Metabase MCP Server

Metabase includes a built-in Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI clients connect directly to a Metabase instance. It uses the Streamable HTTP transport and builds on Metabase's Agent API to expose tools for searching, exploring, querying, and visualizing data — all scoped to the connecting user's permissions.

Endpoint

The MCP server is available at:

https://{your-metabase.example.com}/api/mcp

Connecting a client

Point any MCP-compatible client at the /api/mcp endpoint. For example, with Claude Code:

claude mcp add metabase https://{your-metabase.example.com}/api/mcp --transport streamable-http

For Claude Desktop, create a custom connector using the same URL.

For Cursor, open Settings > MCP and add a new server with the type set to streamable-http and the URL:

https://{your-metabase.example.com}/api/mcp

Authentication

MCP clients authenticate via OAuth 2.0. Metabase runs its own embedded OAuth server — no external provider is needed.

The flow for a first-time connection:

1. The client discovers Metabase's OAuth endpoints.

2. The client registers itself with Metabase.

3. The user is redirected to Metabase to log in and approve the connection.

4. The client receives an access token scoped to the user's Metabase permissions.

Browser-based sessions (cookie auth) are also supported and receive unrestricted scopes.

Scopes

Access tokens are scoped to limit what tools a client can use:

Wildcard patterns (e.g. agent:*) match any scope with that prefix.

OAuth protected resource metadata is available at:

/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/api/mcp

By default our consent screen grants access to all scopes without the opportunity to customize.

Available tools

The MCP server exposes these tools, dynamically generated from the Agent API endpoint metadata:

Query results are limited to 200 rows per request. When more rows are available, the response includes a continuation_token that can be passed back to fetch the next page.

Resources (MCP Apps)

The server also exposes MCP resources that render interactive Metabase visualizations inside the client's UI.

When a client calls resources/read, the server returns an HTML page that embeds the Metabase SDK to render a fully interactive visualization. The visualize_query tool works with this resource — it returns a reference to the resource URI along with the query to visualize, and supporting clients render the result as an embedded iframe.

Resources include CSP metadata (_meta.ui.csp) so clients can set appropriate Content-Security-Policy headers for the embedded content.

Supported JSON-RPC methods

Requests can be sent individually or as a JSON-RPC batch. The server responds with JSON or SSE depending on the Accept header.

Architecture

The implementation lives in these files:

• api.clj — The HTTP handler. Parses JSON-RPC requests, validates authentication and session headers, enforces origin checks (DNS rebinding protection), and dispatches to the appropriate method. Supports both JSON and SSE response formats.

• tools.clj — Tool dispatch and manifest generation. Builds the tool list from Agent API endpoint metadata, checks scopes, and routes tool calls through synthetic Agent API requests.

• resources.clj — MCP resource registry and handlers. Manages UI resources (like the visualize-query HTML page) and their associated tools, with scope-based access control.

• scope.clj — Scope matching logic. Supports exact matches, wildcard patterns, and the ::unrestricted sentinel for session-based auth.

Request flow

MCP client
  → POST /api/mcp (JSON-RPC)
  → Origin + session validation
  → Auth: OAuth bearer token or browser session
  → Scope check against requested tool
  → Synthetic request to Agent API endpoint
  → Response materialized as MCP content
  → JSON or SSE back to client

Further reading

• MCP user docs

• Agent API source

• Model Context Protocol specification