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What is Metatate?

Metatate is a Snowflake Native App that brings AI-powered data governance directly into your Snowflake account. Define policies in natural language, deploy them as structured governance rules, and expose them to AI agents through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Zero Egress Architecture​

Your data never leaves Snowflake. Metatate runs entirely within Snowpark Container Services (SPCS) and uses Snowflake Cortex for all AI features. There are:

  • No external API calls — AI runs via SNOWFLAKE.CORTEX.COMPLETE()
  • No External Access Integrations (EAIs) required
  • No network egress — everything stays inside your Snowflake account

This makes Metatate ideal for regulated industries where data residency and security are non-negotiable.

Key Capabilities​

Policy Builder​

Define governance policies using natural language or YAML. Metatate's AI assistant (powered by Cortex) generates structured policy definitions from plain English descriptions.

Governance Pipeline​

Policies flow through a structured pipeline: define → compile → deploy → materialize → serve. The deployment process produces 6 governance tables that capture everything from column classifications to usage rules.

MCP Server + Snowflake Intelligence Adapters​

Metatate registers a canonical MCP server (core.metatate_mcp) with 6 governance tools and a Snowflake Intelligence adapter layer (core.agent_*). The supported agent workflow in this version is Snowflake Intelligence, using custom tools backed by those wrappers.

Catalog Browser​

Browse your Snowflake tables, view column details, run AI-powered classification, and see which policies apply — all from within the app.

Architecture at a Glance​

What You Need​

RequirementDetails
Snowflake accountEnterprise edition or higher
PrivilegeIMPORTED PRIVILEGES ON SNOWFLAKE DB for Cortex
ReferencesDATABASE_CATALOG (tables) + APP_WAREHOUSE (warehouse)
Compute pools2x CPU_X64_XS (created automatically)

Next Steps​