Embedding an MCP Server into OpenMetadata

Summary

In this session, Shihara and Moit from Colate discuss embedding an MPC server into Open Metadata to empower AI-driven automation. They highlight Open Metadata's unified knowledge graph, which integrates metadata from various platforms, and the importance of offering a unified experience for different data personas. The discussion also covers the challenges of implementing MPC servers, such as scalability and user access control, and presents a solution through Open Metadata’s application framework. The demo showcases practical use cases, including building dashboards and automating data governance processes, all powered by the knowledge graph and integrated with LLMs for enhanced data-driven decision-making.

Takeaways

• 😀 Open Metadata offers a unified knowledge graph that powers a variety of metadata queries and operations, making it scalable and accessible across teams.
• 😀 The integration of the MCP server within Open Metadata eliminates the need for a separate installation, simplifying deployment.
• 😀 Role-based authentication and access control are core features of the MCP server, ensuring security and personalized access to metadata.
• 😀 The MCP server enables automated processes like assigning ownership and creating business-specific clusters based on metadata.
• 😀 Open Metadata empowers different personas, such as data engineers, analysts, and business users, to interact with and utilize metadata efficiently.
• 😀 The tool helps data analysts by providing automation for creating retention dashboards, analyzing data, and making more informed decisions.
• 😀 Data governance teams can define clusters and assign ownership based on metadata and specific business requirements.
• 😀 The integration of metadata with various services helps understand table usage, query patterns, and pipeline statuses across data teams.
• 😀 The open-source release of version 1.8.8 includes features aimed at automating and streamlining data governance and metadata management.
• 😀 The solution aims to provide a scalable, easy-to-use platform for metadata management, without sacrificing security and access control.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of Open Metadata?

The main purpose of Open Metadata is to unify and integrate metadata from various platforms into a single knowledge graph, improving data accessibility, governance, and understanding across an organization.

How does Open Metadata benefit different personas like data engineers and analysts?

Open Metadata allows data engineers, analysts, and business users to interact with a unified knowledge graph that simplifies data access, enables AI-driven insights, and supports data governance across various tools and platforms.

What is the role of the knowledge graph in Open Metadata?

The knowledge graph in Open Metadata integrates all types of metadata, including semantic information, data profiling, and lineage, enabling users to understand relationships, track transformations, and navigate datasets more effectively.

How does AI and LLM (Large Language Models) enhance the Open Metadata experience?

AI and LLMs leverage the unified knowledge graph to automate tasks, query data, and provide insights based on real-time context, which reduces manual work and enhances decision-making processes.

What challenges did Open Metadata face with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server?

The main challenges with the MCP server were scalability issues, authentication complexities, and the need for fine-grained access control, which required multiple servers for different users, making it hard to manage.

How did Open Metadata address the scalability and authentication challenges?

Open Metadata integrated the MCP server into the Open Metadata infrastructure, ensuring a single server could handle all user queries. Authentication was simplified with personal access tokens, and access control was managed using role-based access control (RBAC).

What is the benefit of integrating the MCP server directly into Open Metadata?

Integrating the MCP server into Open Metadata allows for easier API access, scalability, and better security. Users can query metadata efficiently while adhering to security policies, making the system more robust and user-friendly.

Can you explain how the tool automatically assigns ownership of assets?

The tool automatically assigns ownership based on predefined criteria. For instance, it can assign ownership of customer-related tables to a specific team if those tables match certain rules or attributes, streamlining data governance.

What specific features are included in the upcoming 1.8.8 release of Open Metadata?

The 1.8.8 release of Open Metadata includes the integration of the MCP server, which will enable more scalable, secure, and automated metadata management with role-based access control and improved authentication.

How does Open Metadata enhance data governance?

Open Metadata improves data governance by allowing teams to create business clusters, track data lineage, and apply metadata rules to ensure consistent and secure data access across various stakeholders and platforms.