@vistal/mcp

Point it at a database URL. Claude talks to your data. No SQL, no code.

A zero-config MCP server for any database vistal supports through Prisma (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server). Give it a DATABASE_URL and it:

1. introspects your live schema (prisma db pull) — no schema.prisma needed,
2. generates the typed tools an agent uses to query it,
3. serves them over MCP — read-only by default, scoped by your policies.

No SQL ever reaches the model, and it can only do what the policy allows.

Quick start (Claude Code)

Add it to your .mcp.json — nothing to install or write:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "db": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vistal/mcp"],
      "env": { "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb" }
    }
  }
}

That's it. Claude can now discover your tables (list_resources, describe_resource) and read them (query, get, aggregate) — all policy-gated, all without writing SQL.

You can also run it directly:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://…" npx @vistal/mcp
# or pass the URL as the first argument
npx @vistal/mcp "postgresql://…"

Defaults & safety

• Read-only. Out of the box only query / get / aggregate are exposed — never create / update / delete. Writes require a policy file (below).
• All tables, opt-out. Every table is exposed; narrow it with allow/deny lists.
• No SQL, no leaks. The model calls typed tools; vistal turns them into scoped queries server-side. Fields marked sensitive in your schema never reach it.

Configuration

All via environment variables:

| Variable | Description | | --- | --- | | DATABASE_URL | Connection string (required; or pass as the first arg). | | VISTAL_PROVIDER | postgresql | mysql | sqlite | sqlserver | mongodb. Inferred from the URL when omitted. | | VISTAL_TABLES | Comma-separated allow-list. Only these tables are exposed. | | VISTAL_EXCLUDE | Comma-separated deny-list, applied after the allow-list. | | VISTAL_POLICY_FILE | Path to a policy module that takes full control (enables writes — see below). | | VISTAL_CONTEXT | JSON policy context passed to your policy file. Defaults to {}. | | VISTAL_HTTP_PORT | Serve over Streamable HTTP on this port instead of stdio. |

Enabling writes / richer policies

For anything beyond read-only, point VISTAL_POLICY_FILE at a CommonJS module that receives the configured vistal instance and declares policies. It takes full control of access (the allow/deny lists are then ignored):

// db-policy.cjs
module.exports = (vistal) => {
  vistal.policy("orders", () => ({ read: true, write: true, delete: false }))
  vistal.policy("users", () => ({ read: true, write: false, delete: false }))
}

{ "env": {
  "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://…",
  "VISTAL_POLICY_FILE": "./db-policy.cjs"
} }

Use VISTAL_CONTEXT to feed runtime context (tenant, role, …) your policies read: "VISTAL_CONTEXT": "{\"tenant\":{\"id\":\"acme\"}}".

How it works

Claude Code ─MCP─▶ @vistal/mcp
                     │  prisma db pull + generate  → live schema + typed client
                     │  @vistal/core               → policy engine (read-only default)
                     ▼
                  @vistal/prisma → PrismaClient → your database

The generated client lives in a temp directory and is removed on shutdown; your project is never modified. Requires network access to the database and the ability to run the bundled Prisma CLI.

Need policies-in-code instead?

If you'd rather define your adapter and policies yourself and embed an MCP server in your own app, use @vistal/mcp-sdk directly.

License

MIT