",
      "name": "profile",
      "type": "DATASET"
    },
    {
      "urn": "urn:li:dataset:(urn:li:dataPlatform:snowflake,prod.customer360.interactions,PROD)",
      "name": "interactions",
      "type": "DATASET"
    }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "sla": "99.9%",
    "refresh_frequency": "hourly"
  }
}

Write Tools¶

Write tools require DATAHUB_WRITE_ENABLED=true to be set. They use DataHub's REST API (POST /aspects?action=ingestProposal) with read-modify-write semantics for array aspects (tags, terms, links).

datahub_update_description¶

Update the description of an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`description`	string	Yes	New description text
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

datahub_add_tag¶

Add a tag to an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`tag_urn`	string	Yes	Tag URN to add
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

datahub_remove_tag¶

Remove a tag from an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`tag_urn`	string	Yes	Tag URN to remove
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

datahub_add_glossary_term¶

Add a glossary term to an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`term_urn`	string	Yes	Glossary term URN to add
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

datahub_remove_glossary_term¶

Remove a glossary term from an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`term_urn`	string	Yes	Glossary term URN to remove
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

datahub_add_link¶

Add a link to an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`link_url`	string	Yes	URL to add
`link_label`	string	Yes	Display label for the link
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

datahub_remove_link¶

Remove a link from an entity.

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`urn`	string	Yes	Entity URN
`link_url`	string	Yes	URL to remove
`connection`	string	No	Named connection to use

Error Responses¶

All tools may return error responses:

{
  "error": true,
  "message": "Entity not found: urn:li:dataset:..."
}

Common Errors:

Error	Cause	Solution
`unauthorized`	Invalid or expired token	Generate new token
`entity not found`	URN does not exist	Verify URN is correct
`connection refused`	Cannot reach DataHub	Check DATAHUB_URL
`rate limit exceeded`	Too many requests	Reduce request rate
`invalid parameter`	Bad parameter value	Check parameter format