Turso MCP Server

SQLite-compatible in-process database with a built-in MCP server. Query data, modify schemas, and run full CRUD via the tursodb CLI.

Developer Tools by Turso None active

GitHub Docs

Overview

Turso is an in-process SQL database written in Rust and compatible with SQLite. The official Turso CLI (tursodb) ships with a built-in Model Context Protocol server that you launch by passing the --mcp flag against a database file. This turns any local SQLite/libSQL database into a tool that AI assistants can query and modify through natural language.

The MCP server exposes nine tools covering the full CRUD surface plus schema management: opening databases, listing and describing tables, running SELECT queries, inserting, updating, and deleting rows, and executing DDL statements like CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, and DROP TABLE. Communication happens over stdin/stdout using JSON-RPC, which means the server can run anywhere the CLI runs and integrate with any MCP-aware client.

Because the MCP server is bundled directly into the Turso CLI rather than being a separate package, there is nothing extra to install once you have tursodb. It is maintained by the Turso team as part of the database engine itself, alongside the SQLite-compatible runtime, vector search, and the language bindings provided by the project.

Tools

Tool	Description
`open_database`	Open a new database file from disk.
`current_database`	Return information about the currently opened database.
`list_tables`	List all tables in the current database.
`describe_table`	Describe the column structure of a specific table.
`execute_query`	Execute a read-only SELECT query and return the results.
`insert_data`	Insert new rows into a table.
`update_data`	Update existing rows in a table.
`delete_data`	Delete rows from a table.
`schema_change`	Execute schema modification statements such as CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, or DROP TABLE.

Setup Guide

Prerequisites

Install the Turso CLI:
```
curl -sSL tur.so/install | sh
```
A local SQLite/libSQL database file (or let tursodb create one).

Launching the MCP server

Run the CLI with the --mcp flag to start MCP mode over stdin/stdout:

tursodb your_database.db --mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor config

Add the following to your MCP client config (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "turso": {
      "command": "/path/to/.turso/tursodb",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/database.db", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add my-database -- tursodb ./path/to/your/database.db --mcp

No API keys or authentication are required. The server runs locally and operates on the database file you point it at.

Use Cases

Ask an AI assistant to explore an unfamiliar SQLite database by listing tables and describing their schemas
Prototype application schemas by having Claude run CREATE TABLE / ALTER TABLE statements iteratively
Generate and insert seed or test data into a local database during development
Run natural-language analytics queries against a local SQLite/libSQL file without writing SQL by hand
Perform safe maintenance tasks like bulk updates or cleanups against a local database with AI assistance

Example Prompts

"Open ./app.db and list every table along with its columns."
"Create a users table with id, email, and created_at columns, then insert five test rows."
"Show me the 10 most recent orders from the orders table, joined with customer name."
"Update all products where stock is 0 to set the status column to 'out_of_stock'."
"Drop the deprecated legacy_logs table after confirming it has no rows."

Pros

Officially maintained by the Turso team as part of the core CLI, not a community wrapper
Full CRUD plus DDL coverage in nine well-scoped tools
Zero configuration auth: runs locally over stdin/stdout against any SQLite/libSQL file
Works with any MCP-aware client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and others)

Limitations

Operates on local database files only; does not directly manage remote Turso cloud databases or org-level resources
Turso itself is still in beta, so behavior and tool surface may change
No fine-grained permissioning: any connected agent can run destructive DDL or DELETE statements

Alternatives

spences10/mcp-turso-cloud: community MCP server for managing Turso cloud databases (create/delete DBs, tokens, queries)
nbbaier/mcp-turso: community MCP server focused on read-only access to Turso-hosted libSQL databases
Official SQLite MCP server reference implementation from the modelcontextprotocol organization for plain SQLite files