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CData MCP Server for Access

This read-only MCP Server allows you to connect to Access data from Claude Desktop through CData JDBC Drivers. For full CRUD support, check out our MCP Server for Access (https://www.cdata.com/drivers/access/download/mcp).

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

View docs

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cdatasoftware-access-mcp-server-by-cdata": {
      "command": "java",
      "args": [
        "-jar",
        "/PATH/TO/CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar",
        "/PATH/TO/Salesforce.prp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

You can query live Microsoft Access data through a read-only MCP server that wraps the CData JDBC Driver. This server exposes a simple MCP interface so you can ask natural-language questions and receive data from Access without writing SQL. It is designed for seamless read-only data access and works locally on your machine with standard MCP clients.

How to use

After you start the MCP server, you interact with it through an MCP client. You can ask questions like what is the status of certain records, how many items meet a condition, or which fields exist across tables. The built-in tools fetch table lists, column lists, and run read-only queries against your Access data. You do not need to write SQL to use the MCP server; the client translates your questions into remote queries under the hood.

How to install

Prerequisites: Install Java Development Kit (JDK) and Maven on your machine. You will also need the CData JDBC Driver for Access installed and licensed before connecting to your data.

Step 1: Clone the MCP server project and build the JAR.

git clone https://github.com/cdatasoftware/access-mcp-server-by-cdata.git
cd access-mcp-server-by-cdata
mvn clean install

Step-by-step run flow

Step 2: Obtain and license the CData JDBC Driver for Access.

Step 3: Configure your JDBC connection using the Driver’s connection utility, then save the connection string to a .prp file (for example, Salesforce.prp or access.prp) with the required properties.

Step 4: Create a .prp file for your JDBC connection using properties like Prefix, ServerName, ServerVersion, DriverPath, DriverClass, and JdbcUrl. An example .prp layout is shown below.

Prefix=access
ServerName=CDataAccess
ServerVersion=1.0
DriverPath=PATH\\TO\\cdata.jdbc.access.jar
DriverClass=cdata.jdbc.access.AccessDriver
JdbcUrl=jdbc:access:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
Tables=

Step-by-step run flow (continued)

Step 5: Start the MCP server using the produced JAR and your .prp file.

java -jar /PATH/TO/CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar /PATH/TO/Salesforce.prp

Notes on running locally

The server runs in stdio mode, which means it is intended to be started on the same machine as your MCP client. You should fully exit and re-launch your MCP client if the server does not appear in the client’s server list.

Available tools

cdata_access_get_tables

Retrieves a list of tables available in the data source. The output is returned in CSV format with a header row.

cdata_access_get_columns

Retrieves a list of columns for a specified table. The output is returned in CSV format with a header row.

cdata_access_run_query

Executes a SQL SELECT query against the Access data source and returns the result set.