MCP Server Bigquery README

The full upstream README, mirrored for reference. Install config, tool schemas, adoption signals and our own overview live on the MCP Server Bigquery listing page.

BigQuery MCP server

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A Model Context Protocol server that provides access to BigQuery. This server enables LLMs to inspect database schemas and execute queries.

Components

Tools

The server implements one tool:

  • execute-query: Executes a SQL query using BigQuery dialect
  • list-tables: Lists all tables in the BigQuery database
  • describe-table: Describes the schema of a specific table

Configuration

The server can be configured either with command line arguments or environment variables.

ArgumentEnvironment VariableRequiredDescription
--projectBIGQUERY_PROJECTYesThe GCP project ID.
--locationBIGQUERY_LOCATIONYesThe GCP location (e.g. europe-west9).
--datasetBIGQUERY_DATASETSNoOnly take specific BigQuery datasets into consideration. Several datasets can be specified by repeating the argument (e.g. --dataset my_dataset_1 --dataset my_dataset_2) or by joining them with a comma in the environment variable (e.g. BIGQUERY_DATASETS=my_dataset_1,my_dataset_2). If not provided, all datasets in the project will be considered.
--key-fileBIGQUERY_KEY_FILENoPath to a service account key file for BigQuery. If not provided, the server will use the default credentials.
--timeoutBIGQUERY_TIMEOUTNoMaximum time in seconds to wait for a query to complete. If not provided, queries will wait indefinitely.

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install BigQuery Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

Terminal
npx -y @smithery/cli install mcp-server-bigquery --client claude

Claude Code

Terminal
claude mcp add bigquery --scope user --transport stdio -- uvx mcp-server-bigquery --project {PROJECT_ID} --location {{LOCATION}}

Claude Desktop

On MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigquery": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-bigquery"],
      "env": {
        "BIGQUERY_PROJECT": "{{GCP_PROJECT_ID}}",
        "BIGQUERY_LOCATION": "{{GCP_LOCATION}}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

  1. Open Cursor Settings → MCP
  2. Click Add new global MCP server
  3. Add an entry for the BigQuery MCP, following the pattern below:
config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigquery": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-bigquery"],
      "env": {
        "BIGQUERY_PROJECT": "{{GCP_PROJECT_ID}}",
        "BIGQUERY_LOCATION": "{{GCP_LOCATION}}"
      }
    }
  }
}