DBHub is a universal database gateway implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server interface. This gateway allows MCP-compatible clients to connect to and explore different databases.
+------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| Claude Desktop +--->+ +--->+ PostgreSQL |
| | | | | |
| Cursor +--->+ DBHub +--->+ SQL Server |
| | | | | |
| Other MCP +--->+ +--->+ SQLite |
| Clients | | | | |
| | | +--->+ MySQL |
| | | | | |
| | | +--->+ MariaDB |
| | | | | |
| | | +--->+ Oracle |
| | | | | |
+------------------+ +--------------+ +------------------+
MCP Clients MCP Server Databases
https://demo.dbhub.ai/sse connects a sample employee database. You can point Cursor or MCP Inspector to it to see it in action.
Resource Name | URI Format | PostgreSQL | MySQL | MariaDB | SQL Server | SQLite | Oracle |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
schemas | db://schemas |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
tables_in_schema | db://schemas/{schemaName}/tables |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
table_structure_in_schema | db://schemas/{schemaName}/tables/{tableName} |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
indexes_in_table | db://schemas/{schemaName}/tables/{tableName}/indexes |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
procedures_in_schema | db://schemas/{schemaName}/procedures |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
procedure_details_in_schema | db://schemas/{schemaName}/procedures/{procedureName} |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Tool | Command Name | PostgreSQL | MySQL | MariaDB | SQL Server | SQLite | Oracle |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Execute SQL | execute_sql |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
List Connectors | list_connectors |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Prompt | Command Name | PostgreSQL | MySQL | MariaDB | SQL Server | SQLite | Oracle |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Generate SQL | generate_sql |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Explain DB Elements | explain_db |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
# PostgreSQL example
docker run --rm --init \
--name dbhub \
--publish 8080:8080 \
bytebase/dbhub \
--transport sse \
--port 8080 \
--dsn "postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable"
# Demo mode with sample employee database
docker run --rm --init \
--name dbhub \
--publish 8080:8080 \
bytebase/dbhub \
--transport sse \
--port 8080 \
--demo
# Oracle example
docker run --rm --init \
--name dbhub \
--publish 8080:8080 \
bytebase/dbhub \
--transport sse \
--port 8080 \
--dsn "oracle://username:password@localhost:1521/service_name"
# Oracle example with thick mode for connecting to 11g or older
docker run --rm --init \
--name dbhub \
--publish 8080:8080 \
bytebase/dbhub-oracle-thick \
--transport sse \
--port 8080 \
--dsn "oracle://username:password@localhost:1521/service_name"
# PostgreSQL example
npx @bytebase/dbhub --transport sse --port 8080 --dsn "postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname"
# Demo mode with sample employee database
npx @bytebase/dbhub --transport sse --port 8080 --demo
Note: The demo mode includes a bundled SQLite sample "employee" database with tables for employees, departments, salaries, and more.
- Claude Desktop only supports
stdio
transport https://github.com/orgs/modelcontextprotocol/discussions/16
// claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"dbhub-postgres-docker": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"bytebase/dbhub",
"--transport",
"stdio",
"--dsn",
// Use host.docker.internal as the host if connecting to the local db
"postgres://user:password@host.docker.internal:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable"
]
},
"dbhub-postgres-npx": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@bytebase/dbhub",
"--transport",
"stdio",
"--dsn",
"postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable"
]
},
"dbhub-demo": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@bytebase/dbhub", "--transport", "stdio", "--demo"]
}
}
}
- Cursor supports both
stdio
andsse
. - Follow Cursor MCP guide and make sure to use Agent mode.
You can run DBHub in read-only mode, which restricts SQL query execution to read-only operations:
# Enable read-only mode
npx @bytebase/dbhub --readonly --dsn "postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname"
In read-only mode, only readonly SQL operations are allowed.
This provides an additional layer of security when connecting to production databases.
You can use DBHub in demo mode with a sample employee database for testing:
npx @bytebase/dbhub --demo
For real databases, a Database Source Name (DSN) is required. You can provide this in several ways:
-
Command line argument (highest priority):
npx @bytebase/dbhub --dsn "postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable"
-
Environment variable (second priority):
export DSN="postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable" npx @bytebase/dbhub
-
Environment file (third priority):
- For development: Create
.env.local
with your DSN - For production: Create
.env
with your DSN
DSN=postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable
- For development: Create
Warning
When running in Docker, use host.docker.internal
instead of localhost
to connect to databases running on your host machine. For example: mysql://user:password@host.docker.internal:3306/dbname
DBHub supports the following database connection string formats:
Database | DSN Format | Example |
---|---|---|
MySQL | mysql://[user]:[password]@[host]:[port]/[database] |
mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/dbname |
MariaDB | mariadb://[user]:[password]@[host]:[port]/[database] |
mariadb://user:password@localhost:3306/dbname |
PostgreSQL | postgres://[user]:[password]@[host]:[port]/[database] |
postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable |
SQL Server | sqlserver://[user]:[password]@[host]:[port]/[database] |
sqlserver://user:password@localhost:1433/dbname |
SQLite | sqlite:///[path/to/file] or sqlite::memory: |
sqlite:///path/to/database.db , sqlite:C:/Users/YourName/data/database.db (windows) or sqlite::memory: |
Oracle | oracle://[user]:[password]@[host]:[port]/[service_name] |
oracle://username:password@localhost:1521/service_name |
If you see the error "NJS-138: connections to this database server version are not supported by node-oracledb in Thin mode", you need to use Thick mode as described below.
Use bytebase/dbhub-oracle-thick
instead of bytebase/dbhub
docker image.
- Download and install Oracle Instant Client for your platform
- Set the
ORACLE_LIB_DIR
environment variable to the path of your Oracle Instant Client:
# Set environment variable to Oracle Instant Client directory
export ORACLE_LIB_DIR=/path/to/instantclient_19_8
# Then run DBHub
npx @bytebase/dbhub --dsn "oracle://username:password@localhost:1521/service_name"
Extra query parameters:
authentication=azure-active-directory-access-token
. Only applicable when running from Azure. See DefaultAzureCredential.
-
stdio (default) - for direct integration with tools like Claude Desktop:
npx @bytebase/dbhub --transport stdio --dsn "postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable"
-
sse - for browser and network clients:
npx @bytebase/dbhub --transport sse --port 5678 --dsn "postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?sslmode=disable"
Option | Description | Default |
---|---|---|
demo | Run in demo mode with sample employee database | false |
dsn | Database connection string | Required if not in demo mode |
transport | Transport mode: stdio or sse |
stdio |
port | HTTP server port (only applicable when using --transport=sse ) |
8080 |
readonly | Restrict SQL execution to read-only operations | false |