Discover Context

Type: Function

Search the governance catalog for tables matching specified criteria. Use this tool to find which tables are governed, filter by sensitivity level, locate PII-containing tables, or scope results to a specific compliance framework.

Use Cases

• An AI agent needs to know which tables in a database are governed before building a query
• A compliance workflow filters for all tables subject to GDPR or HIPAA
• A security review identifies all tables containing PII above a certain sensitivity threshold
• A data steward audits governance coverage across schemas in a domain

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
database	string	No	Filter by database name. Case-insensitive.
schema	string	No	Filter by schema name. Requires database to also be set for meaningful results.
min_sensitivity	string	No	Minimum sensitivity level. One of: public, internal, confidential, restricted. Returns tables at this level and above.
compliance_any	array	No	Array of compliance framework names (e.g., ["GDPR", "HIPAA"]). Returns tables matching any of the listed frameworks.
has_pii	boolean	No	When true, returns only tables that have at least one PII-classified column. When false, returns only tables with no PII columns.
domain	string	No	Filter by business domain (e.g., "finance", "healthcare", "marketing").

All parameters are optional. Calling with no parameters returns all governed tables.

Output Schema

Returns an array of governed table objects:

Field	Type	Description
full_table_name	string	Fully qualified table name (DB.SCHEMA.TABLE)
sensitivity	string	Table-level sensitivity: public, internal, confidential, or restricted
enforcement_mode	string	How policies are enforced: enforced, advisory, or mixed
policy_count	integer	Number of governance policies applied to this table
compliance_frameworks	array	List of compliance frameworks (e.g., ["GDPR", "SOC2"])
has_pii	boolean	Whether the table contains any PII-classified columns
pii_column_count	integer	Number of columns classified as PII
domain	string	Business domain assigned to the table
owner	string	Data owner or steward responsible for the table

Example Response

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": [
    {
      "full_table_name": "ANALYTICS_DB.CORE.CUSTOMERS",
      "sensitivity": "confidential",
      "enforcement_mode": "enforced",
      "policy_count": 3,
      "compliance_frameworks": ["GDPR", "CCPA"],
      "has_pii": true,
      "pii_column_count": 5,
      "domain": "customer_data",
      "owner": "data_engineering"
    },
    {
      "full_table_name": "ANALYTICS_DB.CORE.ORDERS",
      "sensitivity": "internal",
      "enforcement_mode": "advisory",
      "policy_count": 1,
      "compliance_frameworks": ["SOC2"],
      "has_pii": false,
      "pii_column_count": 0,
      "domain": "transactions",
      "owner": "data_engineering"
    }
  ],
  "errors": []
}

SQL Examples

Discover all governed tables

SELECT METATATE_APP.CORE.DISCOVER_CATALOG(
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT()
);

Filter by database and minimum sensitivity

SELECT METATATE_APP.CORE.DISCOVER_CATALOG(
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT(
    'database', 'ANALYTICS_DB',
    'min_sensitivity', 'confidential'
  )
);

Find all tables with PII in a compliance framework

SELECT METATATE_APP.CORE.DISCOVER_CATALOG(
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT(
    'compliance_any', ARRAY_CONSTRUCT('GDPR', 'HIPAA'),
    'has_pii', TRUE
  )
);

Filter by domain

SELECT METATATE_APP.CORE.DISCOVER_CATALOG(
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT(
    'domain', 'finance'
  )
);

JSON Request / Response (API)

When calling through the MCP endpoint, the request body follows the MCP tools/call format:

Request:

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "discover-context",
    "arguments": {
      "database": "ANALYTICS_DB",
      "min_sensitivity": "confidential",
      "has_pii": true
    }
  }
}

Response:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "{\"status\":\"success\",\"data\":[{\"full_table_name\":\"ANALYTICS_DB.CORE.CUSTOMERS\",\"sensitivity\":\"confidential\",\"enforcement_mode\":\"enforced\",\"policy_count\":3,\"compliance_frameworks\":[\"GDPR\",\"CCPA\"],\"has_pii\":true,\"pii_column_count\":5,\"domain\":\"customer_data\",\"owner\":\"data_engineering\"}],\"errors\":[]}"
    }
  ]
}

Try it in the app

Open Metatate and navigate to the Test Tools tab to run discover-context interactively with a form-based UI. No SQL or external client needed.