mcpdata Request an invite

Answers / Connect your AI

How do I connect Claude Desktop to a database?

Recipe verified on Ran on the public demo (read-only) Tested: the address and key header below, with an MCP client; Claude Desktop's settings as Anthropic documents them
Short answer

Add a database's MCP server to Claude Desktop's config file. For mcpdata that's a remote server (https://[you].mcpdata.org/mcp) with your API key, reached through the mcp-remote bridge; after a restart, Claude can list your tables and query them.

Steps

  1. Open the config file. In Claude Desktop: Settings, Developer, Edit Config. It opens claude_desktop_config.json.
  2. Add the server. This one points at the public demo (read-only, synthetic data); for your own instance use its address and your key: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcpdata-demo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://demo.mcpdata.org/mcp", "--header", "Authorization:${AUTH}"],
      "env": { "AUTH": "Bearer cdb_live_PkVoldus8qcE-hqffjajNZzQwiA7rTHMoR4RLSAxsCE" }
    }
  }
}
  3. Restart Claude Desktop. The mcpdata tools appear in the tools menu of a new chat.
  4. Ask your question. Give your AI this prompt:
    Using mcpdata, which tables can you see, and how many rows does each have?
What your AI does: the tool call it makes for this prompt, and what came back
list_tables() → 3 tables: Demo.Orders, Demo.Products, Demo.Customers
What you should get · the recipe's real result from its last run
tablerowslast_updated
Demo.Orders10,005,0002026-10-27 20:05:07.103000
Demo.Products2,0002026-10-27 19:50:37.321000
Demo.Customers200,0002026-10-27 19:50:36.983000

Synthetic data: the demo's orders are generated, not real customers.

Ask Claude with this prompt Ask ChatGPT with this prompt

The assistant needs mcpdata connected (step 1) to run the query.

Why this works

Claude Desktop's config file starts local programs. mcp-remote is a small program (run with npx, so it needs Node.js) that connects to a remote MCP server and passes your key as a header. Try it first with the public demo's address and key, shown here; then swap in your own instance.

Related questions