mcp-database

MCP server for multi-database access — query, inspect schema, and manage SQLite, PostgreSQL, and MySQL databases through Claude.

Why mcp-database?

Problem	Solution
Need to query a database from Claude Code / Claude Desktop	One MCP server, multiple database support
Existing database MCP servers are JS/Go only	Pure Python, uses official mcp SDK
Worried about accidental writes	Read-only by default, writes opt-in
Don't know the schema	Built-in schema inspection, table info, search

Quick Start

# Install
pip install mcp-database

# Run with a SQLite database
MCP_DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///path/to/your.db mcp-database

Claude Code Integration

# Add to Claude Code
claude mcp add mcp-database -- mcp-database

# Or with a specific database
claude mcp add mcp-database -e MCP_DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///path/to/db.sqlite -- mcp-database

Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "database": {
      "command": "mcp-database",
      "env": {
        "MCP_DATABASE_URL": "sqlite:///path/to/your.db"
      }
    }
  }
}

Supported Databases

Database	Status	Install
SQLite	Built-in	pip install mcp-database
PostgreSQL	Optional	pip install 'mcp-database[postgres]'
MySQL	Optional	pip install 'mcp-database[mysql]'
All	Optional	pip install 'mcp-database[all]'

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
MCP_DATABASE_URL	sqlite:///:memory:	Database connection URL
MCP_DATABASE_TYPE	sqlite	Database type: sqlite, postgresql, mysql
MCP_DATABASE_READ_ONLY	true	Enable read-only mode
MCP_MAX_ROWS	100	Maximum rows returned per query

Connection URLs

# SQLite
MCP_DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///path/to/db.sqlite
MCP_DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///:memory:

# PostgreSQL
MCP_DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb
MCP_DATABASE_TYPE=postgresql

# MySQL
MCP_DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/mydb
MCP_DATABASE_TYPE=mysql

Available Tools

Once connected, Claude can use these tools:

Tool	Description
list_databases	List all configured database connections
list_tables	List all tables in a database
get_table_info	Get detailed table info (columns, types, row count)
get_schema	Get full database schema (CREATE TABLE statements)
query	Execute a read-only SQL query (SELECT, SHOW, DESCRIBE)
execute	Execute a write statement (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) — opt-in only
sample_rows	Get sample rows from a table
search_tables	Search for tables or columns by keyword

Examples

Ask Claude things like:

• "What tables are in my database?"
• "Show me the schema for the users table"
• "Query the top 10 orders by amount"
• "Find all columns related to 'email'"
• "Sample some rows from the products table"

Security

• Read-only by default — queries are safe, no data modification
• Write opt-in — set allow_writes=True and MCP_DATABASE_READ_ONLY=false to enable
• Read-only detection — write tool rejects SELECT statements (use query instead)
• Row limits — configurable max rows to prevent accidental large result sets

Development

# Clone and install for development
git clone https://github.com/Jansen003/mcp-database.git
cd mcp-database
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Run with Inspector UI
mcp dev src/mcp_database/server.py

License

MIT — see LICENSE.