MCP Sources > Introduction to MCP catalog sources > About the MCP catalog source
  

About the MCP catalog source

You can use the MCP Server catalog source to extract metadata from an MCP Server source system.
An MCP Server acts as a standardized bridge between an AI application and external data, tools, or local system resources.
Extract metadata from an MCP server to govern and audit the tools, parameter schemas, and capabilities that the server exposes to AI agents in your organization.
For example, an enterprise deploys an MCP server to provide financial analysis tools to internal AI agents that use large language models (LLMs).
To ensure that AI agents don't access unapproved parameters or sensitive endpoints, administrators extract metadata from the MCP server with Metadata Command Center. Data Governance and Catalog then organizes the extracted metadata into the following hierarchy:
Asset Type
Description
Example Asset
MCP Server
The server configuration.
FinancialAnalytics_MCPServer
MCP Server Tool
A specific tool or capability that the server exposes.
RetrieveAccountBalance
MCP Server Tool Input Field
An input parameter that the tool accepts.
account_number
include_pending
The security administrator reviews the RetrieveAccountBalance tool and its input fields in Data Governance and Catalog. The administrator verifies that each input field is an approved parameter before AI agents use the tool.

Extracted metadata

You can extract specific metadata from an MCP Server source system with an MCP Server catalog source.
Metadata Command Center extracts the following metadata from an MCP Server source system:

Compatible connectors

Before you configure an MCP Server catalog source, you must connect to the MCP Server source system.
Use the MCP Server connector to connect to the MCP Server source system.
For information about configuring a connection, see Connections.