Postgres vs Postgres (read Only)

In-depth architectural comparison of the Postgres and Postgres (read Only) MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Postgres when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Databases domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
• You have access to required keys: DATABASE_URL.
• Primary tools included: query, schema, table_info.

Explore Postgres Details

P

Choose Postgres (read Only) when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Databases domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
• You have access to required keys: DATABASE_URL.
• Primary tools included: query, list_tables, get_table_context.

Explore Postgres (read Only) Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Postgres Databases	P Postgres (read Only) Databases
Summary
Category & Scope	Databases	Databases
Quality signal

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "postgres": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-pg-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "YOUR_DATABASE_URL_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "postgres-read-only": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@contextflo/postgres-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "YOUR_DATABASE_URL_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

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