Kaiva Postgres MCP

The Postgres MCP server that stays read-only. A drop-in replacement for the archived @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres.

Switch in one line

Where your AI client starts the archived server today:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "postgres": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres", "postgresql://localhost/mydb"]
    }
  }
}

change the package name:

      "args": ["-y", "@kaiva/postgres-mcp", "postgresql://localhost/mydb"]

In Claude Code:

claude mcp add postgres -- npx -y @kaiva/postgres-mcp postgresql://localhost/mydb

The query tool, its sql input and the table schema resources are the same, so nothing else changes.

Other ways in, with DATABASE_URL set in your environment:

• Claude Code plugin: /plugin install postgres-mcp --marketplace ai-kaiva/postgres-mcp

• Gemini CLI extension: gemini extensions install https://github.com/ai-kaiva/postgres-mcp, then gemini extensions config kaiva-postgres-mcp to enter the database URL

• Docker: docker run -i --rm -e DATABASE_URL ghcr.io/ai-kaiva/postgres-mcp once the image is published

Related MCP server: Postgres MCP Server

Why switch

The archived server is no longer maintained: Anthropic archived it in 2025 as a reference example rather than production software, and npm marks it "Package no longer supported". It runs whatever text it is given inside BEGIN TRANSACTION READ ONLY, and that is not enough:

• COMMIT; DROP SCHEMA public CASCADE ends the read-only transaction and drops the schema (reported by Datadog Security Labs in August 2025; the fix never reached npm, where 0.6.2 is still the latest version).

• With a superuser login, which is what most local and Docker installs start with, one statement can run a shell command on the database server: PostgreSQL runs COPY ... TO PROGRAM inside a read-only transaction.

We checked both against version 0.6.2 on PostgreSQL 14: both ran. Kaiva Postgres MCP refuses both.

Tools

• query: run one read-only SQL statement (SELECT, WITH, VALUES, TABLE, SHOW or EXPLAIN) and get the rows as JSON.

• list_tables: the tables and views this login can read, with type, estimated row count and comment.

• describe_table: one table's columns, primary key, unique and foreign keys, the tables that reference it, and its indexes.

Resources: each table's columns, as the archived server listed them.

How read-only is enforced

On every call:

1. The SQL is checked before it is sent: one statement, starting with SELECT, WITH, VALUES, TABLE, SHOW or EXPLAIN, calling no function that reaches past the transaction (dblink, server file functions, lo_import and lo_export, pg_terminate_backend, advisory locks, and functions that run SQL given to them as text).

2. It runs alone, through PostgreSQL's extended query protocol, which refuses a second statement, inside a READ ONLY transaction with a statement time limit and a lock time limit.

3. The transaction is always rolled back, and DISCARD ALL resets the session, so nothing a statement sets up outlives it.

Only the first 1,000 rows are fetched from the database (one more is read, to know whether more exist), so a query over a large table returns quickly.

Use a login that can only read

The strongest guard is a login that cannot write. Run this once as an administrator, then put mcp_readonly in the connection URL:

CREATE ROLE mcp_readonly LOGIN PASSWORD 'choose-a-password';
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE mydb TO mcp_readonly;
GRANT pg_read_all_data TO mcp_readonly;  -- PostgreSQL 14 and later
ALTER ROLE mcp_readonly SET default_transaction_read_only = on;

To see what a login can do:

npx -y @kaiva/postgres-mcp postgresql://mcp_readonly:...@localhost/mydb --check

Options

Give the connection URL as the first argument, or set DATABASE_URL. TLS settings go in the URL (sslmode, sslrootcert), as with psql.

What it does not protect

• Anything the login can read, the AI can read: tables, views and foreign tables, and with a superuser the system catalogs too (pg_authid holds password hashes). Use a login that sees only the tables you mean to share.

• The refused-function list is a second guard, not a sandbox. It sees the SQL the AI sends, not what a view, a foreign table (file_fdw) or a function already defined in your database does when it is read. With a superuser login such an object can still read a file on the database server. With a login that can only read, PostgreSQL itself refuses (checked: a view over pg_read_file reads the file as a superuser and is refused as a read-only login).

• "This machine" means localhost, 127.x, ::1, a Unix socket, *.localhost and host.docker.internal (the Docker host). Anywhere else, Docker Compose service names and private network addresses included, a superuser is refused unless --allow-superuser is given.

In Claude.ai, ChatGPT or for your team

This package runs on your machine. To use the same database from Claude.ai or ChatGPT, or share it with your team behind sign-in, Kaiva Bridge serves it as a managed MCP server. In a project folder whose .env holds DATABASE_URL:

npx @kaiva/bridge push mydb --db

Your database must be reachable from the internet. https://kaiv.ai/bridge?utm_source=postgres-mcp&utm_medium=readme

License

MIT