README.md•3.4 kB
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# dbt-docs-mcp
Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with dbt project metadata, including dbt Docs artifacts (`manifest.json`, `catalog.json`). This server exposes dbt graph information and allows querying node details, model/column lineage, and related metadata.
## Key Functionality
This server provides tools to:
* **Search dbt Nodes:**
* Find nodes (models, sources, tests, etc.) by name (`search_dbt_node_names`).
* Locate nodes based on column names (`search_dbt_column_names`).
* Search within the compiled SQL code of nodes (`search_dbt_sql_code`).
* **Inspect Nodes:**
* Retrieve detailed attributes for any given node unique ID (`get_dbt_node_attributes`).
* **Explore Lineage:**
* Find direct upstream dependencies (predecessors) of a node (`get_dbt_predecessors`).
* Find direct downstream dependents (successors) of a node (`get_dbt_successors`).
* **Column-Level Lineage:**
* Trace all upstream sources for a specific column in a model (`get_column_ancestors`).
* Trace all downstream dependents of a specific column in a model (`get_column_descendants`).
* **Suggested extensions:**
* Tool that allows executing SQL queries.
* Tool that retrieves table/view/column metadata directly from the database.
* Tool to search knowledge-base.
## Getting Started
1. **Prerequisites:** Ensure you have Python installed and [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)
2. **Clone the repo:**
```bash
git clone <repository-url>
cd dbt-docs-mcp
```
3. **Optional: parse dbt manifest for column-level lineage:**
- Setup the required Python environment, e.g.:
```bash
uv sync
```
- Use the provided script `scripts/create_manifest_cl.py` and simply provide the path to your dbt manifest, dbt catalog and the desired output paths for your schema and column lineage file:
```bash
python scripts/create_manifest_cl.py --manifest-path PATH_TO_YOUR_MANIFEST_FILE --catalog-path PATH_TO_YOUR_CATALOG_FILE --schema-mapping-path DESIRED_OUTPUT_PATH_FOR_SCHEMA_MAPPING --manifest-cl-path DESIRED_OUTPUT_PATH_FOR_MANIFEST_CL
```
- Depending on your dbt project size, creating column-lineage can take a while (hours)
4. **Run the Server:**
- If your desired MCP client (Claude desktop, Cursor, etc.) supports mcp.json it would look as below:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"DBT Docs MCP": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--with",
"networkx,mcp[cli],rapidfuzz,dbt-core,python-decouple,sqlglot,tqdm",
"mcp",
"run",
"/Users/mattijs/repos/dbt-docs-mcp/src/mcp_server.py"
],
"env": {
"MANIFEST_PATH": "/Users/mattijs/repos/dbt-docs-mcp/inputs/manifest.json",
"SCHEMA_MAPPING_PATH": "/Users/mattijs/repos/dbt-docs-mcp/outputs/schema_mapping.json",
"MANIFEST_CL_PATH": "/Users/mattijs/repos/dbt-docs-mcp/outputs/manifest_column_lineage.json"
}
}
}
}
```