sqlite-reader-mcp

MCP server for reading SQLite databases.

Overview

sqlite-reader-mcp is a lightweight MCP server that provides read-only access to SQLite databases. It allows users to execute SELECT queries, list tables, and describe table schemas.

Features

- Read-Only Access: Ensures data integrity by only allowing read operations (SELECT queries).
- Secure Path Handling: Restricts database access to pre-approved absolute file paths and directories.
- SQL Validation: Parses and validates SQL queries, permitting only SELECT and WITH statements to prevent unintended operations.
- Asynchronous Operations: Utilizes aiosqlite for non-blocking database interactions.
- Row Limiting: Automatically limits the number of rows returned by queries to prevent excessive data retrieval.
- MCP Tools:
- read_query: Execute a SELECT SQL query on a specified SQLite database.
- list_tables: List all tables within a given SQLite database.
- describe_table: Get schema information (column names, types, etc.) for a specific table.

Requirements

- Python 3.13+
- aiosqlite >= 0.21.0
- fastmcp >= 2.6.1
- sqlparse >= 0.5.3

Installation

The recommended installation method is with uv:

uv tool install git+https://github.com/abhinavnatarajan/sqlite-reader-mcp

Usage

sqlite-reader-mcp --paths /path/to/your/database.db /path/to/another/allowed_directory

Arguments:

- --paths (or -p): A list of absolute paths to SQLite database files or directories containing them that the server is allowed to access.

Once the server is running, you can interact with it using a FastMCP client, utilizing the following tools:

read_query

Executes a SELECT query on a specified SQLite database file.

- Args:
- file_path (str): Absolute path to the SQLite database file.
- query (str): The SELECT SQL query to execute.
- params (Optional[List[Any]]): Optional list of parameters for the query.
- fetch_all (bool): If True (default), fetches all results. If False, fetches one row.
- row_limit (int): Maximum number of rows to return (default 1000).
- Returns: A list of dictionaries, where each dictionary represents a row from the query result.

list_tables

Lists all tables in the specified SQLite database file.

- Args:
- file_path (str): Absolute path to the SQLite database file.
- Returns: A list of table names (strings).

describe_table

Provides detailed schema information for a specific table in a SQLite database.

- Args:
- file_path (str): Absolute path to the SQLite database file.
- table_name (str): The name of the table to describe.
- Returns: A list of dictionaries, each describing a column (e.g., name, type, notnull, default value, primary key status).

Security

- Read-Only: The server is strictly read-only. No INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or other data modification SQL commands are permitted.
- Path Whitelisting: Access is restricted to SQLite files located in paths explicitly provided via the --paths command-line argument. Paths must be absolute and existent.
- Query Validation: All SQL queries are parsed. Only SELECT statements (including those with Common Table Expressions using WITH) are allowed. Multiple statements in a single query string are rejected. Trailing semicolons are automatically removed.

Development

This project is built using setuptools. Configuration is in pyproject.toml.