Alibaba Cloud RDS MCP server for AI agents

The Alibaba Cloud RDS OpenAPI MCP Server provides a Model Context Protocol server for interacting with Alibaba Cloud RDS services through OpenAPI. This tool allows you to easily manage your RDS instances and databases using MCP clients like Cherry Studio, Cline, or Claude.

Installation

Prerequisites

Install uv from Astral or the GitHub README
Install Python using uv python install 3.12
Valid Alibaba Cloud credentials with access to RDS services

Installation with Cherry Studio

Download and install cherry-studio from the official website
Install uv as required by the MCP environment
Import the RDS MCP configuration using this JSON:

{
	"mcpServers": {
		"rds-openapi": {
			"name": "rds-openapi",
			"type": "stdio",
			"description": "",
			"isActive": true,
			"registryUrl": "",
			"command": "uvx",
			"args": [
				"alibabacloud-rds-openapi-mcp-server@latest"
			],
			"env": {
				"ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "$you_access_id",
				"ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET": "$you_access_key"
			}
		}
	}
}

Turn on MCP in the interface

Installation with Cline

Set the required environment variables and run the MCP server:

# Set environment variables
export SERVER_TRANSPORT=sse;
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$you_access_id;
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET=$you_access_key;
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_SECURITY_TOKEN=$you_sts_security_token; # optional, required when using STS Token 

# Run MCP server
uvx alibabacloud-rds-openapi-mcp-server@latest

After starting the server, you'll see:

INFO:     Started server process [91594]
INFO:     Waiting for application startup.
INFO:     Application startup complete.
INFO:     Uvicorn running on http://0.0.0.0:8000 (Press CTRL+C to quit)

Then configure Cline:

remote_server = "http://127.0.0.1:8000/sse";

Installation with Claude

Download from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/aliyun/alibabacloud-rds-openapi-mcp-server.git

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file:

"mcpServers": {
  "rds-openapi-mcp-server": {
    "command": "uv",
    "args": [
      "--directory",
      "/path/to/alibabacloud-rds-openapi-mcp-server/src/alibabacloud_rds_openapi_mcp_server",
      "run",
      "server.py"
    ],
    "env": {
      "ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "access_id",
      "ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET": "access_key",
      "ALIBABA_CLOUD_SECURITY_TOKEN": "sts_security_token"  // optional, required when using STS Token
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

The MCP server provides various tools for managing RDS instances:

Instance Management

create_db_instance: Create a new RDS instance
restart_db_instance: Restart an RDS instance
modify_db_instance_spec: Modify RDS instance specifications
modify_db_instance_description: Change RDS instance description

Information Retrieval

describe_db_instances: List all RDS instances
describe_db_instance_attribute: Get detailed information about an instance
describe_db_instance_performance: Query performance data
describe_error_logs: Get error logs for an instance
describe_slow_log_records: Query slow log records
describe_bills: Get billing information

Network Configuration

allocate_instance_public_connection: Set up public connection
describe_db_instance_net_info: View network configuration
describe_vpcs: List available VPCs
describe_vswitches: List available VSwitches

Security Configuration

modify_security_ips: Update IP whitelists
describe_db_instance_ip_allowlist: View IP whitelist configurations
attach_whitelist_template_to_instance: Attach whitelist template
describe_all_whitelist_template: List whitelist templates
describe_instance_linked_whitelist_template: View linked templates

Account and Database Management

create_db_instance_account: Create an account
describe_db_instance_accounts: List accounts
describe_db_instance_databases: List databases

Utility

get_current_time: Get the current time
add_tags_to_db_instance: Add tags to an instance
describe_available_classes: View available instance classes
describe_available_zones: View available zones
modify_parameter: Change instance parameters
describe_db_instance_parameters: View parameters

Usage Examples

To utilize the RDS MCP server in your AI assistant conversations, you can use the provided prompt template to guide the AI in helping you manage your RDS instances. The MCP tools can be used for various scenarios including:

Purchasing new RDS instances
Diagnosing performance issues
Modifying instance configurations
Managing security settings
Reviewing logs and performance data

The tools are automatically invoked by the AI assistant based on your requests, helping you manage your RDS instances efficiently.

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.