Connect SQL Server to Microsoft Copilot: MSSQL MCP Server, Read-Only

💡 No install? Use cloud.anythingmcp.com directly. Sign in, click Connectors → Microsoft SQL Server, paste your credentials, mint an MCP API key — done. No Docker, no git clone, no local server.

Microsoft SQL Server + Microsoft Copilot

Query a Microsoft SQL Server database directly: list tables, describe columns and run read-only T-SQL. Supports SQL Server and Windows (NTLM) authentication. Installs read-only.

Prerequisites

See the full setup instructions baked into the connector (visible in the in-app store when you select the connector). The required environment variables for this connector are:

MSSQL_HOST, MSSQL_PORT, MSSQL_DATABASE, MSSQL_USER, MSSQL_PASSWORD

Step 1 — Get credentials

Setup

1. Create a login and a database user with only db_datareader:

   CREATE LOGIN amcp_reader WITH PASSWORD = 'change-me';
   USE sales;
   CREATE USER amcp_reader FOR LOGIN amcp_reader;
   ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER amcp_reader;
   

2. Set MSSQL_HOST, MSSQL_PORT (1433), MSSQL_DATABASE, MSSQL_USER and MSSQL_PASSWORD.

Windows authentication: set MSSQL_DOMAIN as well and the engine switches to NTLM instead of SQL Server auth. Leave it blank for a SQL login.

…(continued in the in-app connector instructions)

Step 2 — Install the adapter

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp/main/docker-compose.quickstart.yml -o docker-compose.yml
printf 'JWT_SECRET=%s\nENCRYPTION_KEY=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose up -d

Step 3 — Add the connector in Microsoft Copilot

Your server URL: in AnythingMCP, open MCP Servers → the server this connector is on, and copy its URL (https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/…). Use it wherever this guide shows YOUR_SERVER_ID.

Microsoft Copilot uses MCP servers through agents built in Copilot Studio: you add AnythingMCP to an agent as a tool, then publish the agent to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams. Copilot Studio connects from Microsoft's cloud over Streamable HTTP, which AnythingMCP supports.

1. In Copilot Studio, open your agent (or create one), go to Tools and choose Add a tool → New tool → Model Context Protocol.
2. Enter a Server name (for example AnythingMCP), a Server description that says what the connector does, and the Server URL https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/YOUR_SERVER_ID. Copilot Studio uses the description to decide when to call the server.
3. Under authentication, choose API key, set Type to Header and the header name to X-API-Key, then select Create.
4. In Add tool, choose Create a new connection, paste an MCP API key from AnythingMCP (MCP Servers → your server → API keys) and select Add to agent.
5. Try it in the agent's Test pane: ask for something that needs the Microsoft SQL Server tools.
6. Select Publish, then Channels → Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, keep Make agent available in Microsoft Copilot selected and choose Add channel. See agent in Teams installs it for you; in Microsoft 365 Copilot, type @ and pick the agent.

Prefer per-user sign-in? Choose OAuth 2.0 → Dynamic discovery instead of an API key: each user then signs in to AnythingMCP the first time the agent calls it.

Self-hosting? Use your instance's public HTTPS address instead of https://cloud.anythingmcp.com. Copilot Studio connects from Microsoft's cloud, so localhost does not work.

Available tools

FAQ

Is there an MCP server for SQL Server? Yes. AnythingMCP's SQL Server connector gives Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot five tools: list tables, describe a table, find columns, run a query and example queries. It runs on AnythingMCP Cloud or self-hosted next to your database.

Can Copilot change data in SQL Server? No, by default. The query tool only runs a single SELECT and blocks INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DDL and stacked statements. Give the login SELECT rights only as well.

Does it support Windows authentication? Yes, SQL Server logins and Windows (NTLM) accounts both work; see Step 1.

My SQL Server is on the internal network. Does that work? Yes, with a self-hosted AnythingMCP on the same network and the server's hostname in SSRF_ALLOWED_HOSTS. AnythingMCP Cloud can only reach a server exposed to the internet.

Which Copilot is this for? Microsoft 365 Copilot at work, through agents built in Copilot Studio. The Microsoft Copilot app for personal accounts has no option to add your own MCP server.

What do I need? A work account with access to Copilot Studio (a license or a trial) to build the agent. People who use it in Microsoft 365 Copilot or Teams need access to the agent: share it with them, or ask an admin to publish it to the organization. If your organization applies data policies to Power Platform connectors, they cover MCP servers too.

The agent doesn't call the tools. Check that the header name is exactly X-API-Key and that the key belongs to the same MCP server as the URL, and make the server description specific: Copilot Studio uses it to decide when to call the server. Publish the agent again after each change; in an open chat, type "start over" to get the new version.

Next steps

• sql-to-mcp on GitHub: the database connectors with a five-minute Docker demo

• Database to MCP: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle and MongoDB too

• Connector landing page

• Connect to Claude

• Connect to ChatGPT

• Connect to Cursor

• Connect to Gemini

• Connect to Meta Muse