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MCP Server - Complete Explanation & Setup Guide

Created: 2025-11-11 Server: withinearth-sql MCP (SQL Server @ 10.32.8.130:1988)

🤔 WHAT IS MCP SERVER?

MCP = Model Context Protocol

Think of it as a "plugin system" for Claude that gives it direct access to external tools and data sources.

📊 DIFFERENCE: Normal Claude vs MCP Server

WITHOUT MCP (What We Just Did):

YOU → Ask Claude question
CLAUDE → Generates SQL query
CLAUDE → Executes via Bash/sqlcmd
CLAUDE → Parses results manually
CLAUDE → Returns answer

Issues: - ❌ Claude has to manually write SQL every time - ❌ Uses command-line tools (sqlcmd) - ❌ No schema awareness - ❌ Can't explore database structure - ❌ Requires bash commands for every query

WITH MCP (What You Have Now):

YOU → Ask Claude question
CLAUDE → Uses MCP "tools" directly
MCP SERVER → Translates to SQL automatically
MCP SERVER → Executes query securely
MCP SERVER → Returns structured data
CLAUDE → Formats answer beautifully

Advantages: - ✅ Schema Awareness: Claude knows your table structure automatically - ✅ Native Integration: No bash commands needed - ✅ Intelligent Tools: Claude can list tables, describe schemas, query data - ✅ Better Context: MCP maintains connection and context - ✅ Type Safety: Structured data instead of text parsing - ✅ Multi-tool: Can use multiple MCP servers simultaneously (SQL + Files + APIs)

🔧 HOW MCP WORKS

Architecture:

┌─────────────────┐
│  Claude Code    │ ← You interact here
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  MCP Protocol   │ ← Standard communication protocol
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  MCP Server     │ ← mssql_mcp_server (running locally)
│  (Tools)        │
│  - list_tables  │
│  - read_data    │
│  - describe_tbl │
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  SQL Server     │ ← Your database (10.32.8.130:1988)
│  withinearthDB  │
└─────────────────┘

What Happens When You Ask a Question:

Example: "Show me today's revenue"

  1. Claude receives your question
  2. Claude decides: "I need database data, I'll use the withinearth-sql MCP server"
  3. Claude calls MCP tool: read_data(table='OnlineHotelBooking', filter='today')
  4. MCP Server:
  5. Connects to SQL Server
  6. Generates optimized SQL query
  7. Executes securely
  8. Returns structured JSON data
  9. Claude formats the response → You see beautiful results

🆚 COMPARISON TABLE

Feature Normal Method MCP Server
Query Method Manual sqlcmd Automatic via MCP
Schema Knowledge None Full awareness
Connection Per-query Persistent
Error Handling Manual parsing Built-in
Security Command-line exposure Secure protocol
Tools Available Just queries list_tables, describe_table, read_data, etc.
Performance Medium Faster (connection pooling)
Team Sharing Hard Easy (config file)

👥 SHARING MCP SERVER WITH OTHERS

✅ YES - You Can Share With Your Team!

Two Options:

OPTION 1: Direct Config Sharing (Same Machine)

Each team member needs to add this to their Claude Desktop config:

Location: - Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json - Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Config to Share: 

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "withinearth-sql": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mssql_mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "MSSQL_HOST": "10.32.8.130,1988",
        "MSSQL_DATABASE": "withinearthUpdated",
        "MSSQL_USER": "Replica",
        "MSSQL_PASSWORD": "Wi@Lo#W$M@!n%6248",
        "TrustServerCertificate": "yes",
        "Trusted_Connection": "no"
      }
    }
  }
}

Prerequisites for each person: 1. Install uv: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh 2. Add config file 3. Restart Claude Desktop 4. Done! They can now query the database

Host the MCP server on a central machine and everyone connects to it.

Architecture: 

Team Member 1 ─┐
Team Member 2 ─┼─→ MCP Server (Central) ─→ SQL Server
Team Member 3 ─┘

Benefits: - ✅ Single point of configuration - ✅ Better security (credentials in one place) - ✅ Access control - ✅ Audit logging

Setup:

  1. On Central Server (e.g., 10.32.8.130 or monitoring server):
# Install MCP server
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# Create MCP config
cat > ~/mcp_server.env << 'EOF'
MSSQL_HOST=10.32.8.130,1988
MSSQL_DATABASE=withinearthUpdated
MSSQL_USER=Replica
MSSQL_PASSWORD=Wi@Lo#W$M@!n%6248
TrustServerCertificate=yes
Trusted_Connection=no
EOF

# Run as service (example with systemd)
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/mcp-sql.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=MCP SQL Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=monitor
EnvironmentFile=/home/monitor/mcp_server.env
ExecStart=/root/.local/bin/uvx mssql_mcp_server
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl enable mcp-sql
sudo systemctl start mcp-sql
  1. On Each Team Member's Machine:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "withinearth-sql": {
      "command": "ssh",
      "args": ["monitor@10.32.8.130", "uvx", "mssql_mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "MSSQL_HOST": "10.32.8.130,1988",
        "MSSQL_DATABASE": "withinearthUpdated",
        "MSSQL_USER": "Replica",
        "MSSQL_PASSWORD": "Wi@Lo#W$M@!n%6248"
      }
    }
  }
}

🔒 SECURITY BEST PRACTICES

For Team Sharing:

  1. Create Read-Only User: 

    -- Connect as admin to SQL Server
CREATE LOGIN TeamChatbot WITH PASSWORD = 'SecurePass123!';
CREATE USER TeamChatbot FOR LOGIN TeamChatbot;

USE withinearthUpdated;
GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA::dbo TO TeamChatbot;
DENY INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, EXECUTE ON SCHEMA::dbo TO TeamChatbot;

  2. Update MCP Config with Read-Only User: 

    "MSSQL_USER": "TeamChatbot",
"MSSQL_PASSWORD": "SecurePass123!",

  3. Use Environment Variables (Hide Password):

Instead of hardcoding password in config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "withinearth-sql": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mssql_mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "MSSQL_HOST": "10.32.8.130,1988",
        "MSSQL_DATABASE": "withinearthUpdated",
        "MSSQL_USER": "TeamChatbot",
        "MSSQL_PASSWORD": "${SQL_PASSWORD}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then each user sets: export SQL_PASSWORD="SecurePass123!"

📦 SHARING GUIDE FOR YOUR TEAM

Step-by-Step for Team Members:

Send them this:

🚀 Quick Setup - Join Withinearth SQL Chatbot

Time: 5 minutes

Step 1: Install UV 

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Step 2: Find Your Claude Config - Windows: Press Win+R, type %APPDATA%\Claude, hit Enter - Mac: Open Terminal: open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/ - Linux: mkdir -p ~/.config/Claude && cd ~/.config/Claude

Step 3: Create/Edit claude_desktop_config.json

Create the file if it doesn't exist, or add to existing config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "withinearth-sql": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mssql_mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "MSSQL_HOST": "10.32.8.130,1988",
        "MSSQL_DATABASE": "withinearthUpdated",
        "MSSQL_USER": "Replica",
        "MSSQL_PASSWORD": "Wi@Lo#W$M@!n%6248",
        "TrustServerCertificate": "yes",
        "Trusted_Connection": "no"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Restart Claude Desktop

Step 5: Test It!

Ask Claude: "How many bookings were created today?"

You should get instant results from the database!

🔍 HOW TO VERIFY MCP IS WORKING

In Claude Desktop:

  1. Look for 🔌 icon in bottom-right corner
  2. Should show: "withinearth-sql" with green dot
  3. Click to see available tools:
  4. list_tables
  5. read_data
  6. describe_table

In Claude Code (CLI):

Just ask database questions naturally: - "Show me today's revenue" - "List all tables in the database" - "What columns are in OnlineHotelBooking table?"

If Claude responds with data, MCP is working!

🎯 EXAMPLE QUESTIONS TO ASK

Once MCP is set up, try these:

Database Exploration:

  • "List all tables in the database"
  • "Describe the OnlineHotelBooking table structure"
  • "What columns are available in OnlineHotelBookingDetail?"

Business Questions:

  • "What's our revenue today?"
  • "Show me top 10 agents by booking count"
  • "Which suppliers have the highest cancellation rate?"
  • "How many bookings from Agoda in the last 7 days?"

Data Analysis:

  • "Compare this week's bookings to last week"
  • "Show me hourly booking distribution"
  • "Find all bookings with negative margin"
  • "Which agents are inactive (no bookings in 30 days)?"

🐛 TROUBLESHOOTING

"MCP server not showing up"

# Verify uvx is installed
uvx --version

# Test MCP server manually
MSSQL_HOST="10.32.8.130,1988" \
MSSQL_DATABASE="withinearthUpdated" \
MSSQL_USER="Replica" \
MSSQL_PASSWORD="Wi@Lo#W\$M@!n%6248" \
TrustServerCertificate="yes" \
uvx mssql_mcp_server

"Connection failed"

# Test SQL connectivity
sqlcmd -S "10.32.8.130,1988" -U "Replica" -P "Wi@Lo#W\$M@!n%6248" -Q "SELECT 1"

"Wrong credentials"

  • Check password special characters are correct
  • Verify user has database access
  • Try connecting with SQL Server Management Studio first

📚 ADDITIONAL MCP SERVERS YOU CAN ADD

You can add multiple MCP servers to access different systems:

File System:

"filesystem": {
  "command": "uvx",
  "args": ["mcp-server-filesystem", "/home/monitor/logs"]
}

Git:

"git": {
  "command": "uvx",
  "args": ["mcp-server-git", "/home/monitor/repos"]
}

PostgreSQL:

"postgres": {
  "command": "uvx",
  "args": ["mcp-server-postgres"],
  "env": {
    "POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING": "postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db"
  }
}

🎓 LEARN MORE

  • MCP Documentation: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/
  • Available MCP Servers: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers
  • Claude Desktop Docs: https://docs.anthropic.com/claude/docs

✅ YOUR CURRENT STATUS

MCP Server: ✅ Installed & Configured Database: withinearth SQL Server @ 10.32.8.130:1988 Config File: /root/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Status: Ready for team sharing!

Questions? Test it now by asking Claude a database question!