A side-by-side look at the MCP Server Motherduck and Nlqueries MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose MCP Server Motherduck for databases work as a local process; choose Nlqueries for databases as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
execute_query, list_databases, list_tables.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, QDRANT_API_KEY, NLQ_MCP_STATIC_TOKEN.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Databases | Databases |
| Quality signal | 56/100 · Good | 49/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | ANTHROPIC_API_KEYOPENAI_API_KEYQDRANT_API_KEYNLQ_MCP_STATIC_TOKEN |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 527 | 4 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View MCP Server Motherduck | View Nlqueries |
execute_queryExecute SQL query (DuckDB dialect)list_databasesList all databases (useful for MotherDuck or multiple attached DBs)list_tablesList tables and viewslist_columnsList columns of a table/viewNo 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": {
"mcp-server-motherduck": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"mcp-server-motherduck"
]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"nlqueries-nlqueries": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"nlqueries-core"
],
"env": {
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_HERE",
"OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE",
"QDRANT_API_KEY": "YOUR_QDRANT_API_KEY_HERE",
"NLQ_MCP_STATIC_TOKEN": "YOUR_NLQ_MCP_STATIC_TOKEN_HERE"
}
}
}
}