sqlite-mcp-local

A lightweight, read-only MCP server for a local SQLite database. It communicates only via standard input/output, so it is intended to be launched by Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another MCP client — not as an HTTP service.

Requirements

Node.js 22.13+ (uses Node's built-in node:sqlite)
A local SQLite database

Runtime dependency: only @modelcontextprotocol/sdk. No SQLite native addon or database service is required.

Install and run

npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js /absolute/path/to/my-data.db

Or set SQLITE_MCP_DB:

SQLITE_MCP_DB=./my-data.sqlite node dist/index.js

For zero-config use, start it in a directory containing exactly one .db, .sqlite, or .sqlite3 file:

node dist/index.js

The database path is fixed when the server starts. The tools never accept file paths.

Claude Desktop configuration

Add this to the mcpServers section of your Claude Desktop configuration (adjust paths):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-sqlite": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/sqlite-mcp-local/dist/index.js", "/absolute/path/to/my-data.db"]
    }
  }
}

After saving, restart Claude Desktop. Build the project once before launching it from Claude.

Tools

Tool	Input	What it does
`list_tables`	none	Lists user tables and views.
`get_schema`	`table_name`	Returns CREATE SQL, columns, indexes (including index columns), and foreign keys.
`execute_read_query`	`query`	Runs one `SELECT`, `WITH`, or `EXPLAIN` query; results are capped at 1,000 rows.

Safety model

The database opens using SQLite's read-only mode.
SQL execution is restricted to one statement beginning with SELECT, WITH, or EXPLAIN. The parser correctly allows semicolons inside quoted strings and comments.
SQLite itself opens the file in read-only mode, providing the final enforcement layer even for complex CTEs.
Query results are streamed and stop after 1,000 rows rather than materializing an unbounded result set.
Large SQLite integers serialize safely as strings; BLOBs serialize as { "type": "blob", "base64": "..." }.
The server writes diagnostic logs to stderr only; stdout remains exclusively for the MCP stdio protocol.

This is intentionally a simple local tool, not an authentication or multi-user database gateway.