Connect SAP S/4HANA to Claude via SAP HANA (Read-Only SQL)

TL;DR: The SAP S/4HANA (HANA SQL) connector lets Claude read an S/4HANA system directly from its HANA database. Before it writes a query, Claude looks up what BUKRS, HSL or VBRK mean in SAP's own data dictionary, so it picks the right table, the right currency field and the right client. The session is read-only in HANA itself, results are capped at 1,000 rows and every statement times out. You need a HANA database user from SAP Basis and a self-hosted AnythingMCP that can reach the HANA SQL port.

Why a plain SQL connector is not enough for SAP

SAP's tables and fields are short German abbreviations: ACDOCA is the Universal Journal, RBUKRS the company code, HSL the amount in company code currency, VBRK the billing document header. A model that only sees column names guesses, and SAP punishes guesses: amounts belong to a currency field on another column, every table is split by client (MANDT), dates are YYYYMMDD strings and document numbers carry leading zeros.

The connector gives Claude SAP's own dictionary as tools. It reads the tables SAP uses to describe itself (DD02L, DD03L, DD04T, DD07T, DD08L and the CDS annotations), so Claude sees the business label of every field, which currency or unit field goes with each amount, what the codes of a field mean, how tables join, and which of SAP's CDS views are released and analytical. Only then does it write the query.

HANA SQL or OData?

AnythingMCP connects to S/4HANA on-premise and Private Cloud in two ways. Pick one, or run both side by side.

What you need

• An SAP Basis admin who can create a user in the tenant database that holds the ABAP schema (usually SAPHANADB or SAPABAP1).
• The connection details: host, the tenant's SQL port (3<instance>15 for the first tenant, 3<instance>41 and up for further tenants), tenant name, schema, the three-digit SAP client and the SAP language for texts (E English, D German).
• A self-hosted AnythingMCP that can reach that port. HANA's SQL port is normally reachable only inside the company network or the SAP private cloud landing zone.
• A licence check. Direct SQL access to the ABAP schema by a third-party application is governed by your SAP HANA licence. A runtime licence bundled with S/4HANA usually does not cover it; a full-use licence does. Ask your SAP account team before you connect a production system. In SAP's private cloud offerings, the database user and the network path are requested from SAP.

Setup

Step 1: Create a read-only database user

In the tenant that holds the ABAP schema:

CREATE USER AMCP_READER PASSWORD "<strong password>" NO FORCE_FIRST_PASSWORD_CHANGE;
ALTER USER AMCP_READER DISABLE PASSWORD LIFETIME;

-- dictionary tools
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD02L TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD02T TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD03L TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD03T TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD03ND TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD04T TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD07T TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD08L TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DD05S TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DDHEADANNO TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.DDFIELDANNO TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.ARS_W_API_STATE TO AMCP_READER;
-- organization structure
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.T001 TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.T001K TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.T001W TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.TKA01 TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.TVKO TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.TVKOT TO AMCP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.T024E TO AMCP_READER;
-- then the business tables and CDS views your use cases need, e.g.
GRANT SELECT ON SAPHANADB.ACDOCA TO AMCP_READER;

GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA SAPHANADB is simpler for broad analytics, but then everything in the schema is readable, HR data included. SQL does not apply SAP's application authorizations (company code, sales organization, HR checks): whatever the database user can read, Claude can read.

Optionally, cap the user's statements on the server side too:

CREATE WORKLOAD CLASS "AMCP_READER_WC" SET 'STATEMENT TIMEOUT' = '60', 'STATEMENT MEMORY LIMIT' = '20';
CREATE WORKLOAD MAPPING "AMCP_READER_WM" WORKLOAD CLASS "AMCP_READER_WC" SET 'USER NAME' = 'AMCP_READER';

Step 2: Run AnythingMCP inside the network

On a host that reaches the HANA SQL port:

mkdir anythingmcp && cd anythingmcp
curl -fsSLo docker-compose.yml \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp/main/docker-compose.quickstart.yml
printf 'JWT_SECRET=%s\nENCRYPTION_KEY=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose up -d   # → http://localhost:3000

Add the HANA host to SSRF_ALLOWED_HOSTS in .env: AnythingMCP refuses private addresses by default.

Step 3: Install the connector

Open Connectors → Store, pick SAP S/4HANA (HANA SQL) and fill in the variables:

The install makes one test call (sap_org_structure) and tells you whether the credentials and grants work. The password is stored encrypted and never shown to Claude.

Step 4: Add the MCP server to Claude

On claude.ai or in Claude Desktop: Customize → Connectors → + → Add custom connector, paste the URL of your MCP server (shown under MCP Servers in AnythingMCP) and sign in. For claude.ai the URL must be public HTTPS, because Claude connects from Anthropic's servers; only the MCP endpoint needs to be published, never the HANA port. In Claude Code, a local instance works too:

claude mcp add --transport http sap-hana <your MCP server URL> --header "X-API-Key: <key>"

Step 5: Ask

Start with something that scopes the data, for example "Which company codes are in this system, and in which currency?". The connector tells Claude to read sap_guide first; from there it works through the dictionary tools on its own.

Available tools

What the connector enforces

• Read-only in HANA itself. The session runs SET TRANSACTION READ ONLY before the statement, on top of a guard that lets only a single SELECT or WITH … SELECT through and refuses SELECT … INTO and locking reads. The database grants remain the real boundary.
• 1,000 rows at most, streamed, so a SELECT * on a large table never lands in memory.
• A 60-second statement timeout by default (up to 600 s with statementTimeout on the connection string); the session is closed and HANA cancels the statement.
• Denied tables. SAP's HR tables (PA####, PB####, PCL#, HRP####) and user and password tables (USR##, USH##, RFCDES, SSF_PSE_D) are refused by default, even if the grants allow them. Edit the list in the connector settings.
• Exact values. Decimals come back as strings, so amounts are not rounded; SAP GUIDs come back as upper-case hex.
• The SAP client. The connector sets the CDS_CLIENT session variable, without which SAP's CDS views return no rows. Plain tables still need a MANDT (or RCLNT) filter, and sap_guide tells Claude so.

Using SAP's native driver

AnythingMCP ships with hdb, SAP's pure-JavaScript HANA driver (Apache-2.0). It covers user and password, TLS, multi-tenant systems and everything the connector does. SAP's native driver, @sap/hana-client, adds Kerberos, the secure user store (hdbuserstore) and connection pooling. It is published under the SAP Developer License, which does not allow us to redistribute it, so it is never part of the image: you install it into your own deployment, either by extending the image or by mounting it as a volume, and select it with driver=hana-client on the connection string or HANA_DRIVER=hana-client for every HANA connector. Check that your SAP agreement covers its use in production. On arm64 hosts, keep the bundled hdb driver or build your own Debian-based image. Step by step: SAP HANA in the AnythingMCP docs.

Example prompts

• "Show me revenue per posting period for company code 1000 in 2026."
• "Which customers have open receivables older than 30 days, and how much per customer?"
• "Top 10 customers by net sales this year, from the billing documents."
• "Which released analytical CDS views cover journal entries? Describe the measures of the first one."
• "What do the values of the billing document category field mean?"
• "Goods movements per movement type in plant 1000 last month."

Troubleshooting

• A CDS view returns no rows. SAP_CLIENT is missing or wrong; the connector needs it to set CDS_CLIENT.
• Connection refused or a redirect to an unknown host. Use the tenant's own SQL port rather than the system database port, which may redirect to an internal host name the connector cannot resolve.
• "Insufficient privilege". The table is not granted to the database user. Grant it, or ask Claude to use a table or CDS view it can read.
• Certificate error. Use SAP_HANA_TLS=no-verify for a self-signed certificate, or install the CA.
• A query times out. Ask Claude to filter by company code, period or plant and aggregate in SQL; raise statementTimeout only if the query is genuinely large.

FAQ

Can Claude change data in SAP through this connector? No. The HANA session is read-only, only a single SELECT runs, and writes and locking reads are refused. Create the database user with SELECT grants only, so HANA enforces the same rule.

Does it respect SAP authorizations? No. SQL bypasses SAP's application authorizations, so the database grants decide what Claude can read. If you need SAP's authorization checks, use the OData route instead, or grant only the tables and views that are fine to read.

Is direct SQL access to S/4HANA allowed by my SAP licence? It depends on your HANA licence. A runtime licence bundled with S/4HANA usually does not cover third-party SQL access to the ABAP schema; a full-use licence does. Check your contract before connecting production.

Does it work with S/4HANA Private Cloud (RISE)? Yes, if SAP provides a database user and a network path to the HANA SQL port, and AnythingMCP runs where it can reach that port. Request both from SAP.

Can I use AnythingMCP Cloud instead of self-hosting? Only if the HANA SQL port is reachable from the internet, which is rarely the case and rarely advisable. Self-host AnythingMCP next to SAP.

Does it work with ChatGPT and Copilot too? Yes. The same MCP server works in ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Cursor and Claude Code.

Next steps

• OData to MCP: the other route to S/4HANA on-premise, with SAP's authorization checks
• Connect SAP to Claude: every SAP connector at a glance
• Database to MCP: SAP HANA as a plain database connector, next to SQL Server, PostgreSQL and Oracle
• SAP HANA on GitHub: connection string options and the native driver