Methods and apparatus are provided, including computer program products, for browsing meta data for an enterprise service framework. An agent receives a request to retrieve information about or relating to one or more aspects in a back end system. A portion of meta data is read. The meta data is stored in a repository and represents the back end system. The portion of meta data that is read is based on the request. The agent formats the portion of the meta data to produce a response in a normalized format. The response in the normalized format is transmitted in response to the request.