How do I use BigQuery MCP server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@BigQuery MCP server show me the schema for the sales_data table" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

BigQuery MCP server

A Model Context Protocol server that provides access to BigQuery. This server enables LLMs to inspect database schemas and execute queries.

Components

Tools

The server implements one tool:

execute-query: Executes a SQL query using BigQuery dialect
list-tables: Lists all tables in the BigQuery database
describe-table: Describes the schema of a specific table

Related MCP server: mcp-graphql

Configuration

The server can be configured either with command line arguments or environment variables.

Argument	Environment Variable	Required	Description
`--project`	`BIGQUERY_PROJECT`	Yes	The GCP project ID.
`--location`	`BIGQUERY_LOCATION`	Yes	The GCP location (e.g. `europe-west9`).
`--dataset`	`BIGQUERY_DATASETS`	No	Only take specific BigQuery datasets into consideration. Several datasets can be specified by repeating the argument (e.g. `--dataset my_dataset_1 --dataset my_dataset_2`) or by joining them with a comma in the environment variable (e.g. `BIGQUERY_DATASETS=my_dataset_1,my_dataset_2`). If not provided, all datasets in the project will be considered.
`--key-file`	`BIGQUERY_KEY_FILE`	No	Path to a service account key file for BigQuery. If not provided, the server will use the default credentials.
`--timeout`	`BIGQUERY_TIMEOUT`	No	Maximum time in seconds to wait for a query to complete. If not provided, queries will wait indefinitely.

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install BigQuery Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install mcp-server-bigquery --client claude

Claude Code

claude mcp add bigquery --scope user --transport stdio -- uvx mcp-server-bigquery --project {PROJECT_ID} --location {{LOCATION}}

Claude Desktop

On MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigquery": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-bigquery"],
      "env": {
        "BIGQUERY_PROJECT": "{{GCP_PROJECT_ID}}",
        "BIGQUERY_LOCATION": "{{GCP_LOCATION}}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Open Cursor Settings → MCP
Click Add new global MCP server
Add an entry for the BigQuery MCP, following the pattern below:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigquery": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-bigquery"],
      "env": {
        "BIGQUERY_PROJECT": "{{GCP_PROJECT_ID}}",
        "BIGQUERY_LOCATION": "{{GCP_LOCATION}}"
      }
    }
  }
}