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Asset metadata available through Atlan MCP

TL;DR

What metadata the Atlan MCP server can return for an asset, including refresh and freshness, usage, access, quality, and governance attributes, and where to find the full attribute list for each asset type.

Your AI can read this via Docs MCPcurl -fsSL "https://docs.atlan.com/install-docs-mcp" | bashConnect

This page lists the kinds of metadata you can retrieve for an asset, the attributes used most often, and where to find the full list for any asset type.

Types of metadata available​

The groups below cover the attributes customers ask about most. The exact attributes depend on the asset type and on what the connector crawls from the source system.

Identity and structure​

What the asset is and where it sits: name, qualifiedName, typeName, connectorName, databaseName, schemaName, plus type-specific structure such as columnCount, rowCount, sizeBytes, isPartitioned, and columns. Some types add their own structure attributes, such as icebergTableType for Iceberg tables.

Refresh and freshness​

When the data and the metadata last changed:

AttributeWhat it tells you
sourceUpdatedAtWhen the asset was last updated in the source system
sourceCreatedAtWhen the asset was created in the source system
lastRowChangedAtWhen rows in the table last changed. Available for some connectors, such as Snowflake.
lastSyncRunAtWhen an Atlan crawler last synced this asset
lastSyncWorkflowName, lastSyncRunWhich crawler workflow and run last synced it
lastProfiledAtWhen the asset was last profiled, if profiling is enabled
updateTimeWhen the asset's metadata last changed in Atlan

The data quality attributes listed below also show whether freshness checks are passing.

Usage and popularity​

How the asset is used in the source. These attributes are populated when usage and popularity mining is enabled for the connector:

  • sourceReadCount, sourceReadUserCount: how many times the asset was read and by how many users
  • sourceLastReadAt: when it was last read
  • sourceReadRecentUserList, sourceReadTopUserList: the source-system usernames that recently or most often queried it
  • sourceTotalCost, sourceReadQueryCost, sourceCostUnit, sourceQueryComputeCostList: query cost and the warehouses or compute it ran on
  • popularityScore: Atlan's popularity score for the asset

Access​

What Atlan knows about who can see or use the asset:

  • Atlan access policies: assetPolicyGUIDs and assetPoliciesCount identify the Atlan policies (from personas and purposes) that apply to the asset.
  • Query preview: isQueryPreview and queryPreviewConfig show whether users can preview data from Atlan.
  • Who uses it: the usage attributes listed here show which source-system users actually query the asset.
  • Access instructions you maintain: many teams store access requirements, such as required roles or request links, in custom metadata. MCP returns these along with the asset.

Atlan doesn't crawl source-system grants and privileges, such as Snowflake GRANT statements, as asset attributes, so MCP can't return them. MCP also only returns metadata the connected user is permitted to see in Atlan. For more information, see Atlan MCP security.

Governance and ownership​

  • ownerUsers, ownerGroups, and adminUsers
  • certificateStatus, certificateStatusMessage, and announcements
  • Atlan tags (assetTags), glossary terms (meanings), and data domains (domainGUIDs)
  • Data products the asset belongs to
  • Custom metadata (businessAttributes), returned with each set's name and attribute values

Data quality​

  • DQRuleTotalCount, DQRulePassedCount, DQRuleFailedCount
  • Related rules through baseDatasetRules
  • Third-party monitors and checks, such as mcMonitors and mcIncidents for Monte Carlo, sodaChecks, and anomaloChecks, along with flags like assetMcIsMonitored
  • dbt tests and their status, where dbt is connected

Documentation and context​

description, userDescription, aiGeneratedDescription, the asset's readme, linked resources (links), attached files, and linked knowledge files (linkedFiles).

Lineage​

Upstream and downstream assets and processes, through traverse_lineage or through the inputToProcesses and outputFromProcesses relationships.

Find full attribute list for asset type​

  • From your AI client: ask Atlan to list the attributes for the asset type you're interested in, for example "What attributes can you get for a Snowflake table?" or "List the attributes available on a Power BI dashboard."
  • From the docs: the Metadata types reference lists every attribute and relationship for each type. Most refresh, usage, access, and governance attributes are inherited from Asset, so check the parent types and the specific type, for example Table → SQL → Asset.
  • For a specific connector: each connector's What does Atlan crawl reference shows which source properties map to which attributes, for example Snowflake, Databricks, Tableau, and Microsoft Power BI. For other connectors, see the References section of that connector's docs.

See also​