Architecture¶

Live Knowledge Sources Architecture

The architecture centers on Azure AI Search Knowledge Base retrieval. A user question enters through a Foundry Agent or custom app, the Knowledge Base calls configured live Knowledge Sources at retrieval time, and the response includes answer text plus inspectable activity, references, and sourceData.

flowchart LR
  User["User question"]
  Agent["Foundry Agent or custom app"]
  MCP["MCP Server KS\nRemote HTTPS tools"]
  Fabric["Fabric Ontology KS\nEntities, relationships"]
  KB["Azure AI Search Knowledge Base"]
  Answer["Grounded answer\nreferences + activity"]

  User --> Agent --> KB
  KB --> MCP
  KB --> Fabric
  MCP --> Answer
  Fabric --> Answer

Northbound MCP vs Southbound MCP¶

There are two useful MCP directions to distinguish:

Northbound MCP:
  A Knowledge Base is exposed as an MCP server so MCP clients can call it.

Southbound MCP Server KS:
  A Knowledge Base calls an external MCP server as a Knowledge Source.

This repository focuses on the southbound MCP Server Knowledge Source pattern.