Data Explorer MCP server

This MCP server provides a powerful way to analyze CSV data with Claude. It allows Claude Desktop to load CSV files and execute JavaScript data analysis scripts, enabling interactive data exploration and insights generation.

Prerequisites

• Node.js v16+ - Download Node.js
• Claude Desktop - Download Claude Desktop

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/tofunori/claude-mcp-data-explorer.git
   cd claude-mcp-data-explorer
   

2. Install dependencies

   npm install
   

3. Build and run setup script

   npm run setup
   

   This will build the TypeScript code, configure Claude Desktop, and create necessary directories.

4. Configure Claude Desktop

   • Close Claude Desktop completely
   • Restart Claude Desktop
   • Go to Help → Enable Developer Mode

Testing the Server

You can verify the server works correctly by running:

npm run build
npm run start

If the server starts without errors, Claude Desktop should be able to use it.

Using the Data Explorer

Basic Usage

1. Start Claude Desktop

2. Select the "Explore Data" prompt template This template will appear in Claude Desktop after setup is complete.

3. Provide CSV information

   • Enter the path to your CSV file (e.g., C:/Users/YourName/Documents/data.csv)
   • Specify the exploration topic (e.g., "Sales trends by region")

4. Interact with Claude's analysis Claude will automatically load your CSV file and generate insights based on your specified topic.

Available Tools

The MCP server provides two primary tools:

• load-csv: Loads CSV data into memory for analysis
• run-script: Executes JavaScript code for data processing and analysis

Working with Large Files

The server handles large CSV files efficiently through chunking, allowing you to analyze substantial datasets without performance issues.

Troubleshooting

Claude doesn't show the MCP server

• Check the configuration file at %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Verify it points to the compiled JavaScript file in the dist directory
• Try rebuilding with npm run build
• Enable Developer Mode and check the MCP Log File (Developer → Open MCP Log File)
• Use Developer → Reload All MCP Servers to force refresh

Permission errors reading files

• Ensure Claude has access to the CSV file location
• Use absolute paths with forward slashes (/) or escaped backslashes (\\)

JavaScript errors in scripts

• Verify your script is compatible with the allowed modules
• Review any error messages in Claude's response

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 "data-explorer" '{"command":"npm","args":["run","start"]}'

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": {
        "data-explorer": {
            "command": "npm",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "start"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "data-explorer": {
            "command": "npm",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "start"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect