> This page location: AI > AI for Agents > MCP integration > Overview
> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

> Summary: The Neon MCP Server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP), letting AI assistants interact with your Neon projects on your behalf. Set up with `npx neonctl@latest init` or use the config generator. Supports OAuth and API key auth.

# Neon MCP Server overview

Connect your AI assistant to Neon to manage projects, run queries, and make schema changes

The Neon MCP Server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP), letting AI assistants interact with your Neon projects on your behalf. Your AI agent can interact with Neon via MCP tools or by running [Neon CLI](https://neon.com/docs/reference/neon-cli) commands directly.

**Important: Security**

The Neon MCP Server grants broad database management capabilities. **Always review and authorize actions requested by the LLM before execution.** Restrict access to trusted users only. See [MCP security guidance](https://neon.com/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#mcp-security-guidance).

## Quick setup

```bash
npx neonctl@latest init
```

Runs `neonctl init` via npx to configure MCP and other integrations for your editor. If you only want the MCP server, use the config generator below.

## Config generator

Use the generator to build an MCP config for your editor, auth method, and transport, including the `Authorization` header for API key or remote agent setups.

## Access control

The Neon MCP Server supports URL parameters to restrict scope and permissions. Append them to the MCP URL (`https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp`).

### Read-only mode

Append `?readonly=true` to restrict the server to read operations:

```
https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?readonly=true
```

`SELECT` queries and schema inspection remain available. Write operations (creating branches, running migrations, modifying auth config) are disabled.

With OAuth, you can also choose read-only scope during the authorization flow instead of using the URL parameter.

### Project-scoped mode

Scope all operations to a single project:

```
https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?projectId=<your-project-id>
```

Cross-project search and navigation are disabled in this mode.

### Category filtering

Restrict active tools to specific categories using `?category=<name>` (repeatable):

```
https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp?category=querying&category=schema
```

See [Available tools](https://neon.com/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#available-tools) for the full category list. To verify which tools are active for a given config without authenticating:

```bash
curl "https://mcp.neon.tech/api/list-tools?readonly=true&category=querying"
```

## MCP security guidance

We recommend MCP for **development and testing only**, not production environments.

- Use MCP only for local development or IDE-based workflows
- Never connect MCP agents to production databases
- Avoid exposing production or PII data; use anonymized data only
- Always review and authorize LLM-requested actions before execution
- Restrict MCP access to trusted users and regularly audit access

### Allowlist IP addresses

The hosted Neon MCP Server (`mcp.neon.tech`) connects to your Neon databases from the following static IP addresses:

- `34.192.103.46`
- `23.22.233.166`

If [IP Allow](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/ip-allow) is enabled on your project, add these addresses to your allowlist so the MCP server can connect.

## Available tools

Tools are grouped into categories. Use the `?category=` URL parameter to restrict which categories are active. You can pass it more than once to enable multiple categories.

| Category                        | What it enables                                                                     |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Project management (`projects`) | List, create, describe, and delete projects and organizations                       |
| Branch management (`branches`)  | Create branches, compare schemas, reset branches to parent state                    |
| Schema (`schema`)               | Inspect tables and columns; run schema changes via a safe temporary branch workflow |
| SQL (`querying`)                | Execute queries and transactions; inspect database structure                        |
| Neon Auth (`neon_auth`)         | Set up and configure app authentication for a branch                                |
| Neon Data API (`data_api`)      | Enable HTTP-based Data API access for a branch                                      |
| Documentation (`docs`)          | Look up Neon documentation from within your assistant (no OAuth required)           |

Search and navigation tools (search across projects, fetch resource details by ID) are available by default but disabled in [project-scoped mode](https://neon.com/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#project-scoped-mode).

## Troubleshooting

If your client doesn't support JSON for MCP server configuration (such as older versions of Cursor), use this command when prompted:

```bash
npx -y @neondatabase/mcp-server-neon start <YOUR_NEON_API_KEY>
```

For per-client setup instructions, see [Connect MCP clients](https://neon.com/docs/ai/connect-mcp-clients-to-neon).

**Note:** For clients that don't support Streamable HTTP, you can use the deprecated SSE endpoint: `https://mcp.neon.tech/sse`. SSE is not supported with API key authentication.

## Resources

- [MCP Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.org)
- [Neon API Reference](https://api-docs.neon.tech/reference/getting-started-with-neon-api)
- [Neon API Keys](https://neon.com/docs/manage/api-keys#creating-api-keys)
- [Neon MCP server GitHub](https://github.com/neondatabase/mcp-server-neon)

---

## Related docs (MCP integration)

- [Connect MCP clients](https://neon.com/docs/ai/connect-mcp-clients-to-neon)