A side-by-side look at the MCP Clickhouse and Nuthatch MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose MCP Clickhouse for databases work as a local process; choose Nuthatch for databases. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
list_databases, list_tables, run_query.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | N Nuthatch | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Databases | Databases |
| Quality signal | 67/100 · Great | 40/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | other | No auth required |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 883 | 7 |
| Directory activity | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View MCP Clickhouse | View Nuthatch |
list_databasesList available ClickHouse databaseslist_tablesList available ClickHouse tables in a database, including schema, comment,
row count, and column count.
Integers outside [-9007199254740991, 9007199254740991] in table metadata are
returned as decimal strings.
Pagination tokens are single-use and retained for up to one hour.run_queryExecute SQL queries in ClickHouse. Queries run in read-only mode by default. Bind optional params by name with {name:Type} placeholders, such as {name:String} or {vector:Array(Float32)}. Values may be JSON scalars, nulls, or arrays. Pass exact large integers as decimal strings. JSON lists and objects cannot bind to Tuple and Map types. Python percent formatting and $name$ raw binary parameters are not supported. Parameter values stay out of the MCP server's normal SQL log lines, but may appear in errors and backend logs. Set CLICKHOUSE_ALLOW_WRITE_ACCESS=true to allow DDL and DML operations. Set CLICKHOUSE_ALLOW_DROP=true to additionally allow destructive operations (DROP, TRUNCATE, DELETE, UPDATE, REPLACE TABLE/PARTITION, CREATE OR REPLACE, CLEAR COLUMN/INDEX/PROJECTION, DETACH PERMANENTLY). That gate is a best-effort accident guard, not a security boundary. Integers outside [-9007199254740991, 9007199254740991] are returned as decimal strings. Two optional checks also run through this tool. Use DESCRIBE (<query>) when you need a query's output columns and types; it inspects the result schema and surfaces analysis errors such as an unknown column, but a query that describes cleanly can still fail at runtime. Consider EXPLAIN ESTIMATE <query> before a SELECT that could be expensive; it returns the estimated parts, rows and marks read from MergeTree family tables, which is not run time and not result size. Neither runs the query body, though analysis can execute scalar subqueries.No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"clickhouse-mcp-clickhouse": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"mcp-clickhouse"
]
}
}
}
No confirmed install command for Nuthatch yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.