name: marmot description: Interact with a Marmot data catalog instance. Use this skill when the user wants to search for data assets, view lineage, browse glossary terms, check pipeline runs, manage tags or owners, view metrics, or do anything related to their data catalog. Covers the Marmot CLI, REST API and MCP server.

This skill helps you interact with a Marmot data catalog. Marmot catalogs data assets (databases, tables, topics, APIs, dashboards) across an organisation's data stack and tracks lineage between them.

Setup

The user needs the Marmot CLI installed and authenticated. If not already set up:

curl -fsSL get.marmotdata.io | sh
marmot login https://marmot.example.com

marmot login opens a browser for OAuth 2.0 PKCE authentication and caches the token locally. Alternatively, use an API key:

export MARMOT_HOST=https://marmot.example.com
export MARMOT_API_KEY=<key>

Or pass --host and --api-key as flags on any command.

MCP Server

Marmot has a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. If the user has configured MCP, you can interact with the catalog directly using these tools instead of the CLI:

• discover_data — unified data discovery. Supports natural language queries, lookups by ID or MRN (e.g. postgres://db/schema/table), filtering by type/provider/tags and metadata-based queries.
• find_ownership — bidirectional ownership queries. "Who owns this asset?", "What does this user own?", "Show all data owned by the data-eng team". Works for assets and glossary terms.
• lookup_term — business glossary lookups. Search for terms by name or retrieve definitions.

MCP configuration lives in ~/.claude.json (user-level) or .mcp.json (project-level):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "marmot": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://<marmot-server>/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "<api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Prefer MCP tools when available. Fall back to the CLI or REST API for operations MCP doesn't cover (e.g. writes, metrics, admin).

CLI Reference

All commands follow the pattern marmot <resource> <action> [args] [flags]. Use --output json (or -o json) to get machine-readable output. Supported output formats: table (default), json, yaml.

Assets

marmot assets list                        # list assets (paginated)
marmot assets search <query>              # search assets
marmot assets get <id>                    # get asset details
marmot assets summary                     # counts by type, provider, tag
marmot assets tags add <id> <tag>         # add a tag
marmot assets tags remove <id> <tag>      # remove a tag
marmot assets owners <id>                 # list owners
marmot assets delete <id>                 # delete (prompts for confirmation)

Filters: --types, --providers, --tags. Pagination: --limit, --offset.

Search

marmot search <query>                     # unified search (assets, glossary, teams, users)

Filter by type with --types asset,glossary.

Glossary

marmot glossary list
marmot glossary get <id>
marmot glossary create --name "Term" --definition "What it means"
marmot glossary update <id> --definition "New definition"
marmot glossary delete <id>
marmot glossary search <query>

Lineage

marmot lineage get <asset-id>             # view upstream/downstream graph

Use --depth to control traversal depth.

Runs

marmot runs list                          # list pipeline runs
marmot runs get <id>                      # run details and summary
marmot runs entities <id>                 # entities processed in a run

Filter with --pipelines and --statuses.

Authentication

marmot login                              # authenticate via browser (OAuth PKCE)
marmot login https://marmot.example.com   # authenticate to a specific instance
marmot logout                             # remove cached token
marmot context list                       # list contexts (* = active)
marmot context use <name>                 # switch active context
marmot context delete <name>              # remove context and token

Users and API Keys

marmot users me                           # current authenticated user
marmot users list
marmot apikeys list
marmot apikeys create <name>              # key shown once at creation
marmot apikeys delete <id>

Teams

marmot teams list
marmot teams get <id>
marmot teams members <id>

Metrics

marmot metrics summary                    # total assets + by-type breakdown
marmot metrics by-type                    # asset counts by type
marmot metrics by-provider                # asset counts by provider
marmot metrics top-assets --start <RFC3339> --end <RFC3339>
marmot metrics top-queries --start <RFC3339> --end <RFC3339>

top-assets and top-queries require a time range. --start and --end accept RFC3339 timestamps (e.g. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z). If omitted, defaults to the last 30 days. Use --limit to control how many results are returned (default 10).

summary, by-type and by-provider do not require a time range.

Admin

marmot admin reindex                      # trigger search reindex
marmot admin reindex-status               # check progress

Config

marmot config init                        # interactive setup
marmot config set <key> <value>           # set a config value
marmot config get <key>                   # get a config value
marmot config list                        # list all config values (incl. active context)

REST API

The Marmot API is available at {host}/api/v1/. Authenticate with either the X-API-Key header or Authorization: Bearer <token> (from marmot login).

Key Endpoints

Time-range endpoints

/api/v1/metrics, /api/v1/metrics/top-queries and /api/v1/metrics/top-assets require start and end query parameters in RFC3339 format. The maximum range is 30 days. Example:

GET /api/v1/metrics/top-queries?start=2026-03-01T00:00:00Z&end=2026-03-26T00:00:00Z&limit=10

Tips

• Prefer MCP tools when the user has MCP configured. Fall back to the CLI for operations MCP doesn't cover.
• Prefer the CLI over raw API calls when the user has it installed.
• Use -o json and pipe through jq when the user needs to extract or transform data.
• Asset IDs are UUIDs. Asset MRNs (Marmot Resource Names) look like mrn://type/provider/name.
• Destructive commands (delete) prompt for confirmation. Pass --yes to skip in scripts.
• All list commands support --limit and --offset for pagination.
• When using the REST API directly, authenticate with either X-API-Key or Authorization: Bearer <token> header.

Marmot

Discover any data asset in seconds. Then let your AI do the same.

The open-source context layer for your AI. Catalog your tables, topics, queues and APIs then expose real metadata to your AI agents.

Documentation • Live Demo • Deploy • Community

What is Marmot?

Marmot is an open-source data catalog for teams who want powerful data discovery without enterprise complexity. Catalog every data asset, enrich it with the context that matters and make it accessible to your team and your AI tools.

Unlike traditional catalogs that require extensive infrastructure and configuration, Marmot ships as a single binary with an intuitive UI, making it easy to deploy and start cataloging in minutes.

Features

• Search everything: Find any data asset in seconds with full-text search plus structured queries, boolean logic and metadata filters.
• Interactive lineage: Trace data flows from source to destination and analyse impact before making changes.
• Metadata-first: Store rich metadata for any asset type, from tables and topics to APIs and dashboards.
• Team collaboration: Assign ownership, document business context and maintain shared glossaries.
• AI-ready: Expose certified context through MCP, the API and the UI.

Deploy

New to Marmot? Follow the Deploy documentation for a guided setup, or try the live demo.

Development

See Local Development for how to get started developing locally.

Community

Join our Discord community for help, feedback and updates on new features.

Contributing

All types of contributions are encouraged and valued!

• Report bugs or suggest features via GitHub Issues
• Improve documentation
• Build new plugins for data sources

Before contributing, please check out the Contributing Guide.

FAQ

What is Marmot?

Marmot is an open-source data catalog for teams who want powerful data discovery without enterprise complexity. It catalogs every data asset (tables, topics, queues, APIs), enriches it with context, and makes it accessible to both your team and AI tools. Unlike traditional catalogs requiring extensive infrastructure, Marmot ships as a single binary with an intuitive UI.

Why Use Marmot?

How Does Marmot Integrate with AI Agents?

Marmot exposes certified context through MCP (Model Context Protocol), enabling AI agents to query real metadata about your data assets. This allows AI tools to understand your data landscape, trace lineage, and make informed decisions based on actual metadata rather than guessing.

What Data Sources Can I Catalog?

Marmot supports cataloging various data asset types through its plugin system:

• Tables (databases, data warehouses)
• Topics (message queues, event streams)
• Queues (job queues, messaging systems)
• APIs (REST, GraphQL, internal services)
• Dashboards (visualization tools, BI platforms)

How Do I Deploy Marmot?

Quick Start Options:

Is Marmot Free?

Yes! Marmot is open-source software licensed under the MIT License. You can use, modify, and distribute it freely. Self-hosting is completely free with no licensing costs.

How Can I Contribute?

All contributions are welcome:

• Report bugs or suggest features via GitHub Issues
• Improve documentation (README, guides, API docs)
• Build new plugins for additional data sources
• Check the Contributing Guide before contributing

Where Can I Get Help?

License

Marmot is open-source software licensed under the MIT License.