The SQL MCP Server provides a TypeScript implementation of the Model Context Protocol that allows language models and MCP-compatible clients to query PostgreSQL databases. It supports secure database access through SSH bastion tunnels when needed and uses stdin/stdout communication for versatility across local, containerized, or AI applications.
To install the SQL MCP Server:
git clone https://github.com/your-org/sql-mcp-server.git
cd sql-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
Configure the server using environment variables or a .env
file in the project root:
DB_USER=postgres
DB_PASS=yourpassword
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=mydatabase
USE_SSH_TUNNEL=true
SSH_BASTION_HOST=bastion.example.com
SSH_BASTION_USER=ec2-user
SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH=~/.ssh/id_rsa
Variable | Description | Default |
---|---|---|
DB_USER | Database username | postgres |
DB_PASS | Database password | - |
DB_HOST | Database hostname | localhost |
DB_PORT | Database port | 5432 |
DB_NAME | Database name | - |
USE_SSH_TUNNEL | Whether to use SSH tunneling | false |
SSH_BASTION_HOST | SSH bastion hostname | - |
SSH_BASTION_USER | SSH bastion username | - |
SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH | Path to SSH private key | ~/.ssh/id_rsa |
Run the server using npx
:
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres postgresql://<user>:<pass>@localhost:5433/<dbname>
For direct connections without SSH tunneling:
DB_HOST=rds-host.amazonaws.com DB_PORT=5432 npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres postgresql://<user>:<pass>@rds-host.amazonaws.com/<dbname>
The server communicates using the Model Context Protocol over stdin/stdout.
{
"type": "call_tool",
"params": {
"name": "query",
"arguments": {
"sql": "SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 10"
}
}
}
{
"content": [
{
"type": "text",
"text": "[{\"id\":1,\"name\":\"Alice\"}]"
}
],
"isError": false
}
This implementation is compatible with:
To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:
claude mcp add-json "sql-mcp-server" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres","postgresql://<user>:<pass>@localhost:5433/<dbname>"]}'
See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.
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.
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": {
"sql-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres",
"postgresql://<user>:<pass>@localhost:5433/<dbname>"
]
}
}
}
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.
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.
To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:
1. Find your configuration file:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
2. Add this to your configuration file:
{
"mcpServers": {
"sql-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres",
"postgresql://<user>:<pass>@localhost:5433/<dbname>"
]
}
}
}
3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect