MCP Toolbox for Databases

At a glance

Toolbox is a server from Google that ships ready-made tool sets for a long list of databases. Pick one with --prebuilt and pass connection details as environment variables, or write your own tools file to expose only the queries you approve.

That second option is the reason to choose it: you can give an assistant five named queries instead of raw SQL.

Made by

Google (googleapis)

Licence

Apache-2.0

Latest version

1.15.0 (23 Oct 2026)

npm package

@toolbox-sdk/server

GitHub stars

16.7K

Downloads

31.2K a week

Last commit

25 Oct 2026

Tools

29

Runs on

Your computer

Our check: We ran this exact config on 26 Oct 2026: it started and answered with 29 tools. @toolbox-sdk/server on npm is published from googleapis/mcp-toolbox.

What's in the pod: its tools

We found 29 tools when we started it on 26 Oct 2026. 22 only read. The rest can change things, so keep your app's "ask before each tool call" setting on for them.

How we tested it: Started with the published config against a local Postgres 16 database.

Tool groups

--prebuilt=postgres

Ready-made tools for PostgreSQL. Swap the name for mysql, sqlserver, oracle, mongodb, redis, snowflake, clickhouse, neo4j and more.

--prebuilt=bigquery

Google Cloud data: also alloydb-postgres, cloud-sql-postgres, cloud-sql-mysql, spanner and firestore.

--prebuilt=<database>/<toolset>

Load only part of a prebuilt set, such as the data tools without the admin ones.

tools.yaml

Your own tools: fixed, parameterised queries you write once, so the agent can only run what you allowed.

Grouped and described by us. The README on GitHub lists the inputs each tool takes.

Set it up

Pick your app for the exact snippet and where it goes.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-toolbox-for-databases": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@toolbox-sdk/server",
        "--prebuilt=postgres",
        "--stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "POSTGRES_HOST": "localhost",
        "POSTGRES_PORT": "5432",
        "POSTGRES_DATABASE": "dbname",
        "POSTGRES_USER": "user",
        "POSTGRES_PASSWORD": "password"
      }
    }
  }
}

claude mcp add-json mcp-toolbox-for-databases '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@toolbox-sdk/server","--prebuilt=postgres","--stdio"],"env":{"POSTGRES_HOST":"localhost","POSTGRES_PORT":"5432","POSTGRES_DATABASE":"dbname","POSTGRES_USER":"user","POSTGRES_PASSWORD":"password"}}'

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-toolbox-for-databases": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@toolbox-sdk/server",
        "--prebuilt=postgres",
        "--stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "POSTGRES_HOST": "localhost",
        "POSTGRES_PORT": "5432",
        "POSTGRES_DATABASE": "dbname",
        "POSTGRES_USER": "user",
        "POSTGRES_PASSWORD": "password"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "servers": {
    "mcp-toolbox-for-databases": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@toolbox-sdk/server",
        "--prebuilt=postgres",
        "--stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "POSTGRES_HOST": "localhost",
        "POSTGRES_PORT": "5432",
        "POSTGRES_DATABASE": "dbname",
        "POSTGRES_USER": "user",
        "POSTGRES_PASSWORD": "password"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-toolbox-for-databases": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@toolbox-sdk/server",
        "--prebuilt=postgres",
        "--stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "POSTGRES_HOST": "localhost",
        "POSTGRES_PORT": "5432",
        "POSTGRES_DATABASE": "dbname",
        "POSTGRES_USER": "user",
        "POSTGRES_PASSWORD": "password"
      }
    }
  }
}

New to this? See the setup guides for Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop and ChatGPT.

Settings

Names are exactly as the project spells them. Required ones are marked.

What it can touch

Safer setup: Skip the prebuilt execute_sql and write your own tools.yaml with fixed queries, and give the database user read-only rights.

Before you start

• Node.js 18 or newer
• Connection details for your database

If it does not work

Prebuilt tools cannot connect

Each database expects its own environment variables. Check the prebuilt tools reference for the exact names and set them in the client config.

The client only shows some tools

You may be connected to a toolset URL. Use /mcp for everything or /mcp/<toolset> for one group.

Unsure whether a custom tool works

Run toolbox --ui and try it by hand first.

Peas in a pod: similar servers

How MCP Toolbox for Databases lines up against other databases and data servers on the shelf.

Questions

Something wrong on this page? Tell us.