MCP Toolbox for Databases vs Neon MCP Server

MCP Toolbox for Databases is an open source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects your AI agents, IDEs, and applications directly to your enterprise databases.

It serves a dual purpose:

1. Ready-to-use MCP Server (Build-Time): Instantly connect Gemini CLI, Google Antigravity, Claude Code, Codex, or other MCP clients to your databases using our prebuilt generic tools. Talk to your data, explore schemas, and generate code without writing boilerplate.
2. Custom Tools Framework (Run-Time): A robust framework to build specialized, highly secure AI tools for your production agents. Define structured queries, semantic search, and NL2SQL capabilities safely and easily.

This README provides a brief overview. For comprehensive details, see the full documentation.

[!IMPORTANT]
Repository Name Update: The genai-toolbox repository has been officially renamed to mcp-toolbox. To ensure your local environment reflects the new name, you may update your remote:
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/googleapis/mcp-toolbox.git

[!NOTE]
This solution was originally named “Gen AI Toolbox for Databases” (github.com/googleapis/genai-toolbox) as its initial development predated MCP, but was renamed to align with the MCP compatibility.

Table of Contents

• Why MCP Toolbox?
• Quick Start: Prebuilt Tools
• Quick Start: Custom Tools
• Install & Run the Toolbox server
• Connect to Toolbox
  • MCP Client
  • Toolbox SDKs: Integrate with your Application
• Additional Features
• Versioning
• Contributing
• Community

Why MCP Toolbox?

• Out-of-the-Box Database Access: Prebuilt generic tools for instant data exploration (e.g., list_tables, execute_sql) directly from your IDE or CLI.
• Custom Tools Framework: Build production-ready tools with your own predefined logic, ensuring safety through Restricted Access, Structured Queries, and Semantic Search.
• Simplified Development: Integrate tools into your Agent Development Kit (ADK), LangChain, LlamaIndex, or custom agents in less than 10 lines of code.
• Better Performance: Handles connection pooling, integrated auth (IAM), and end-to-end observability (OpenTelemetry) out of the box.
• Enhanced Security: Integrated authentication for more secure access to your data.
• End-to-end Observability: Out of the box metrics and tracing with built-in support for OpenTelemetry.

Quick Start: Prebuilt Tools

Stop context-switching and let your AI assistant become a true co-developer. By connecting your IDE to your databases with MCP Toolbox, you can query your data in plain English, automate schema discovery and management, and generate database-aware code.

You can use the Toolbox in any MCP-compatible IDE or client (e.g., Gemini CLI, Google Antigravity, Claude Code, Codex, etc.) by configuring the MCP server.

Prebuilt tools are also conveniently available via the Google Antigravity MCP Store with a simple click-to-install experience.

1. Add the following to your client's MCP configuration file (usually mcp.json or claude_desktop_config.json):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "toolbox-postgres": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": [
           "-y",
           "@toolbox-sdk/server",
           "--prebuilt=postgres",
           "--stdio"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   

   Copy

2. Set the appropriate environment variables to connect, see the Prebuilt Tools Reference.

When you run Toolbox with a --prebuilt=<database> flag, you instantly get access to standard tools to interact with that database. You can also specify a specific toolset using the --prebuilt=<database>/<toolset> syntax (e.g., --prebuilt=postgres/data to only load SQL tools).

Supported databases currently include:

• Google Cloud: AlloyDB, BigQuery, Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server), Spanner, Firestore, Knowledge Catalog (formerly known as Dataplex).
• Other Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, CockroachDB, ClickHouse, Couchbase, Neo4j, Snowflake, Trino, and more.

For a full list of available tools and their capabilities across all supported databases, see the Prebuilt Tools Reference.

See the Install & Run the Toolbox server section for different execution methods like Docker or binaries.

[!TIP]
For users looking for a managed solution, Google Cloud MCP Servers
provide a managed MCP experience with prebuilt tools; you can learn more about the differences here.

Quick Start: Custom Tools

Toolbox can also be used as a framework for customized tools.
The primary way to configure Toolbox is through the tools.yaml file. If you
have multiple files, you can tell Toolbox which to load with the --config tools.yaml flag.

You can find more detailed reference documentation to all resource types in the
Resources.

Sources

The sources section of your tools.yaml defines what data sources your
Toolbox should have access to. Most tools will have at least one source to
execute against.

kind: source
name: my-pg-source
type: postgres
host: 127.0.0.1
port: 5432
database: toolbox_db
user: toolbox_user
password: my-password

For more details on configuring different types of sources, see the
Sources.

Tools

The tools section of a tools.yaml define the actions an agent can take: what
type of tool it is, which source(s) it affects, what parameters it uses, etc.

kind: tool
name: search-hotels-by-name
type: postgres-sql
source: my-pg-source
description: Search for hotels based on name.
parameters:
  - name: name
    type: string
    description: The name of the hotel.
statement: SELECT * FROM hotels WHERE name ILIKE '%' || $1 || '%';

For more details on configuring different types of tools, see the
Tools.

Toolsets

The toolsets section of your tools.yaml allows you to define groups of tools
that you want to be able to load together. This can be useful for defining
different groups based on agent or application.

kind: toolset
name: my_first_toolset
tools:
    - my_first_tool
    - my_second_tool
---
kind: toolset
name: my_second_toolset
tools:
    - my_second_tool
    - my_third_tool

Prompts

The prompts section of a tools.yaml defines prompts that can be used for
interactions with LLMs.

kind: prompt
name: code_review
description: "Asks the LLM to analyze code quality and suggest improvements."
messages:
  - content: >
         Please review the following code for quality, correctness,
         and potential improvements: \n\n{{.code}}
arguments:
  - name: "code"
    description: "The code to review"

For more details on configuring prompts, see the
Prompts.

Resources

The resources and resourceTemplates sections of your tools.yaml define read-only
content, files, or parameterized directory trees that can be discovered and retrieved
by MCP clients:

kind: resource
name: database_schema_ddl
type: text
description: "Core table definitions and constraints."
mimeType: text/x-sql
text: |
  CREATE TABLE customers (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL
  );
---
kind: resource
name: database_schema
type: file
description: "PostgreSQL schema definition."
path: "./schema.sql"
---
kind: resourceTemplate
name: server_logs
type: file
description: "Application log files."
uriTemplate: "file:///var/log/{path}"
allowedPaths:
  - "/var/log"

For more details on configuring resources and resource templates, see
Resources.

Install & Run the Toolbox server

You can run Toolbox directly with a configuration file:

npx @toolbox-sdk/server --config tools.yaml

This runs the latest version of the Toolbox server with your configuration file.

[!NOTE]
This method is optimized for convenience rather than performance.
For a more standard and reliable installation, please use the binary
or container image as described in Install & Run the Toolbox server.

Install Toolbox

For the latest version, check the releases page and use the
following instructions for your OS and CPU architecture.

## see releases page for other versions
export VERSION=1.16.0
docker pull us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/database-toolbox/toolbox/toolbox:$VERSION

brew install mcp-toolbox

go install github.com/googleapis/mcp-toolbox@v1.16.0

## Install Gemini CLI
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
## Install the extension
gemini extensions install https://github.com/gemini-cli-extensions/cloud-sql-postgres
## Run Gemini CLI
gemini

## Install the extension
gemini extensions install https://github.com/gemini-cli-extensions/mcp-toolbox

Run Toolbox

Configure a tools.yaml to define your tools, and then
execute toolbox to start the server:

./toolbox --config "tools.yaml"

export VERSION=0.24.0 # Use the version you pulled
docker run -p 5000:5000 \
-v $(pwd)/tools.yaml:/app/tools.yaml \
us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/database-toolbox/toolbox/toolbox:$VERSION \
--config "/app/tools.yaml"

go run .

toolbox --config "tools.yaml"

npx @toolbox-sdk/server --config tools.yaml

## Run Gemini CLI
gemini

## List extensions
/extensions list
## List MCP servers
/mcp list

You can use toolbox help for a full list of flags! To stop the server, send a
terminate signal (ctrl+c on most platforms).

For more detailed documentation on deploying to different environments, check
out the resources in the Deploy Toolbox
section

Connect to Toolbox

Once your Toolbox server is up and running, you can load tools into your MCP-compatible client or
application.

MCP Client

Add the following configuration to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolbox": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:5000/mcp",
    }
  }
}

If you would like to connect to a specific toolset, replace url with "http://127.0.0.1:5000/mcp/{toolset_name}".

Toolbox SDKs: Integrate with your Application

Toolbox Client SDKs provide the easy-to-use building blocks and advanced features for connecting your custom applications to the MCP Toolbox server. See below the list of Client SDKs for using various frameworks:

Additional Features

Test tools with the Toolbox UI

To launch Toolbox's interactive UI, use the --ui flag. This allows you to test
tools and toolsets with features such as authorized parameters. To learn more,
visit Toolbox UI.

./toolbox --ui

Telemetry

Toolbox emits traces and metrics via OpenTelemetry. Use --telemetry-otlp=<endpoint>
to export to any OTLP-compatible backend like Google Cloud Monitoring, Agnost AI, or
others. See the telemetry docs for details.

Generate Agent Skills

The skills-generate command allows you to convert a toolset into an Agent Skill compatible with the Agent Skill specification. This is useful for distributing tools as portable skill packages.

toolbox --config tools.yaml skills-generate \
  --name "my-skill" \
  --toolset "my_toolset" \
  --description "A skill containing multiple tools"

Once generated, you can install the skill into the Gemini CLI:

gemini skills install ./skills/my-skill

For more details, see the Generating Skills guide. To serve a skill you already have over MCP, see Serving Skills over MCP.

The repository also ships ready-to-use Agent Skills (e.g. maintainer workflows). See skills/ for the catalog and install instructions.

Versioning

MCP Toolbox for Databases follows Semantic Versioning.

The Public API includes the Toolbox Server (CLI, configuration manifests, and pre-built toolsets) and the Client SDKs.

• Major versions are incremented for breaking changes, such as incompatible CLI or manifest changes.
• Minor versions are incremented for new features, including modifications to pre-built toolsets or beta features.
• Patch versions are incremented for backward-compatible bug fixes.

For more details, including our Container Tagging Policy, see our Full Versioning Policy.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please, see the CONTRIBUTING guide to get started.

For technical details on setting up a environment for developing on Toolbox itself, see the DEVELOPER guide.

Please note that this project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms. See Contributor Code of Conduct for more information.

Community

Join our Discord community to connect with our developers!

Neon MCP Server

Neon MCP Server is an open-source tool that lets you interact with your Lakebase Postgres databases on Neon in natural language.

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standardized protocol designed to manage context between large language models (LLMs) and external systems. This repository provides a remote MCP Server for Neon.

Neon's MCP server acts as a bridge between natural language requests and the Neon API. Built upon MCP, it translates your requests into the necessary API calls, enabling you to manage tasks such as creating projects and branches, running queries, and performing database migrations seamlessly.

Some of the key features of the Neon MCP server include:

• Natural language interaction: Manage Neon databases using intuitive, conversational commands.
• Simplified database management: Perform complex actions without writing SQL or directly using the Neon API.
• Accessibility for non-developers: Empower users with varying technical backgrounds to interact with Neon databases.
• Database migration support: Leverage Neon's branching capabilities for database schema changes initiated via natural language.

For example, in Claude Code, or any MCP Client, you can use natural language to accomplish things with Neon, such as:

• Let's create a new Postgres database, and call it "my-database". Let's then create a table called users with the following columns: id, name, email, and password.
• I want to run a migration on my project called "my-project" that alters the users table to add a new column called "created_at".
• Can you give me a summary of all of my Neon projects and what data is in each one?

[!WARNING]
Neon MCP Server Security Considerations
The Neon MCP Server grants powerful database management capabilities through natural language requests. Always review and authorize actions requested by the LLM before execution. Ensure that only authorized users and applications have access to the Neon MCP Server.

The Neon MCP Server is intended for local development and IDE integrations only. We do not recommend using the Neon MCP Server in production environments. It can execute powerful operations that may lead to accidental or unauthorized changes.

For more information, see MCP security guidance →.

Setting up Neon MCP Server

There are a few options for setting up the Neon MCP Server:

1. Quick Setup with API Key (Cursor, VS Code, and Claude Code): Run neon@latest init to automatically configure Neon's MCP Server, agent skills, and VS Code extension with one command.
2. Remote MCP Server (OAuth Based Authentication): Connect to Neon's managed MCP server using OAuth for authentication. This method is more convenient as it eliminates the need to manage API keys. Additionally, you will automatically receive the latest features and improvements as soon as they are released.
3. Remote MCP Server (API Key Based Authentication): Connect to Neon's managed MCP server using API key for authentication. This method is useful if you want to connect a remote agent to Neon where OAuth is not available. Additionally, you will automatically receive the latest features and improvements as soon as they are released.

Prerequisites

• An MCP Client application.
• A Neon account.
• Node.js (>= v18.0.0): Download from nodejs.org.
• If IP Allow is enabled, add 34.192.103.46 and 23.22.233.166 to your allowlist (mcp.neon.tech static IPs).

For development, you'll need Node.js 22+ (pnpm is provided via Corepack — run corepack enable to activate it).

Option 1. Quick Setup with API Key

Don't want to manually create an API key?

Run neon@latest init to automatically configure Neon's MCP Server with one command:

npx neon@latest init

This works with Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), and Claude Code. It will authenticate via OAuth, create a Neon API key for you, and configure your editor automatically.

Option 2. Remote Hosted MCP Server (OAuth Based Authentication)

Connect to Neon's managed MCP server using OAuth for authentication. This is the easiest setup, requires no local installation of this server, and doesn't need a Neon API key configured in the client.

Run the following command to add the Neon MCP Server for all detected agents and editors in your workspace:

npx add-mcp "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?category=projects&category=branches&category=endpoints&category=querying&category=schema"

That URL publishes projects, branches, compute endpoints, querying, and schema. Preview it with /api/list-tools?category=projects&category=branches&category=endpoints&category=querying&category=schema. The unfiltered URL publishes every category:

npx add-mcp https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp

Add the -g flag to add the Neon MCP Server to the global MCP server list instead of project-scoped.

Alternatively, you can add the following "Neon" entry to your client's MCP server configuration file (e.g., mcp.json, mcp_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?category=projects&category=branches&category=endpoints&category=querying&category=schema"
    }
  }
}

Kiro: Add the following to your Kiro MCP config file (~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json for global, or .kiro/settings/mcp.json for project-scoped):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?category=projects&category=branches&category=endpoints&category=querying&category=schema"
    }
  }
}

Or use the one-click install button at the top of this README. For more information, see the Kiro MCP documentation.

• Restart or refresh your MCP client.
• An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize your MCP client to access your Neon account.

With OAuth-based authentication, the MCP server will, by default, operate on projects under your personal Neon account. To access or manage projects that belong to an organization, you must explicitly provide either the org_id or the project_id in your prompt to MCP client.

Option 3. Remote Hosted MCP Server (API Key Based Authentication)

Remote MCP Server also supports authentication using an API key in the Authorization header if your client supports it.

Create a Neon API key in the Neon Console. Next, run the following command to add the Neon MCP Server for all detected agents and editors in your workspace:

npx add-mcp "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?category=projects&category=branches&category=endpoints&category=querying&category=schema" --header "Authorization: Bearer <$NEON_API_KEY>"

Alternatively, you can add the following "Neon" entry to your client's MCP server configuration file (e.g., mcp.json, mcp_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?category=projects&category=branches&category=endpoints&category=querying&category=schema",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <$NEON_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Provide an organization's API key to limit access to projects under the organization only.

Scopes and Read-Only Mode

Neon MCP advertises OAuth scopes read and write. Your MCP client can request these, or you can make the selection in the OAuth permissions UI. * is treated as write if a client still sends it.

Read-only mode restricts which tools are available, disabling write operations like creating projects, branches, or running migrations. Read-only tools include listing projects, describing schemas, querying data, and viewing performance metrics.

You can set read-only mode in two ways:

1. Default MCP URL (editable consent): Connect with https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp and uncheck Allow writes on the authorization page. You can also choose one project, a Postgres role for SQL, and a subset of tool categories there.
2. Parameterized MCP URL (fixed consent): Put readonly, projectId, category, and/or roleName on the MCP server URL. The authorization page confirms that grant and does not offer editors. Change the URL and authorize again to change the grant.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?readonly=true"
    }
  }
}

How the query param behaves:

• API key flow: readonly=true is the way to enable read-only mode (there is no OAuth scope exchange in this flow). URL changes apply on the next request.
• OAuth flow: projectId, category, readonly, and roleName on the MCP URL are a fixed grant confirmed at authorization. readonly=true cannot be widened to writes on that page. After a token is issued, changing the URL does not widen that token; authorize again.

For OAuth registration, x-read-only is an initial Allow-writes default on editable consent. It does not lock confirmation, and it does not reduce a parameterized URL that includes readonly=false. API-key requests still honor x-read-only per request, below the readonly query param.

Note: Read-only mode restricts which tools are available. run_sql stays available and runs each query in a READ ONLY transaction. run_sql_transaction is not available; run each statement with run_sql. Those calls run separately and do not share a transaction. For transaction semantics, use a connection with writes allowed.

URL Query Params for Access Control

Grant context (scope categories, project scoping, read-only mode, pinned Postgres role) is configured via URL query params on the MCP server URL. API-key requests apply those params on each request. OAuth tokens store the grant confirmed or edited at authorization.

Read-only + project-scoped example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?readonly=true&projectId=my-project-id"
    }
  }
}

Category-filtered example (only querying and schema tools):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?category=querying&category=schema"
    }
  }
}

Pinned Postgres role example (read-only, one project, SQL as app_reader):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?readonly=true&projectId=my-project-id&roleName=app_reader"
    }
  }
}

roleName pins the Postgres login role for the whole connection. Every SQL the server runs for you (run_sql, run_sql_transaction, explain_sql_statement, get_database_tables, describe_table_schema, describe_branch, list_slow_queries, inspect_database, and the SQL inside migrations and query tuning) logs in as that role, so Postgres grants decide what the agent can read or change. Without it, SQL runs as the database owner. Read-only mode still wraps queries in a READ ONLY transaction; the pinned role adds a limit that Postgres enforces on the login itself, so SQL that gets out of the transaction still has only the role's privileges.

• The server resolves the role's credentials internally and never returns them. get_connection_string is not available on a pinned connection.
• A role_name tool argument that differs from the pinned role is rejected. Omitting it uses the pinned role, never the owner.
• If the role does not exist or cannot log in (for example ALTER ROLE … NOLOGIN), the call fails before any SQL runs. It does not retry as another role.
• The value must be one exact Postgres role name: letters, digits, _ or $, starting with a letter or _, at most 63 characters. Anything else (empty, repeated, quoted, hyphenated) is rejected with 400, not ignored.
• The role must be able to log in (LOGIN) and must exist on each branch you query. Roles created in SQL (CREATE ROLE app_reader LOGIN PASSWORD '…') work, as do roles created in the Neon Console or API. A role with the privileges it needs, and no more, is what makes the pin useful: for read-only agents, grant SELECT on the tables they should see and do not add it to neon_superuser. create_postgres_role with access: "read_only" creates such a role from a connection without roleName; roles it creates without access join neon_superuser.
• OAuth: roleName on the MCP URL makes a fixed grant. The authorization page shows the role, and the issued token keeps it through refresh. Changing the URL later does not change the token; authorize again. With the default URL (editable consent), enter the role in the optional Postgres role field instead; leave it empty to keep the database owner. Tokens issued before this option have no pinned role and behave as before.
• API key: the role is read from the URL on each request. Anyone who can edit the connection URL and holds the API key can change or remove it, so keep the URL in configuration the agent does not control.
• The pin applies to SQL connections only. Management API tools still act with the API key or OAuth token's own access; compare_database_schema, for example, is computed by the Neon API and is not limited by the role's grants. Combine roleName with readonly=true and category to limit those tools too.

You can preview which tools are visible for any configuration using the /api/list-tools endpoint (no auth required):

curl "https://mcp.neon.tech/api/list-tools?readonly=true&category=querying"

Transport compatibility

https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp uses stateless Streamable HTTP. It supports the
MCP 2026-07-28 protocol and a stateless fallback for 2025-era clients. The
deprecated HTTP+SSE /sse and /message endpoints return 410 Gone.

Connect Streamable HTTP clients to https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp. For clients
that only support local stdio servers, put this in the client config so
mcp-remote bridges to Streamable
HTTP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

A request with a malformed Origin header receives 403 Forbidden. Any
serialized origin is accepted, including web pages, browser extensions, desktop
webviews and null, so browser-based clients can connect. Requests without an
Origin are unaffected.

Remote Server Architecture

The remote server runs as a Next.js App Router application on Vercel at mcp.neon.tech.

[!NOTE]
The root / path redirects to Neon MCP Server docs. There is no landing page.

Core implementation areas:

• app/api/[transport]/route.ts: stateless Streamable HTTP endpoint (/mcp)
• app/api/authorize/, app/callback/, app/api/token/, app/api/revoke/: OAuth flow endpoints
• app/.well-known/: OAuth discovery metadata endpoints
• mcp/: MCP server, tools, handlers, analytics, and Sentry integration
• lib/: Next.js-compatible helpers (OAuth, configuration, error handling)
• mcp/utils/read-only.ts: read-only mode and scope handling

Guides

• Neon MCP Server Guide
• Connect MCP Clients to Neon
• Cursor with Neon MCP Server
• Claude Code with Neon MCP Server
• Claude Desktop with Neon MCP Server
• Cline with Neon MCP Server
• Windsurf with Neon MCP Server
• Zed with Neon MCP Server

Features

Supported Tools

The Neon MCP Server provides the following actions, which are exposed as "tools" to MCP Clients. You can use these tools to interact with your Neon projects and databases using natural language commands.

Tool Scope Metadata

Each tool definition includes a scope category used for grant-based tool filtering and consent UX. Current categories are:

• projects
• branches
• endpoints
• snapshots
• schema
• querying
• neon_auth
• data_api
• observability
• docs
• functions
• storage
• realtime
• null (tools without a scope category: search, fetch, send_feedback)

Notes:

• Management API tools come from @neon/tools. Selectors are SDK paths (projects.list); published MCP names are verb-first (list_projects, delete_project, query_logs). Historical names stay where they already existed (describe_project, create_branch, reset_from_parent, compare_database_schema, provision_neon_auth, provision_neon_data_api, list_branch_computes).
• ?category=branches includes branch, role, and database tools (list_postgres_roles, create_postgres_database, …). A token already issued for branches gains those writes. Compute listing is ?category=endpoints. Snapshot restore is ?category=snapshots.
• Project member and permission writes are not published. list_project_members and list_project_permissions are reads.
• Schema tools (?category=schema) are get_database_tables and describe_table_schema, plus generated compare_database_schema.
• Read-only enforcement still relies on readOnlySafe and server-side read-only logic; scope is category metadata, not a standalone read/write switch.
• In project-scoped mode (?projectId=...), tools without a project path (list_projects, count_projects, create_project, get_project_consumption, get_branch_consumption, list_organizations, list_regions, search, fetch, …) are hidden. delete_project is also hidden.

Project Management:

• list_projects: Lists Neon projects. limit caps how many items come back.
• count_projects: Returns the number of active projects in an organization. org_id is optional and resolves the same way as on list_projects.
• describe_project: Fetches a Neon project by id ({ "project_id": "…" }).
• get_project_consumption, get_branch_consumption: Consumption metrics per project or per branch, grouped by billing period. Take org_id, metrics, from, to, and granularity, and need a Launch, Scale, Agent, Business, or Enterprise plan. get_branch_consumption also requires project_ids, rejects the extra_branches_month and snapshot_storage_bytes_month metrics, and is not available on the Business plan. The legacy-plan endpoint /consumption_history/projects is not published.
• create_project: Creates a Neon project and waits for the default compute. Does not return a connection string. Arguments are { "name": "…", "org_id": "…", "region_id": "…" }. Call get_connection_string after it succeeds.
• delete_project: Deletes an existing Neon project. Arguments are { "project_id": "…" }.
• list_organizations: Lists all organizations that the current user has access to. Optionally filter by organization name or ID using the search parameter.

Branch Management:

• list_branches: Lists branches in a project. Use it to resolve a branch name to a br-… id.
• list_credentials, create_credential, revoke_credential, rotate_credential: Branch-scoped credentials for Object Storage and the AI Gateway. reveal is not a tool; rotation replaces secrets in place and is not idempotent.
• create_branch: Creates a branch with a read-write compute and waits until it is ready. Does not return a connection string. Arguments are { "project_id": "…", "name": "feature-x" }. Pass no_compute: true to skip the endpoint. Call get_connection_string after it succeeds.
• reset_from_parent: Resets a branch to its parent's current HEAD ({ "project_id": "…", "branch_id": "br-…" }). Discards writes since the branch diverged. preserve_under_name is required when the branch has children; those children move to the new branch. Parent HEAD only; point-in-time restore is restore_snapshot.
• delete_branch: Deletes a branch ({ "project_id": "…", "branch_id": "br-…" }).
• describe_branch: Retrieves a tree of databases, schemas, tables, views, and functions on a branch.
• Generated branch tools take branch_id as a branch id (br-...), not a name.
• restore_snapshot: Restores a snapshot. Pass target_branch_id to restore onto an existing branch; omit it to create a new one.

Compute endpoints (?category=endpoints):

• list_postgres_endpoints, list_branch_computes, get_postgres_endpoint, create_postgres_endpoint, update_postgres_endpoint, delete_postgres_endpoint, start_postgres_endpoint, suspend_postgres_endpoint, restart_postgres_endpoint

Snapshots (?category=snapshots):

• list_snapshots, get_snapshot_schedule, set_snapshot_schedule, create_snapshot, update_snapshot, delete_snapshot, restore_snapshot

Schema (?category=schema):

• get_database_tables, describe_table_schema
• compare_database_schema: SQL schema diff of one database against another branch. database_name is required. Omitting base_branch_id compares against the parent. Optional lsn, timestamp, base_lsn, base_timestamp are point-in-time only.

SQL Query Execution:

• get_connection_string: Returns your database connection string.
• run_sql: Executes a single SQL query against a specified Neon database. Supports both read and write operations. Optional role_name logs in as that Postgres role instead of the database owner, and compute_id picks the compute; credentials stay on the server. On a connection with ?roleName=, role_name must be omitted or match it. Returns the row array with at most max_rows rows (default 100, up to 10,000); when rows were cut, a second content block holds { totalRowCount, truncated, note }. A failed query returns the Postgres SQLSTATE, error position, and any detail, hint, or context.
• run_sql_transaction: Executes a series of SQL queries within a single transaction against a Neon database. Takes the same optional role_name, compute_id, and max_rows as run_sql. max_rows applies per statement; when any statement was cut, the second block holds one summary per statement.
• get_database_tables: Lists all tables within a specified Neon database.
• describe_table_schema: Retrieves the schema definition of a specific table, detailing columns, data types, and constraints.

Database Migrations (Schema Changes):

• prepare_database_migration: Initiates a database migration process. Critically, it creates a temporary branch to apply and test the migration safely before affecting the main branch.
• complete_database_migration: Finalizes and applies a prepared database migration to the main branch. This action merges changes from the temporary migration branch and cleans up temporary resources.

SQL Querying and Optimization:

• inspect_database: Runs one of 15 predefined read-only Postgres diagnostics against a branch — relation and index sizes, index and sequential-scan usage, active queries and locks, the heaviest and most frequent queries, cache hit rate and working-set size, autovacuum and bloat estimates, and replication state. Same checks as the neon inspect db CLI command. Omit database_name to cover every database on the branch; pass a name to inspect one. Four of them need the pg_stat_statements or neon extension.
• list_slow_queries: Identifies performance bottlenecks by finding the slowest queries in a database. Requires the pg_stat_statements extension.
• explain_sql_statement: Provides detailed execution plans for SQL queries to help identify performance bottlenecks.
• prepare_query_tuning: Analyzes query performance and suggests optimizations, like index creation. Creates a temporary branch for safely testing these optimizations.
• complete_query_tuning: Finalizes query tuning by either applying optimizations to the main branch or discarding them. Cleans up the temporary tuning branch.

Neon Auth (?category=neon_auth):

• provision_neon_auth, get_auth, disable_auth, update_auth_config
• get_neon_auth_config: Secrets redacted. Reads trusted origins, localhost access, email and password, OAuth providers, the email provider, the organization, magic link, and phone number plugins, the webhook, and logs export.
• update_auth_allow_localhost, update_auth_email_and_password, update_auth_email_provider, send_auth_test_email, update_auth_plugins_organization, update_auth_plugins_magic_link, update_auth_plugins_phone_number, update_auth_webhooks, update_auth_logs_export: Change those settings. update_auth_webhooks replaces the whole webhook configuration. update_auth_logs_export turns the export of Neon Auth events to Neon Platform logs on or off; a project without logs export accepts only enabled: false.
• list_auth_oauth_providers, add_auth_oauth_provider, update_auth_oauth_provider, delete_auth_oauth_provider
• get_auth_oauth_server, update_auth_oauth_server: Configure Neon Auth as an OAuth 2.1 authorization server (including for MCP servers). Separate from the social login providers above.
• list_auth_oauth_clients, get_auth_oauth_client, create_auth_oauth_client, update_auth_oauth_client, delete_auth_oauth_client, rotate_auth_oauth_client_secret: Manage the OAuth clients of that server. create_auth_oauth_client and rotate_auth_oauth_client_secret return the client_secret once.
• list_auth_trusted_domains, add_auth_trusted_domain, delete_auth_trusted_domain
• create_auth_user, delete_auth_user, update_auth_user_role

Neon Data API (?category=data_api):

• provision_neon_data_api, get_data_api, update_data_api, delete_data_api: Manage the Data API for a branch database.

Search and Discovery:

• search: Searches across organizations, projects, and branches matching a query. Returns IDs, titles, and direct links to the Neon Console.
• fetch: Fetches detailed information about a specific organization, project, or branch using an ID (typically from the search tool).

Feedback (always available, including the no-login ?category=docs endpoint):

• send_feedback: Sends anonymous feedback to the Neon team. Only the feedback text is sent, with no account, project, or connection details. Messages are limited to 10,000 characters.

Observability (?category=observability): these tools require the Neon Platform Beta and are currently only available for projects in the aws-us-east-2 region. A branch without logs access returns HTTP 404 with reason telemetry_not_enabled.

• query_logs: Queries OpenTelemetry logs for a branch. POST in the Management API; treated as read-only by this server.
• query_loki_logs: Runs a LogQL range query on the branch's Loki-compatible read API and returns Loki's response: lines grouped by stream labels, with nanosecond timestamps.
• list_log_fields: Lists the log fields you can enumerate values for on a branch.
• list_log_field_values: Lists the distinct values of a log field within a branch and time window.

Documentation and Resources (?category=docs):

• search_docs: Searches neon.com (docs, API reference, PostgreSQL tutorial, guides, FAQs, changelog, and blog) with the same search as the neon.com search box. Takes query, optional categories (docs, api, postgresql, guides, faqs, blog, changelog), and optional limit (1-40, default 10). Returns ranked pages with title, url, slug, category, breadcrumb, heading, and excerpt; pass slug to get_doc to read the page.
• get_doc: Fetches one neon.com page as markdown. Takes slug from a search_docs hit (for example docs/guides/prisma or postgresql/tutorial/inner-join).

Functions (?category=functions):

• list_functions, get_function, update_function, delete_function, deploy_function
• list_functions_custom_domains, register_functions_custom_domain, delete_functions_custom_domain
• list_triggers, get_trigger, create_trigger, update_trigger, delete_trigger: Scheduled function triggers (type: "schedule", five-field UTC cron).

Storage (?category=storage):

• list_storage_buckets, create_storage_bucket, delete_storage_bucket
• list_storage_objects, delete_storage_object, delete_storage_objects_by_prefix
• presign_storage_object, get_storage

Realtime (?category=realtime):

• get_realtime, enable_realtime, disable_realtime: Branch Realtime state, enable (optional allowed_origins), and disable. Enable and disable wait until the change is applied.
• get_realtime_secret: The shared secret the application backend issues Realtime tokens with. Not available in read-only mode.
• rotate_realtime_secret: Replaces the shared secret and waits until the change is applied. Not idempotent. Call get_realtime_secret afterwards for the new value.

Migrations

Migrations are a way to manage changes to your database schema over time. With the Neon MCP server, LLMs are empowered to do migrations safely with separate "Start" (prepare_database_migration) and "Commit" (complete_database_migration) commands.

The "Start" command accepts a migration and runs it in a new temporary branch. Upon returning, this command hints to the LLM that it should test the migration on this branch. The LLM can then run the "Commit" command to apply the migration to the original branch.

Development

This project uses pnpm as the package manager, pinned via Corepack.

Project Structure

The MCP server code lives at the repository root, a Next.js application deployed to Vercel at mcp.neon.tech.

corepack enable
pnpm install

See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to add tools. Tool arguments are snake_case.

Local Development

## Start the Next.js dev server (for the remote MCP server)
pnpm dev

Linting and Type Checking

pnpm lint
pnpm typecheck

Environment Variables

Required for remote server runtime:

Optional:

Testing Pyramid

All tests run from the repository root.

## Unit tests
pnpm test:unit

## Integration tests
pnpm test:integration

## MCP protocol end-to-end tests (real MCP client/server tool calls)
pnpm test:e2e:mcp

## Website end-to-end tests (Playwright; provisions/validates ephemeral DB first)
pnpm test:e2e:web

## Full end-to-end suite
pnpm test:e2e

## Full test pyramid (unit + integration + e2e; used in CI)
pnpm test

Testing strategy:

• Prefer E2E for transport/protocol and user-visible behavior.
• Use integration tests for deterministic tool contracts and workflow behavior.
• Use unit tests for pure logic and edge cases.
• Avoid relying on third-party uptime in merge-gating tests; mock external dependencies in integration/unit tiers.

Deployment

Vercel deploys the remote server automatically from the repository branch configuration. Preview environments are available for pull requests.

Telemetry

The Neon MCP server collects product analytics and error reports to help us understand usage and improve reliability:

• Product analytics (Segment): when you connect with an authenticated account, the server sends an identify event with your Neon account ID, name, and email address. It also tracks session start (server_init), each tool call (tool_call), and unexpected server errors (server_error). A tool-call event includes the tool name, auth method, and client, not the tool arguments or query results. Docs-only tool calls without an account are tracked anonymously. The page shown after authorization reports that it was shown (auth_complete_viewed, with the outcome and client) and which of its buttons and links were used (auth_complete_action); the browser only sends a random page view ID, never the authorization code or your identity. Events go to track.neon.tech, Neon's own analytics endpoint.
• Error reporting, traces, and logs (Sentry): unexpected server errors are reported with stack traces and the request's method and path. Request headers, bodies, cookies, and query strings are not sent. Each request and tool call is traced with the tool name, client name, account ID, and whether the call failed, plus the session id the server assigns to 2025-era clients and the conversation id a client sends in _meta.threadId. Traces carry no tool arguments or results. The server's logs go to Sentry as well.

This collection is covered by the Neon Privacy Policy. To disable analytics when running the server yourself, set NEON_MCP_DISABLE_ANALYTICS=1. That flag does not disable Sentry.