Share over MCP

Expose an ontology over MCP

An ontology’s MCP server lets an AI assistant, such as Claude Desktop, ask questions about your data in plain business language. Kenseme does the interpreting: it uses the ontology’s vocabulary, descriptions, and bindings to build a read-only query, then returns the SQL and an explanation, and rows if you allow it. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard assistants use to call tools like this.

In the app: Data Context › Ontologies › your ontology › More › MCP Server

[screenshot]
The MCP Server page with Enable MCP Server switched on, the server URL and its copy button, and the What the server may return choice.

Schema MCP and ontology MCP

Kenseme has two kinds of MCP server, for different jobs:

  • Expose a schema over MCP shares schema metadata: tables, columns, types, and relationships. The assistant reads the shape of a database.
  • The ontology MCP server, described here, answers questions. The assistant asks “how many orders did we ship last month?” and Kenseme’s own Data Agent works out and runs the query. The assistant works in your business vocabulary and never sees the physical schema unless you allow it.

It’s the same engine as the Data Agent, reached from your assistant instead of the Kenseme workspace.

Before you start

  • The Ontology Data MCP feature must be on for your organization. An organization admin turns it on under Organization Settings › Features; this also turns on Data Agent and Bind to Database. When it’s off, MCP Server doesn’t appear in the More menu and the page says MCP Server isn't enabled. See Feature flags.
  • You need the Read/Write role to see and change the MCP settings.
  • To answer with data, the ontology needs a binding environment, on a database or a lakehouse. Without one, the page says Answering questions needs a data binding. with a link to bind it. See Bind an ontology to a database or Bind an ontology to a lakehouse.

Turn the server on

  1. Open the ontology, click More, and choose MCP Server.
  2. Switch on Enable MCP Server.
  3. Copy the MCP Server URL with the button beside it.

The rest of the settings appear once the server is on. Changes save automatically; there’s no Save button.

Switch Enable MCP Server off to stop serving the ontology.

Choose what the server may return

Under What the server may return, pick one:

  • SQL and explanation only (the default). Kenseme answers with the query it would run and how it built it. It never opens a connection to your database in this mode, so no rows leave your source system.
  • Include data. Kenseme runs the query and returns rows. Redacted classes and attributes are still never returned as raw values. This option is available only when the ontology has a binding environment.

Then set:

Setting What it does
Binding environment The environment every query runs against. Pinning it means a client can never reach a different source.
Maximum rows per answer The most rows any answer returns. Defaults to 1,000.
Minimum role The lowest organization role a caller needs to use the endpoint: None, Read Only, Read/Write, or Admin. Defaults to Read Only.
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The What the server may return choice with the Binding environment, Maximum rows per answer, and Minimum role settings.

Further down the page you can switch on discovery tools, redact sensitive values, tighten access for individual people, and review every call. See Control what the ontology MCP can see.

Connect an assistant

Add the MCP Server URL to your MCP client as a remote (HTTP) server, then complete the sign-in it opens. The server uses OAuth, so the first connection walks you through a normal Kenseme sign-in.

You connect as yourself. The server sees exactly the organizations and data your own account can see. Two people using the same URL each get their own access.

In Claude Desktop or Claude Code, for example, add the URL as a remote server (a connector) and approve the sign-in. The ontology then shows up as a set of tools. Menu wording varies between clients and versions, so follow your client’s “add a server” or “add a connector” steps. The tools are listed in Data MCP tools.

Regenerate the URL

Regenerate URL issues a new address for this ontology and retires the old one. Every client using the old URL stops working until you give it the new one. Use it if the URL has been shared too widely. You’re asked to confirm in a Regenerate MCP URL dialog, and it can’t be undone.

Who can change the settings

The settings are only shown to members with the Read/Write role or higher. If your organization is in read-only mode, the page opens so you can see how the server is set up, but every control is disabled.