How to Connect Databases to MCP Servers

Direct Database Access for AI Agents

Instead of building REST APIs on top of your databases, AnythingMCP connects directly to your database and exposes it as MCP tools. AI agents can query data using natural language.

Supported Databases

Important: All database connectors in AnythingMCP are read-only by design. This ensures AI agents cannot accidentally modify or delete data.

Auto-Generated Tools

When you create a database connector, AnythingMCP automatically generates three tools:

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Deploy AnythingMCP

git clone https://github.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp.git
cd anythingmcp && docker compose up -d

Step 2: Create a Database Connector

Open the AnythingMCP dashboard at http://localhost:3000 and create a new Database connector. Select your database type (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MSSQL, Oracle, SQLite, or MongoDB) and provide the connection details.

Step 3: Configure Connection

Enter your database host, port, credentials, and database name. For SQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MSSQL, Oracle, SQLite), the connector will use SQL SELECT queries only. For MongoDB, only find operations are allowed.

Step 4: Test the Connection

Use the dashboard to verify the connection and review the auto-discovered schema. The get_database_schema tool will show all available tables and columns.

Step 5: Connect to AI Agents

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-database": {
      "url": "http://localhost:4000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Query Limits

• SQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MSSQL, Oracle, SQLite): Only SELECT statements are allowed
• MongoDB: Only find operations are allowed
• Row limit: Maximum 1000 rows per query
• No write operations: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DROP are blocked

AI Agent Use Cases

• "Show me all orders from last month with total over $500"
• "What are the top 10 products by revenue?"
• "How many new users signed up this week?"
• "List all customers from Germany"

Security Best Practices

1. Use a read-only database user — Create a dedicated user with SELECT-only permissions
2. Restrict accessible tables — Only expose tables that are safe for AI access
3. SSL connections — Always use encrypted connections in production
4. Network restrictions — Limit database access to the AnythingMCP server IP

Next Steps

• PostgreSQL to MCP Guide — PostgreSQL-specific setup
• MySQL to MCP Guide — MySQL-specific setup
• MariaDB to MCP Guide — MariaDB-specific setup
• Oracle to MCP Guide — Oracle-specific setup
• SQLite to MCP Guide — SQLite-specific setup
• MongoDB to MCP Guide — MongoDB-specific setup
• REST to MCP Guide — For databases that need write access, expose a REST API instead