MCP · SQLite — query a local database

Use case: dig into a .db/.sqlite export (local analytics, an app's database, a client file) without installing a GUI tool.

Configuration (.znote/mcp.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sqlite": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--with", "mcp<2", "mcp-server-sqlite", "--db-path", "~/data/app.db"]
    }
  }
}

This server is Python: uvx (ships with uv, brew install uv) runs it without installing. The --with mcp<2 pin is required: this archived reference server breaks with the MCP 2.x SDK (AttributeError: 'Server' object has no attribute 'list_resources'). Node alternative, no Python: npx -y mcp-sqlite ~/data/app.db.

⚠️ The path must point at an existing database: SQLite silently creates an empty file when the path is new — the model will then answer "no tables". Check with ls before configuring.

Exposed tools: read_query, write_query, list_tables, describe_table, create_table…

Examples

Discovering the database

List the tables in this database, describe the columns of the 3 largest,
and tell me what this database seems to store.

Analysis

What are the 10 most frequent events in the events table over the last
30 days? Add the trend versus the previous month.

Guided cleanup (writes)

Find the duplicates in the contacts table (same email), show them to me,
then propose the DELETE query — do not run it without my approval.

Tips

• tools=sqlite.read_query = read-only guardrail.
• Work on a copy of the .sqlite file for any session that involves writes.