SQL MCP Server

An MCP server for connecting to and running queries on SQL databases. Supports built-in SSH tunneling.

Supported databases: MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite.

Install

Run Directly

npx -y @affanshahid/sql-mcp-server

npm

npm install -g @affanshahid/sql-mcp-server

Shell (macOS / Linux)

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/affanshahid/sql-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/sql-mcp-server-installer.sh | sh

PowerShell (Windows)

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://github.com/affanshahid/sql-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/sql-mcp-server-installer.ps1 | iex"

Build From Source

cargo install sql-mcp-server --locked

Usage

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sql": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@affanshahid/sql-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "postgres://user:pass@host:5432/dbname"
      }
    }
  }
}

SSH tunneling

To reach a database that isn't directly accessible, supply SSH options and the server will open a local forward and connect through it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sql": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@affanshahid/sql-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "postgres://user:[email protected]:5432/dbname",
        "SSH_HOST": "bastion.example.com",
        "SSH_USERNAME": "deploy",
        "SSH_PRIVATE_KEY": "/home/you/.ssh/id_ed25519"
      }
    }
  }
}

Authentication also accepts a password (SSH_PASSWORD) instead.

Permissions

By default only SELECT is allowed. Use DATABASE_OPERATIONS to permit more:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sql": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@affanshahid/sql-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "postgres://user:pass@host:5432/dbname",
        "DATABASE_OPERATIONS": "select,insert,update"
      }
    }
  }
}

Possible values: select, insert, update, delete, ddl.

Additional guards (off by default):

• DENY_LIMITLESS_SELECT — reject SELECT without LIMIT.
• DENY_BOUNDLESS_UPDATE — reject UPDATE without WHERE.
• DENY_BOUNDLESS_DELETE — reject DELETE without WHERE.

Configuration reference

Every option can be set as either a CLI flag or an environment variable.

| Flag | Env | Default | | ------------------------- | ----------------------- | -------- | | -d, --database-url | DATABASE_URL | — | | -o, --operations | DATABASE_OPERATIONS | select | | --deny-limitless-select | DENY_LIMITLESS_SELECT | false | | --deny-boundless-update | DENY_BOUNDLESS_UPDATE | false | | --deny-boundless-delete | DENY_BOUNDLESS_DELETE | false | | -H, --host | SSH_HOST | — | | -P, --port | SSH_PORT | 22 | | -u, --username | SSH_USERNAME | — | | -p, --password | SSH_PASSWORD | — | | -i, --private-key | SSH_PRIVATE_KEY | — |