mcp-multi-db

One MCP server for all your SQL databases — read-only and safe by default.

Connect an AI agent to PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite at the same time through a single Model Context Protocol server. List your databases in one config file and the agent picks which one to query by database_id. Every query is enforced read-only at the database level, so it's safe to point at real data.

• Multi-engine, one server — Postgres, MySQL, and SQLite side by side; no separate server per database.
• Read-only & safe by default — two-layer enforcement (SQL-text guard + database-level read-only transactions) plus row limits and query timeouts. See SECURITY.md.
• Schema-aware — the agent can discover databases, tables/views, and column metadata before it writes a query.
• Zero query language to learn — just ask in natural language.

The clip drives the real server over stdio (via the MCP SDK) against a seeded SQLite database. Regenerate it with npm run build && vhs examples/demo.tape.

Tools

Tool	Description
list_databases	List configured database connections
list_tables	List tables/views in a database
describe_table	Show column metadata for a table
run_query	Run read-only SQL (SELECT, WITH, EXPLAIN)

Quick start

No install needed — npx fetches the package on first use.

1. Create databases.json

Copy the example and edit with your connection details:

cp databases.example.json databases.json

{
  "databases": [
    {
      "id": "local-sqlite",
      "type": "sqlite",
      "path": "/absolute/path/to/app.db",
      "label": "Local dev SQLite"
    },
    {
      "id": "analytics-pg",
      "type": "postgres",
      "connectionString": "postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/analytics",
      "label": "Analytics Warehouse"
    },
    {
      "id": "reporting-mysql",
      "type": "mysql",
      "connectionString": "mysql://user:pass@localhost:3306/reporting",
      "label": "Reporting MySQL"
    }
  ]
}

Never commit databases.json — it contains credentials. It's already gitignored if you cloned the repo. Prefer read-only database users (see Security).

2. Register the server with your MCP client

The server speaks MCP over stdio, so it works with any MCP-capable client. Use npx mcp-multi-db as the command and pass MCP_DB_CONFIG (the path to your databases.json). See mcp.example.json and databases.example.json for templates.

<details open> <summary><b>Claude Desktop</b></summary>

Edit claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-multi-db": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-multi-db"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_DB_CONFIG": "/absolute/path/to/databases.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop afterward. </details>

<details> <summary><b>Claude Code</b></summary>

claude mcp add mcp-multi-db \
  --env MCP_DB_CONFIG=/absolute/path/to/databases.json \
  -- npx -y mcp-multi-db

</details>

<details> <summary><b>Cursor</b></summary>

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or .cursor/mcp.json in your project), then open Cursor Settings → Tools & MCP, restart the server, and use Agent mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-multi-db": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-multi-db"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_DB_CONFIG": "/absolute/path/to/databases.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details> <summary><b>Cline / Windsurf / other MCP clients</b></summary>

Any client that supports stdio MCP servers uses the same shape: command npx, args ["-y", "mcp-multi-db"], and env MCP_DB_CONFIG pointing at your databases.json. Consult your client's docs for where its MCP config lives.

Prefer a pinned global install? npm install -g mcp-multi-db, then use command mcp-multi-db with no args. </details>

Configuration reference

Config is loaded from one of two environment variables, in order:

1. MCP_DB_CONFIG — path to a JSON file (recommended).
2. MCP_DATABASES — inline JSON (useful when a file path is awkward).

The JSON may be either { "databases": [ ... ] } or a bare array. Each entry:

Field	Required	Notes
id	yes	Unique; the agent references this as database_id
type	yes	postgres | mysql | sqlite
connectionString	postgres/mysql	Standard connection URI
path	sqlite	Absolute path to the .db file
label	no	Human-friendly name shown to the agent
description	no	Extra context shown to the agent

Example prompts

• "List my configured databases"
• "What tables are in local-sqlite?"
• "Describe the users table in analytics-pg"
• "Run SELECT COUNT(*) FROM orders on reporting-mysql"

Security

• Read-only only. INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DDL, etc. are blocked — both by a SQL-text guard and by running each query inside a database-level read-only transaction (SQLite opens read-only). A SELECT that calls a side-effecting function is still refused.
• Row limits. Results are capped (default 100, max 1000).
• Query timeouts. Statements are bounded (30s) to avoid runaway queries.
• Use least privilege anyway. Prefer dedicated read-only DB users and read replicas. Full details and reporting in SECURITY.md.

Docker

A multi-stage Dockerfile is included. Build and run with your databases.json mounted in:

docker build -t mcp-multi-db .

docker run --rm -i \
  -v /absolute/path/to/databases.json:/config/databases.json:ro \
  mcp-multi-db

The image runs as a non-root user, ships only the built JS and runtime node_modules (no toolchain), and speaks MCP over stdio just like the npx install — so it slots into any MCP client by replacing the command and args with the appropriate docker run -i invocation.

Development

npm install
npm run build     # tsc -> build/, the artifact MCP clients run
npm test          # builds, then runs the node:test suite

Tests use Node's built-in test runner (no extra dependencies) and cover the read-only SQL guard and the SQLite adapter end to end. CI runs build + tests on every push and pull request.

Adding another database engine is a contained change: add the config variant in src/config.ts, implement the SqlDatabasePort interface in a new adapter under src/adapters/, and register it in the adapter factory. New adapters must enforce read-only at the connection level — not rely on the text guard alone. See docs/extending.md for the full checklist.

Documentation

• Architecture — components, request lifecycle, and the port-family design (with diagrams).
• Extending — add a SQL engine or a non-SQL family.
• Security — the two-layer read-only model and safe deployment.

The full index is in docs/.

License

ISC — see LICENSE.