Toolbox for Databases MCP server

MCP Toolbox for Databases is an open source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that simplifies database connections for AI tools. It handles connection pooling, authentication, and other complexities, enabling you to develop database-aware AI tools more efficiently and securely.

Installation

Binary Installation

For Linux (AMD64)

export VERSION=0.22.0
curl -L -o toolbox https://storage.googleapis.com/genai-toolbox/v$VERSION/linux/amd64/toolbox
chmod +x toolbox

For macOS (Apple Silicon)

export VERSION=0.22.0
curl -L -o toolbox https://storage.googleapis.com/genai-toolbox/v$VERSION/darwin/arm64/toolbox
chmod +x toolbox

For macOS (Intel)

export VERSION=0.22.0
curl -L -o toolbox https://storage.googleapis.com/genai-toolbox/v$VERSION/darwin/amd64/toolbox
chmod +x toolbox

Container Image

export VERSION=0.22.0
docker pull us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/database-toolbox/toolbox/toolbox:$VERSION

Homebrew

brew install mcp-toolbox

Running the Server

First, configure a tools.yaml file to define your tools, then start the server:

Running from Binary

./toolbox --tools-file "tools.yaml"

Running from Container

docker run -p 5000:5000 \
-v $(pwd)/tools.yaml:/app/tools.yaml \
us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/database-toolbox/toolbox/toolbox:$VERSION \
--tools-file "/app/tools.yaml"

Configuration

Sources Configuration

Define database connections in the sources section of your tools.yaml:

sources:
  my-pg-source:
    kind: postgres
    host: 127.0.0.1
    port: 5432
    database: toolbox_db
    user: toolbox_user
    password: my-password

Tools Configuration

Define tools that interact with your data sources:

tools:
  search-hotels-by-name:
    kind: postgres-sql
    source: my-pg-source
    description: Search for hotels based on name.
    parameters:
      - name: name
        type: string
        description: The name of the hotel.
    statement: SELECT * FROM hotels WHERE name ILIKE '%' || $1 || '%';

Toolsets Configuration

Group tools together for easier loading:

toolsets:
    my_first_toolset:
        - my_first_tool
        - my_second_tool
    my_second_toolset:
        - my_second_tool
        - my_third_tool

Prompts Configuration

Define prompts for interactions with LLMs:

prompts:
  code_review:
    description: "Asks the LLM to analyze code quality and suggest improvements."
    messages:
      - content: "Please review the following code for quality, correctness, and potential improvements: \n\n{{.code}}"
    arguments:
      - name: "code"
        description: "The code to review"

Using with Client SDKs

Python Client

Core SDK

from toolbox_core import ToolboxClient

async with ToolboxClient("http://127.0.0.1:5000") as client:
    tools = await client.load_toolset("toolset_name")

LangChain SDK

from toolbox_langchain import ToolboxClient

async with ToolboxClient("http://127.0.0.1:5000") as client:
    tools = client.load_toolset()

JavaScript/TypeScript Client

Core SDK

import { ToolboxClient } from '@toolbox-sdk/core';

const URL = 'http://127.0.0.1:5000';
let client = new ToolboxClient(URL);

const tools = await client.loadToolset('toolsetName');

Go Client

Core SDK

import (
  "github.com/googleapis/mcp-toolbox-sdk-go/core"
  "context"
)

URL := "http://127.0.0.1:5000";
ctx := context.Background()

client, err := core.NewToolboxClient(URL)
tools, err := client.LoadToolset("toolsetName", ctx)

Using with Gemini CLI Extensions

You can interact with your custom tools using natural language through Gemini CLI:

gemini extensions install https://github.com/gemini-cli-extensions/mcp-toolbox

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "toolbox-for-databases" '{"command":"toolbox","args":["--tools-file","tools.yaml"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For 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 > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

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

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "toolbox-for-databases": {
            "command": "toolbox",
            "args": [
                "--tools-file",
                "tools.yaml"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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 explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "toolbox-for-databases": {
            "command": "toolbox",
            "args": [
                "--tools-file",
                "tools.yaml"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect