
## Asset metadata available through Atlan MCP

URL: https://docs.atlan.com/product/capabilities/atlan-ai/references/mcp-asset-attributes

> 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.

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:

| Attribute | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| `sourceUpdatedAt` | When the asset was last updated in the source system |
| `sourceCreatedAt` | When the asset was created in the source system |
| `lastRowChangedAt` | When rows in the table last changed. Available for some connectors, such as Snowflake. |
| `lastSyncRunAt` | When an Atlan crawler last synced this asset |
| `lastSyncWorkflowName`, `lastSyncRun` | Which crawler workflow and run last synced it |
| `lastProfiledAt` | When the asset was last profiled, if profiling is enabled |
| `updateTime` | When 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](#governance-and-ownership). 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](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/atlan-mcp-overview/mcp-security/llms.txt).

### 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](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/types/llms.txt) reference lists every attribute and relationship for each type. Most refresh, usage, access, and governance attributes are inherited from [Asset](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/types/asset/llms.txt), so check the parent types and the specific type, for example [Table](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/types/table/llms.txt) → [SQL](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/types/sql/llms.txt) → Asset.
- **For a specific connector:** each connector's *What does Atlan crawl* reference shows which source properties map to which attributes, for example [Snowflake](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/snowflake/what-does-atlan-crawl-from-snowflake/llms.txt), [Databricks](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/databricks/what-does-atlan-crawl-from-databricks/llms.txt), [Tableau](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/tableau/what-does-atlan-crawl-from-tableau/llms.txt), and [Microsoft Power BI](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/microsoft-power-bi/what-does-atlan-crawl-from-microsoft-power-bi/llms.txt). For other connectors, see the **References** section of that connector's docs.

## See also

- [Atlan MCP tools](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/atlan-mcp-overview/mcp-tools/llms.txt)
- [Atlan MCP security](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/atlan-mcp-overview/mcp-security/llms.txt)
- [Retrieve an asset with the Python SDK](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/python/retrieve-asset/llms.txt)

_Last updated: 19 October 2026._

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