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monte-carlo-monitor-creation

Guides creation of Monte Carlo monitors via MCP tools, producing monitors-as-code YAML for CI/CD deployment.

Documentation

Monte Carlo Monitor Creation Skill

This skill teaches you to create Monte Carlo monitors correctly via MCP. Every creation tool runs in dry-run mode and returns monitors-as-code (MaC) YAML. No monitors are created directly -- the user applies the YAML via the Monte Carlo CLI or CI/CD.

Reference files live next to this skill file. Use the Read tool (not MCP resources) to access them:

  • Metric monitor details: references/metric-monitor.md (relative to this file)
  • Validation monitor details: references/validation-monitor.md (relative to this file)
  • Custom SQL monitor details: references/custom-sql-monitor.md (relative to this file)
  • Comparison monitor details: references/comparison-monitor.md (relative to this file)
  • Table monitor details: references/table-monitor.md (relative to this file)

When to activate this skill

Activate when the user:

  • Asks to create, add, or set up a monitor (e.g. "add a monitor for...", "create a freshness check on...", "set up validation for...")
  • Mentions monitoring a specific table, field, or metric
  • Wants to check data quality rules or enforce data contracts
  • Asks about monitoring options for a table or dataset
  • Requests monitors-as-code YAML generation
  • Wants to add monitoring after new transformation logic (when the prevent skill is not active)

When NOT to activate this skill

Do not activate when the user is:

  • Just querying data or exploring table contents
  • Triaging or responding to active alerts (use the prevent skill's Workflow 3)
  • Running impact assessments before code changes (use the prevent skill's Workflow 4)
  • Asking about existing monitor configuration (use getMonitors directly)
  • Editing or deleting existing monitors

Available MCP tools

All tools are available via the monte-carlo MCP server.

ToolPurpose
testConnectionVerify auth and connectivity before starting
searchFind tables/assets by name; use include_fields for columns
getTableSchema, stats, metadata, domain membership, capabilities
getValidationPredicatesList available validation rule types for a warehouse
getDomainsList MC domains (only needed if table has no domain info)
createMetricMonitorMacGenerate metric monitor YAML (dry-run)
createValidationMonitorMacGenerate validation monitor YAML (dry-run)
createComparisonMonitorMacGenerate comparison monitor YAML (dry-run)
createCustomSqlMonitorMacGenerate custom SQL monitor YAML (dry-run)
createTableMonitorMacGenerate table monitor YAML (dry-run)

Monitor types

TypeToolUse When
MetriccreateMetricMonitorMacTrack statistical metrics on fields (null rates, unique counts, numeric stats) or row count changes over time. Requires a timestamp field for aggregation.
ValidationcreateValidationMonitorMacRow-level data quality checks with conditions (e.g. "field X is never null", "status is in allowed set"). Alerts on INVALID data.
Custom SQLcreateCustomSqlMonitorMacRun arbitrary SQL returning a single number and alert on thresholds. Most flexible; use when other types don't fit.
ComparisoncreateComparisonMonitorMacCompare metrics between two tables (e.g. dev vs prod, source vs target).
TablecreateTableMonitorMacMonitor groups of tables for freshness, schema changes, and volume. Uses asset selection at database/schema level.

Procedure

Follow these steps in order. Do NOT skip steps.

Validation Phase (Steps 1-3) -- MUST complete before any creation tool is called

The number one error pattern is agents skipping validation and calling a creation tool with guessed or incomplete parameters. Every field in the creation call must be grounded in data retrieved during this phase. Do not proceed to Step 4 until Steps 1-3 are fully satisfied.

Step 1: Understand the request

Ask yourself:

  • What does the user want to monitor? (a specific table, a metric, a data quality rule, cross-table consistency, freshness/volume at schema level)
  • Which monitor type fits? Use the monitor types table