microsoft / microsoft/DataFactory.MCP

Enable Connection Metadata Navigation in Dataflow MCP Tools

Open
#39 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

enhancement schema-discovery
Dominant language
C#
Stars
42
Forks
19
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Title: Enable Connection Metadata Navigation in Dataflow MCP Tools

Problem:
Currently, exploring a dataflow's connections requires:

  1. Calling get_decoded_dataflow_definition to extract raw connection JSON
  2. Parsing embedded IDs (ClusterId, DatasourceId, lakehouseId, workspaceId) from nested strings
  3. Writing custom M queries to enumerate tables/schemas within those connections

There's no direct way to answer "what data sources does this dataflow connect to, and what's inside them?"

Proposed Solution:
Add a get_dataflow_connections tool that returns:

  • Connection type (Lakehouse, SQL, Web, etc.)
  • Resolved metadata (workspace name, lakehouse/database name, not just GUIDs)
  • Available tables/entities with column schemas
  • Connection credentials status (configured/missing)

Example Output:

{
  "connections": [{
    "type": "Lakehouse",
    "workspaceName": "DIExplorations",
    "lakehouseName": "olist_lakehouse",
    "tables": [
      {"name": "customers", "columns": [...], "rowCount": 99441},
      {"name": "orders", "columns": [...], "rowCount": 99441}
    ]
  }]
}

Value:

  • Eliminates manual M query exploration
  • Enables agents to reason about data lineage without trial-and-error
  • Foundation for schema-aware query generation

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing the existing get_decoded_dataflow_definition tool and the surrounding Dataflow MCP tool entry points. Define how get_dataflow_connections should resolve connection metadata, enumerate schemas, and report credential status; done means it returns the specified connection details for supported data sources with tests covering the output.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
api, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.