MongoDB MCP server

MongoDB MCP Server provides read-only access to MongoDB databases through a standardized Model Context Protocol interface. This allows AI assistants to query and analyze MongoDB data while maintaining security through restricted access controls.

Installation Options

Prerequisites

• Network access to your MongoDB server
• Authentication credentials (if required by your MongoDB instance)
• Appropriate read permissions on target databases

Environment Variables

You'll need to configure these environment variables:

• MONGODB_URI (required): Your MongoDB connection string with authentication if needed
• MONGODB_DEFAULT_DATABASE (optional): Default database name when not specified in queries

Building from Source

To install and build the server from source:

npm install
npm run build

For development with auto-rebuild:

npm run watch

Integration with Claude Desktop

To use with Claude Desktop, add the server configuration:

MacOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add this configuration to your JSON file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mongodb": {
      "command": "/path/to/mongodb-server/build/index.js",
      "env": {
        "MONGODB_URI": "mongodb://username:password@hostname:port/database",
        "MONGODB_DEFAULT_DATABASE": "your_default_db"
      }
    }
  }
}

Integration with Claude Web

For Claude Web via the MCP Chrome extension, add configuration to Cline MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mongodb": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/mongodb-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "MONGODB_URI": "mongodb://username:password@hostname:port/database",
        "MONGODB_DEFAULT_DATABASE": "your_default_db"
      }
    }
  }
}

Integration with Claude Code

To use with Claude Code, use the following commands:

cd /path/to/my/project
claude mcp add mongo-server /path/to/mongodb-mcp/build/index.js -e "MONGODB_URI=mongodb://user@password:27017/dbname?authSource=authDbName" -e MONGO_DEFAULT_DATABASE=dbname 

If configured correctly, you should see the server listed as connected when you run claude.

Server Capabilities

Basic MongoDB Operations

• Database Exploration: List databases and collections
• Schema Discovery: Infer collection schemas from sample documents
• Querying: Execute MongoDB queries with filtering, projection, sorting, and limiting
• Aggregation: Run read-only aggregation pipelines with safety validation
• Text Search: Perform full-text search on collections with text indexes

Advanced Features

• Geospatial Queries: Find locations near points, within polygons, or intersecting geometries
• Document Analysis: Count documents, sample random documents, find documents by IDs
• Performance Insights: Examine query execution plans to optimize performance
• Data Exploration: Get distinct values, field distributions, and data samples
• Format Conversion: Export query results as JSON or CSV formats

Debugging

Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, you can use the MCP Inspector for debugging:

npm run inspector

The Inspector will provide a URL to access debugging tools in your browser.

Security Considerations

• This server provides read-only access by design
• Connection strings may contain sensitive authentication information
• Store connection strings securely in environment variables
• Always use a MongoDB user with read-only permissions for maximum security

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.