iceDQ MCP Server

What Is This?

The iceDQ MCP Server lets you manage your entire data quality lifecycle through conversation with an AI assistant. Ask it to explore your data sources, create validation rules, run reconciliations, monitor executions, and analyze results — no UI switching required.

48 tools covering the full data quality lifecycle, grouped by what they do (see manifest.json for the exact tool names and descriptions the assistant calls):

(The 48th tool, get_guidance, isn't listed above — the assistant calls it internally before complex multi-step operations; it's not something you ask for directly.)

Related MCP server: MCP Data Visualization Server

Compatibility

Per the v1.0.0 release notes:

Recommended AI model: Claude Sonnet 4 or higher, for the most accurate rule creation and workflow understanding.

Before You Start: Get Your iceDQ Credentials

Every install method below needs the same values from your iceDQ instance. See the Credentials Guide for exactly where to find each one in the iceDQ UI, and the Authentication Guide for how the two auth modes differ.

Optional: VERIFY_SSL (default true; set "false" only for self-signed certs), REQUEST_TIMEOUT (default 60 seconds), DEBUG (default false).

Base URL has no default. Every organization runs its own iceDQ instance — the https://app.icedq.net value used throughout this guide's examples is illustrative only, not a shared cloud endpoint. Always replace it with your own instance's URL.

If you're launching via npx (every client below except Claude Desktop's packaged extension), also set NODE_OPTIONS=--use-system-ca in the env block — this is in every official config example and avoids TLS errors on machines with a corporate root CA installed.

Installation

Jump to your client:

• Claude Desktop

• VS Code + GitHub Copilot Chat

• VS Code + Claude Code

• Cursor

Each section below is a condensed quick-start. For the full walkthrough with screenshots and troubleshooting, follow the linked guide on docs.icedq.com.

Claude Desktop

📖 Full guide: Setup in Claude Desktop

Two paths — Path A (recommended) installs a packaged .mcpb extension with a settings form and stores your password in your OS keychain; Path B hand-edits a config file and needs Node.js 18+.

Path A: Download the .mcpb from the Releases page, then in Claude Desktop go to Settings → Extensions → Install Extension and select the file. Fill in the credentials form that appears and click Save.

Path B: Edit claude_desktop_config.json (Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json, macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "icedq": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@icedq/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "ICEDQ_BASE_URL": "https://app.icedq.net",
        "ICEDQ_REALM": "icedq",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret",
        "AUTH_TYPE": "username_password",
        "ICEDQ_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "ICEDQ_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "ICEDQ_ORG_ID": "your-org-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop (closing the window isn't enough), then verify with List my iceDQ workspaces.

VS Code + GitHub Copilot Chat

📖 Full guide: Setup in VS Code & Cursor

Requires Node.js 18+ and the GitHub Copilot Chat extension, installed and signed in.

1. Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) → MCP: Open user configuration → opens mcp.json.

2. Add:

{
  "servers": {
    "icedq": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@icedq/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "ICEDQ_BASE_URL": "https://app.icedq.net",
        "ICEDQ_REALM": "icedq",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret",
        "AUTH_TYPE": "username_password",
        "ICEDQ_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "ICEDQ_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "ICEDQ_ORG_ID": "your-org-id",
        "NODE_OPTIONS": "--use-system-ca"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Save (Ctrl+S/Cmd+S) — VS Code shows a Start option next to the icedq entry. Click it.

4. Verify in Copilot Chat (Ctrl+Alt+I/Cmd+Ctrl+I): List my iceDQ workspaces.

⚠️ This file stores your password in plain text. Don't commit .vscode/mcp.json to git if you're using workspace-scoped settings.

VS Code + Claude Code

📖 Full guide: Setup with Claude Code

Use this instead of the Copilot Chat guide if you have a Claude subscription (Pro/Max/Team/Enterprise) or an Anthropic API key rather than a Copilot subscription. Requires Node.js 18+ and the Claude Code for VS Code extension published by Anthropic (anthropic.claude-code) — skip third-party wrappers.

Path A — edit .claude.json (home directory: Windows %USERPROFILE%\.claude.json, macOS/Linux ~/.claude.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "icedq": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@icedq/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "ICEDQ_BASE_URL": "https://app.icedq.net",
        "ICEDQ_REALM": "icedq",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret",
        "AUTH_TYPE": "username_password",
        "ICEDQ_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "ICEDQ_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "ICEDQ_ORG_ID": "your-org-id",
        "NODE_OPTIONS": "--use-system-ca"
      }
    }
  }
}

Path B — CLI (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code first if you don't have it):

claude mcp add icedq \
  --scope user \
  --env ICEDQ_BASE_URL=https://app.icedq.net \
  --env ICEDQ_REALM=icedq \
  --env ICEDQ_CLIENT_ID=<your-client-id> \
  --env ICEDQ_CLIENT_SECRET=<your-client-secret> \
  --env AUTH_TYPE=username_password \
  --env ICEDQ_USERNAME=<your-username> \
  --env ICEDQ_PASSWORD=<your-password> \
  --env ICEDQ_ORG_ID=<your-org-id> \
  --env NODE_OPTIONS=--use-system-ca \
  npx --yes @icedq/mcp-server

(Windows PowerShell: use ` for line continuation instead of \, or put it all on one line.)

Verify either path with claude mcp list (should show icedq), reload VS Code (Developer: Reload Window), then ask in the Claude Code panel: List my iceDQ workspaces.

Cursor

📖 Full guide: Setup in VS Code & Cursor

Cursor has built-in MCP support — no extra extension needed. Requires Node.js 18+.

1. Settings (gear icon, or Cmd+,/Ctrl+,) → search Tools & MCP → Add Custom MCP → opens mcp.json (macOS: ~/.cursor/mcp.json, Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json).

2. Add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "icedq": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@icedq/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "ICEDQ_BASE_URL": "https://app.icedq.net",
        "ICEDQ_REALM": "icedq",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "ICEDQ_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret",
        "AUTH_TYPE": "username_password",
        "ICEDQ_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "ICEDQ_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "ICEDQ_ORG_ID": "your-org-id",
        "NODE_OPTIONS": "--use-system-ca"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Save, go back to Settings → Tools & MCP, and enable the toggle next to icedq — status should show Active.

4. Verify in Cursor chat (Cmd+L/Ctrl+L): List my iceDQ workspaces.

Access token mode (all clients)

If you'd rather not store a password in a config file, every client above also supports access token mode — swap the username_password fields for:

"env": {
  "ICEDQ_BASE_URL": "https://app.icedq.net",
  "ICEDQ_REALM": "icedq",
  "ICEDQ_CLIENT_ID": "your-oauth-client-id",
  "AUTH_TYPE": "access_token",
  "TOKENS_PATH": "/full/path/to/icedq-tokens.json",
  "ICEDQ_ORG_ID": "your-org-id"
}

Generate the token file from iceDQ's Profile → Token Generation. See the Authentication Guide for the full walkthrough — the connector refreshes the token automatically and writes the new pair back to the same file.

Usage Examples

Explore your data:

"List my iceDQ workspaces and show the connections in Production_DQ"

Profile a table:

"Fetch sample data from the Customers table and suggest quality checks"

Create a validation rule:

"Create a validation rule called Customer_Quality_Checks with those suggested checks"

Run and monitor:

"Execute Customer_Quality_Checks and show me the results"

Cross-source comparison:

"Compare row counts between SQL Server Orders and Snowflake FACT_ORDERS"

Reconciliation:

"Reconcile the Customers table between Oracle and Snowflake using email as the join key"

Analytics:

"Show me the top 5 rules that failed most often last week"

Troubleshooting

Each client's full guide (linked above) has an exhaustive troubleshooting section, including exact Debug Mode steps and log locations for that client.

Claude Desktop log file locations:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\Logs\extensions\

• macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/extensions/

Security & Privacy

• Claude Desktop's packaged extension (Path A) stores your password in your OS keychain (Windows Credential Manager / macOS Keychain). Every other setup path — Claude Desktop Path B, VS Code, Claude Code, and Cursor — stores credentials in plain text in that client's config file. Don't commit those files to version control.

• All communication uses HTTPS with OAuth 2.0

• Data flows directly between your AI client and your iceDQ instance — no third parties, no vendor-hosted relay

• No telemetry or tracking of any kind

• No data persistence beyond the active session

• Use a separate OAuth client per user, and prefer access_token mode on shared machines

Full details: https://icedq.com/privacy-policy

Support