
# Getting Started with Claude Desktop

Configure OpenMetadata's MCP Server to interact with Anthropic's AI assistant platform. 

## Prerequisites
For this guide, you will need:
- OpenMetadata v1.8.0 - You can upgrade your version of OpenMetadata with [this guide](https://docs.open-metadata.org/latest/deployment/upgrade)
- [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download)

## Add MCP App to OpenMetadata
OpenMetadata has a variety of applications to improve your data such as MetaPilot, Data Insights, Search Indexing, and MCP.

- Go to <YOUR-OpenMetadata-SERVER>/marketplace/apps/McpApplication and select *Install*. If your OpenMetadata is installed locally, the url would be:
```
http://localhost:8585/settings/apps/McpApplication
```

{% image
src="/images/v1.8/how-to-guides/mcp/install-mcp.jpg"
alt="Add MCP app"
caption="Install MCP Server on OpenMetadata"
/%}

- The next screen, with *Origin Header URI* is for Streamable-Http requests. This guide uses SSE, so we can skip this portion, select *Submit*

## Creating your OpenMetadata Personal Access Token
The next step will be to create a Personal Access Token (PAT) and add it to Claude Desktop so that it can communicate with OpenMetadata

- To create an OpenMetadata Personal Access Token, go to:
```
 <YOUR-OpenMetadata-SERVER>/users/<YOUR-USERNAME>/access-token
```

If OpenMetadata is installed locally, it will be:
```
http://localhost:8585/users/admin/access-token
```

- Select *Generate New Token*. This will give your models the same role and access policy that is assigned to you in OpenMetadata. If you would like Claude to have different access controls, [create a new user](https://docs.open-metadata.org/latest/how-to-guides/admin-guide/roles-policies/use-cases).

{% image
src="/images/v1.8/how-to-guides/mcp/generate-new-token.jpg"
alt="Generate New Token"
caption="Creating a new Personal Access Token"
/%}

- Set your *Token Expiration*. This guide uses 60 days. Once your new token is created copy it.

{% image
src="/images/v1.8/how-to-guides/mcp/generate-new-token-2.jpg"
alt="Set Token Lifespan"
caption="Personal Access Token expires in 60 days"
/%}

## Adding your OpenMetadata MCP Server to Claude Desktop
This how-to guide uses the free version of Claude Desktop for macOS with Sonnet 4.

- Navigate to Claude Desktop's Settings, then select *Developer* and *Edit Config*. Paste the following into `claude_desktop_config.json`

```
{"mcpServers": {
    "openmetadata": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "<YOUR-OpenMetadata-SERVER>/mcp/sse",                 #http://localhost:8585/mcp/sse
        "--auth-server-url=<YOUR-OpenMetadata-SERVER>/mcp",   #http://localhost:8585/mcp
        "--client-id=openmetadata",
        "--verbose",
        "--clean",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer <YOUR-OpenMetadata-PAT>"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

- Restart Claude Desktop. You should see your `openmetadata` service running


## Prompt to read from OpenMetadata
This part of the guide assumes that you have assets in OpenMetadata that Claude can read, and that some of your data assets have references to customers. You can change the prompt accordingly and/or add data sources into OpenMetadata [here](https://docs.open-metadata.org/latest/connectors).

Paste the following prompt into Claude to have it read from OpenMetadata:
```
What tables do you have access to in OpenMetadata?
```

Claude will ask if it can use the external integration `openmetadata`, select *Allow always*. You may have to do this multiple times, once for each tool. Claude is now reading from OpenMetadata via its MCP Server!

{% image
src="/images/v1.8/how-to-guides/mcp/claude-allow.jpg"
alt="Allow Claude to use OpenMetadata"
caption="Claude asking for permission to search OpenMetadata"
/%}



### Show us what you got
With MCP, we are finding new ways to use OpenMetadata all the time! Now that you have Claude and OpenMetadata configured to work together, think you've got a great new use case? Show us what you've got in the OpenMetadata #mcp Slack Channel!
