Datadef MCP server

Which servers in the official MCP registry are Datadef's own, whether they answer, and what they offer. A program checked each of these, nobody copied them from a product page.

read 2026-10-17

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Whose server it is

Registry nameio.datadef/mcpverified in the MCP registry

The registry name sits under datadef.io. The registry only lets a publisher use that namespace after proving control of the domain through DNS or HTTP.

When we asked itchecked 2026-10-17

Stateanswerschecked 2026-10-17
Tools39
Server calls itselfdatadef
Server version1.1.0
Protocol version2025-06-18

On 2026-10-17 the server answered initialize and tools/list without a sign-in. First answer in 187 ms.

Tools it offers39 tools · read 2026-10-17

get_design_guide
When: read once before your first canvas_* call, to build or to edit. Datadef's standard for a readable diagram (size, edge discipline, nested zones, notes) and the tool workflow: which canvas_* tool to use when, batching, laying out…
canvas_describe_canvas
When: Use when you want a flat list of every node, edge and zone. canvas_view shows the same ids as a zone tree with positions and defects, and is usually the better first read. Get an overview of the current canvas: zones as a nested…
canvas_inspect_nodes
When: Use before changing a node's fields or columns, to see everything it carries: columns, metadata, owners, neighbours. Get full detail for specific nodes: all columns with types and keys, metadata, schedule, formula, owners. Use…
canvas_search_icons
When: Use before adding nodes that should show a vendor logo (Snowflake, Kafka, Power BI) and you are unsure of the icon id. Find icon ids in Datadef's library (2000+ cloud and data-tool logos) by product name, e.g. "Amazon Aurora…
canvas_measure_canvas
When: Use only for a precise manual placement the user asked for: exact x/y/width/height per node. To check a layout, canvas_view is faster and already reports overlaps. Get exact geometry: every node's position and size in canvas units…
canvas_add_nodes
When: Use to add components (tables, pipelines, sources, consumers, service icons), each placed in its zone with `group`. Add one or more nodes to the canvas. Batch every node you want in a single call. Positions are assigned by…
canvas_add_standalone_node
When: Use only when the user wants a node at a specific position, outside the automatic layout. Otherwise use canvas_add_nodes. Add a single data node at an exact position, without connecting it to anything. Use when the user wants…
canvas_update_nodes
When: Use for any in-place change: rename a node or zone (it keeps its size and contents), edit a note's text, recolour (`color: "green"`, `fill`, `family`), change a zone's style, swap an icon, or change a data node's type; fields you do…
canvas_replace_node
When: Use when one component changes identity or type (Redshift becomes Snowflake, a card becomes a service icon). The node keeps its id, connections, lineage, zone, position and fields. Turn a node into a different component in place…
canvas_remove_nodes
When: Use to delete nodes and their edges. Removing a zone keeps its contents (they move up to the parent, same place on screen): that is how to ungroup. Pass keepChildren:false only to delete the zone with everything inside it. Delete…
canvas_connect_nodes
When: Use to draw the flows that genuinely move data between two nodes. Never connect a zone: connect a node inside it. Draw edges (arrows) between nodes to show how data flows. Label an edge only when the reader could not guess what it…
canvas_update_edges
When: Use to relabel, retype, restyle (dashed, colour), reverse, put arrowheads on both ends, or re-point an existing edge, instead of disconnecting and reconnecting it. Change existing connections in place: relabel, retype, restyle…
canvas_disconnect_nodes
When: Use to delete specific edges between two nodes. Remove edges, given as source and target, or as an edge id / "Source -> Target" string in `edge`. Batch: `edges` takes a list; put every item in one call rather than one call per item…
canvas_set_columns
When: Use `mode: "merge"` to add or update (renameTo) a few columns, `mode: "remove"` to drop some, or the default replace for the full list. Columns that stay keep their ids and lineage. Change a table's columns. mode "merge" adds new…
canvas_group_nodes
When: Use to create a zone (a layer, domain, stage or boundary), nested with `parentGroup`, optionally moving existing nodes into it: the zone is drawn around them where they are, inside the zone they already share. Create a labelled zone…
canvas_move_to_group
When: Use to move existing nodes or zones into another zone (they are placed inside it and the zone grows to fit), or out of every zone with group null. A zone cannot move into its own sub-zone. Move existing nodes or zones into an…
canvas_add_lineage
When: Use to record which source columns produce which target columns. No line is drawn. Record column-level lineage: which source column produces which target column, and how. This is what makes the diagram queryable for impact analysis…
canvas_remove_lineage
When: Use to delete lineage rows between two nodes (one column pair, or all rows between them). Lineage pointing at deleted nodes or columns is cleaned automatically. Delete lineage rows between two nodes: one column pair, or every row…
canvas_add_text
When: Use for a note that tells the diagram's reader a decision, constraint or gotcha. Pass `anchor` (the node or zone it explains) and it is placed beside it, no coordinates needed. To edit a note's text use canvas_update_nodes. Add a…
canvas_add_shape
When: Use rarely: a pointer or highlight the user asked for. Never as a backdrop; zones are the containers. Place a rectangle, circle, arrow, or line as a visual annotation — a divider, a highlight. Shapes are drawings: they connect…
canvas_add_flow_arrow
When: Use after the final layout, where one arrow should stand for a bundle of identical flows (zone to zone). Draw one large labelled arrow SHAPE between two areas of the diagram — "ingest", "serve", "publish". It is a drawing, not a…
canvas_add_region
When: Use after the final layout to mark nodes that belong together without moving them into a zone. Regions do not move with layout. Draw a labelled translucent area behind existing nodes to show they belong together, without reparenting…
canvas_suggest_simplifications
When: Use when the diagram feels dense or the user asks to simplify. It changes nothing; it reports what could collapse. Report where this canvas could be collapsed — groups of similar nodes that could become one summary node — without…
canvas_collapse_nodes
When: Use to merge several similar nodes into one while keeping their connections, usually after canvas_suggest_simplifications. Merge several nodes into one summary node, keeping every connection. Use when a set of near-identical objects…
canvas_move_nodes
When: Use only when the user asked for a specific placement. Moving a zone moves its children; never move the children as well. Set node positions precisely. Use absolute x/y to place something exactly, or dx/dy to nudge it. Coordinates…
canvas_resize_nodes
When: Use only when the user asked for a specific size. Set the width and height of nodes. Mostly for shapes, text boxes, and group zones — data nodes size themselves from their content, and resizing one can clip what it displays. Batch…
canvas_align_nodes
When: Use only when the user asked for alignment that layout does not give. Align nodes to a shared edge or centre line, or space them evenly. Cleaner and far more reliable than computing coordinates by hand. Batch: `nodes` (up to 40)…
canvas_layout_canvas
When: Use once, after the structure (zones, nodes, edges) is complete, not after each change. With no arguments it only places what was added or changed; nothing else moves. Set mode "full", direction (LR/TB/RL), spacing…
canvas_validate_canvas
When: Use before you finish: broken references and icons, nodes outside their zone, overlapping zones or nodes. Loops are reported as information only. Check your work: broken references, broken icons, nodes sticking out of their zone…
canvas_view
When: use to see a diagram before you edit it and after each round of changes; this is how you check your work. It answers in milliseconds from the saved diagram, where export_diagram starts a browser for 6-10 s. Returns a text map: the…
canvas_batch
When: use whenever you would otherwise make several canvas_* write calls in a row, above all with tools that take one item per call: create every zone (group_nodes), convert many nodes (replace_node), set several tables' columns…
create_diagram
When: use when Datadef's own model should design a whole new diagram from a description or a pasted schema. To build it yourself step by step, use create_blank_diagram; to change an existing diagram, canvas_view and the canvas_* tools, or…
create_blank_diagram
When: use when you will build the diagram yourself with the canvas_* tools, because you want control over the result or already know the architecture from the conversation. Use create_diagram instead when Datadef's model should design the…
list_diagrams
When: use to find the id of an existing diagram before viewing, editing or exporting it. Lists the diagrams in the user's Datadef account, most recently updated first. Next: canvas_view with the diagram_id to see it.
get_diagram
When: use to show the user a diagram (it attaches a rendered PNG and a markdown image line, 6-10 s), or to poll a diagram that create_diagram or edit_diagram is still working on. To check your own edits, canvas_view is faster and reports…
edit_diagram
When: use for a large change you can describe in words better than you can make it tool by tool: "reorganise this into bronze, silver and gold", "rebuild the consumption side from this spec", "add owners and schedules everywhere". For a…
export_diagram
When: use to give the user an image of a diagram, or a link to download, attach or embed one. Not to check your own edits: a render starts a browser (6-10 s), while canvas_view answers in milliseconds and reports overlaps. Renders a…
repo_status
For a diagram that was created from a connected git repository: which repo and branch or tag it tracks, when it last synced, the commit it reflects, and whether daily sync is on. Use repo_refresh to sync it now. Only the owner of the…
repo_refresh
Re-sync a repo-linked diagram from the current state of its repository. If the tracked branch or tag has not moved since the last sync, nothing changes. If it has, the diagram is REGENERATED from the repository, which replaces manual…

How to connect

Add the server to your MCP client config. Claude Desktop, Cursor and most other clients read this shape:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "datadef": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://datadef.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Each line is something a program found when it went looking: the registry entry, the server's own answer, a spec that parses. A missing line means we did not find it, not that it does not exist.