Windows Authentication:

MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost;Database=MyDatabase;Trusted_Connection=true;"

SQL Server Authentication:

MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost;Database=MyDatabase;User Id=myuser;Password=mypassword;"

Azure SQL Database:

MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=myserver.database.windows.net;Database=mydatabase;User Id=myuser;Password=mypassword;Encrypt=true;"

Running the MCP Server

Option 1: Docker (Recommended)

The easiest way to run the MCP server is using Docker with .NET's built-in container support.

Build and Run with Docker

Clone the repository

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Aaronontheweb/mssql-mcp.git
cd mssql-mcp

Build the Docker image

dotnet publish --os linux --arch x64 /t:PublishContainer

You can run the container directly if you wish, but it's probably best to let the MCP server spin up the client:

# Run the container
docker run -it --rm \
  -e MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=host.docker.internal;Database=MyDB;Trusted_Connection=true;" \
  mssql-mcp:latest

MCP Client Configuration

Cursor IDE

Add to your Cursor settings (Cursor Settings > Features > Model Context Protocol):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mssql": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
          "run",
          "-i",
          "--rm",
          "-e",
          "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING",
          "mssql-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
          "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING": "Server=host.docker.internal,1533; Database=MyDb; User Id=myUser; Password=My(!)Password;TrustServerCertificate=true;"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mssql": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
          "run",
          "-i",
          "--rm",
          "-e",
          "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING",
          "mssql-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
          "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING": "Server=host.docker.internal,1533; Database=MyDb; User Id=myUser; Password=My(!)Password;TrustServerCertificate=true;"
      }
    }
  }
}

You might need to create that file and restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect.

Understanding Your Claude Desktop MCP Server Configuration

This JSON configuration is for Claude Desktop's Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. It essentially teaches Claude how to connect to and use a custom "tool" that interacts with a Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) database.

Let's break down each part:

mcpServers

This is the top-level section where you define all your custom MCP servers. You can set up multiple servers here, each with its own unique name.

"mssql"

This is the unique name you've chosen for this particular SQL Server integration. Claude will use this name to refer to this database connection.

"command": "docker"

This line tells Claude Desktop to launch the MCP server using Docker. This means the actual server software runs inside an isolated container, and you'll need Docker Desktop installed and running on your Windows/mac/Linux machine for this to work. Alternatively, you can use remote Docker server using custon context.

"args": [...]

These are the arguments Claude Desktop passes to the docker command when starting the container:

• "run": This standard Docker command creates and starts a new container.
• "-i": Stands for "interactive," keeping the standard input open for communication between the MCP server and Claude Desktop.
• "--rm": This important argument tells Docker to automatically remove the container when it stops. This helps keep your Docker environment tidy.
• "-e", "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING": This passes an environment variable named MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING into the Docker container.
• "mssql-mcp:latest": This specifies the Docker image to use. This image (mssql-mcp with the latest tag) contains the actual MCP server application designed to interact with SQL Server. You'll need to ensure this image is available (either built locally or pulled from a Docker registry).

"env": {...}

This section defines the environment variables that will be set when Docker executes the command.

• "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING": "Server=host.docker.internal,1533; Database=MyDb; User Id=myUser; Password=My(!)Password;TrustServerCertificate=true;"
  • This is the SQL Server connection string that the mssql-mcp Docker container will use to connect to your database.
  • Server=host.docker.internal,1533: host.docker.internal is a special Docker DNS name that lets the container reach your host machine's IP address. This is how the MCP server inside Docker can connect to your SQL Server instance, which is presumably running directly on your machine. 1533 is the port your SQL Server is listening on.
  • Database=MyDb: The name of the specific database you want to connect to.
  • User Id=myUser; Password=My(!)Password;: The credentials for a user (myUser) to log into your SQL Server.
  • TrustServerCertificate=true;: This tells the client to skip validating the server's SSL/TLS certificate. While convenient for development or when using self-signed certificates, be aware this reduces security by making you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks in production environments.

In a Nutshell:

This configuration enables Claude Desktop to run a SQL Server-specific MCP server inside a Docker container. This server then uses the provided connection string to establish a connection to your SQL Server database, allowing Claude to interact with your data through this custom tool.

Local Binary Configuration

If running the built binary directly instead of Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mssql": {
      "command": "/path/to/mssql-mcp/src/MSSQL.MCP/bin/Release/net9.0/MSSQL.MCP",
      "env": {
        "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING": "Server=localhost;Database=MyDB;Trusted_Connection=true;"
      }
    }
  }
}

Docker Networking Issues

Understanding the Problem

When running the MCP server as a Docker container, you'll encounter networking challenges when trying to connect to SQL Server instances running on your host machine or in other containers. Docker containers are isolated from the host network by default, making localhost connections impossible.

Solutions by Scenario

Scenario 1: SQL Server Running on Host Machine

Problem: Your SQL Server is installed directly on Windows/macOS/Linux, and you want the containerized MCP server to connect to it.

Solution: Use host.docker.internal instead of localhost in your connection string.

# ❌ This won't work - localhost refers to the container itself
docker run -it --rm \
  -e MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost;Database=MyDB;User Id=sa;Password=YourPassword123!;" \
  mssql-mcp:latest

# ✅ This works - host.docker.internal refers to the host machine
docker run -it --rm \
  -e MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=host.docker.internal;Database=MyDB;User Id=sa;Password=YourPassword123!;" \
  mssql-mcp:latest

Updated MCP Client Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mssql": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING=Server=host.docker.internal;Database=MyDB;User Id=sa;Password=YourPassword123!;",
        "mssql-mcp:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Scenario 2: SQL Server in Another Docker Container

Solution: Use Docker Compose with a custom network and reference containers by service name.

version: '3.8'
networks:
  sql-network:
    driver: bridge

services:
  mssql-mcp:
    build: .
    environment:
      # Use the service name 'sqlserver' as the hostname
      - MSSQL_CONNECTION_STRING=Server=sqlserver;Database=MyDatabase;User Id=sa;Password=YourPassword123!;
    stdin_open: true
    tty: true
    networks:
      - sql-network
    depends_on:
      - sqlserver
      
  sqlserver:
    image: mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest
    environment:
      - ACCEPT_EULA=Y
      - SA_PASSWORD=YourPa