> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcollate.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Collate MCP Server Connection Guide

# MCP Server Connection Guide

Collate provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants and other clients to interact with your metadata catalog. The MCP server exposes tools for searching metadata, managing glossaries, and working with lineage data. Please check out our guides for [Claude](/collate-ai/mcp/claude) and [Goose](/collate-ai/mcp/goose) if you are using them as AI assistants.

## Server Information

* **Server Name**: `openmetadata-mcp-stateless`
* **Version**: `0.11.2`
* **Endpoint**: `{OMURL}/mcp`
* **Protocol**: Server-Sent Events (SSE) over HTTP
* **Authentication**: JWT Bearer Token

## Connection Setup

### 1. Server URL

Your MCP server is available at:

```
{OMURL}/mcp
```

Replace `{OMURL}` with your Collate instance URL (e.g., `https://your-openmetadata.com/mcp`)

### 2. Authentication

The MCP server requires [JWT authentication](/collate-ai/mcp#adding-a-personal-access-token-to-your-mcp-client). Include your token in the Authorization header:

```http theme={null}
Authorization: Bearer <your-jwt-token>
```

### 3. Content Type

All requests should use:

```http theme={null}
Content-Type: application/json
```

## API Endpoints

### Initialize Connection

**Endpoint**: `POST {OMURL}/mcp`

**Sample Request**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "initialize",
  "params": {
    "protocolVersion": "2024-11-05",
    "capabilities": {
      "tools": {},
      "prompts": {},
      "resources": {
        "subscribe": true,
        "listChanged": true
      }
    },
    "clientInfo": {
      "name": "your-client",
      "version": "1.0.0"
    }
  }
}
```

**Sample Response**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "protocolVersion": "2024-11-05",
    "capabilities": {
      "tools": true,
      "prompts": true,
      "resources": {
        "subscribe": true,
        "listChanged": true
      },
      "logging": {}
    },
    "serverInfo": {
      "name": "openmetadata-mcp-stateless",
      "version": "0.11.2"
    }
  }
}
```

### List Available Tools

**Endpoint**: `POST {OMURL}/mcp`

**Sample Request**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 2,
  "method": "tools/list"
}
```

**Sample Response**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 2,
  "result": {
    "tools": [
      {
        "name": "search_metadata",
        "description": "Find your data and business terms in OpenMetadata. For example if the user asks to 'find tables that contain customers information', then 'customers' should be the query, and the entity_type should be 'table'. Here make sure to use 'Href' is available in result to create a hyperlink to the entity in OpenMetadata.",
        "inputSchema": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "query": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Keywords to use for searching."
            },
            "entity_type": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Optional entity type to filter results..."
            },
            "limit": {
              "type": "integer",
              "description": "Maximum number of results to return. Default is 10."
            },
            "fields": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Comma-separated list of additional fields to include..."
            }
          },
          "required": ["query"]
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "get_entity_details",
        "description": "Get detailed information about a specific entity",
        "inputSchema": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "entity_type": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Type of entity"
            },
            "fqn": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Fully qualified name of the entity"
            }
          },
          "required": ["entity_type", "fqn"]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

### List Available Prompts

**Endpoint**: `POST {OMURL}/mcp`

**Sample Request**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "method": "prompts/list"
}
```

**Sample Response**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "result": {
    "prompts": [
      {
        "name": "create-greeting",
        "description": "Generate a customized greeting message",
        "arguments": [
          {
            "name": "name",
            "description": "Name of the person to greet",
            "required": true
          },
          {
            "name": "style",
            "description": "The style of greeting, such as formal, excited, or casual. If not specified casual will be used"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "name": "search_metadata",
        "description": "Creates a prompt for Searching metadata in OpenMetadata.",
        "arguments": [
          {
            "name": "query",
            "description": "Keywords to use for searching.",
            "required": true
          },
          {
            "name": "entity_type",
            "description": "Entity Type to Filter Report."
          },
          {
            "name": "limit",
            "description": "Maximum number of results to return. Default is 10."
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

### Call a Tool

**Endpoint**: `POST {OMURL}/mcp`

**Sample Request** (Search Metadata):

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 4,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "search_metadata",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "customer",
      "entity_type": "table",
      "limit": 5
    }
  }
}
```

**Sample Response**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 4,
  "result": {
    "content": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "Found 3 results matching your search:\n\n1. **customer_orders** (Table)\n   - Description: Table containing customer order information\n   - Service: mysql_prod\n   - Database: ecommerce\n   - Schema: public\n   - [View in OpenMetadata](https://your-openmetadata.com/table/mysql_prod.ecommerce.public.customer_orders)\n\n2. **customer_profiles** (Table)\n   - Description: Customer profile and demographic data\n   - Service: postgresql_analytics\n   - Database: crm\n   - Schema: main\n   - [View in OpenMetadata](https://your-openmetadata.com/table/postgresql_analytics.crm.main.customer_profiles)\n\n3. **customer_events** (Table)\n   - Description: Customer interaction and event tracking\n   - Service: clickhouse_events\n   - Database: analytics\n   - Schema: events\n   - [View in OpenMetadata](https://your-openmetadata.com/table/clickhouse_events.analytics.events.customer_events)"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

### Get a Prompt

**Endpoint**: `POST {OMURL}/mcp`

**Sample Request**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 5,
  "method": "prompts/get",
  "params": {
    "name": "search_metadata",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "customer tables",
      "entity_type": "table",
      "limit": "10"
    }
  }
}
```

**Sample Response**:

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 5,
  "result": {
    "description": "Creates a prompt for Searching metadata in OpenMetadata.",
    "messages": [
      {
        "role": "user",
        "content": {
          "type": "text",
          "text": "Search for tables related to 'customer tables' in the OpenMetadata catalog. Filter results to show only 'table' entities and limit to 10 results. Look for tables that contain customer information, customer data, or are related to customer operations."
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

## Error Handling

### Authentication Error

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "error": {
    "code": -32002,
    "message": "Authentication required",
    "data": {
      "type": "authentication_error"
    }
  }
}
```

### Invalid Tool Error

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 2,
  "error": {
    "code": -32601,
    "message": "Tool not found: invalid_tool_name",
    "data": {
      "type": "tool_error"
    }
  }
}
```

### Validation Error

```json theme={null}
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "error": {
    "code": -32602,
    "message": "Invalid parameters: missing required field 'query'",
    "data": {
      "type": "validation_error",
      "field": "query"
    }
  }
}
```

## Best Practices

1. **Always authenticate**: Include the JWT token in every request
2. **Handle errors gracefully**: Check for error responses and handle them appropriately
3. **Use appropriate limits**: Don't request too many results at once to avoid performance issues
4. **Cache server capabilities**: Store the results of the initialize call to avoid repeated requests
5. **Use specific entity types**: When possible, specify entity\_type to get more relevant results

## Security Considerations

* JWT tokens should be kept secure and not logged
* Use HTTPS for all communications
* Implement token refresh logic for long-running connections
* Follow your organization's security policies for API access

For more sample use cases with MCP please check out [our blog](https://collatedata.medium.com/mcp-sample-uses-in-collate-b7846864f63b)!

### Reach out on Slack!

With MCP, we are finding new ways to use Collate all the time! Now that you have Claude and Collate configured to work together, think you've got a great new use case? Show us what you've got in [Slack](https://slack.open-metadata.org/)!