The schema tools are the reason to reach for this rather than a bare SQL socket — constraints, indexes, views and function listings give a model enough to write a correct join instead of guessing at column names. Pagination, a query timeout and a read-only default keep an exploratory session from becoming an incident.
A PostgreSQL MCP server built on Kysely, aimed at letting a client read a live database safely. Queries are parameterized and paginated; alongside them sits a full schema-inspection surface — tables, columns, constraints, indexes, views, functions and table statistics — plus `EXPLAIN` for a plan without running the statement. `READ_ONLY` defaults to on, restricting execution to `SELECT`, `WITH` and `EXPLAIN`.
- SQL executed with bound parameters and page-size and offset handling, up to 500 rows per page — `query`
- A query's execution plan without running it, optionally with `ANALYZE`, in text, json, xml or yaml — `explain_query`
- A table's structure and column detail, and its constraints including primary and foreign keys — `describe_table`, `get_constraints`
- The schemas in the database and the tables in a schema, with system schemas excluded unless you ask for them — `list_schemas`, `list_tables`
- Indexes for a table or a whole schema, so a slow query can be read against what is actually indexed — `list_indexes`
- Views, and the functions and stored procedures in a schema — `list_views`, `list_functions`
- Table size and statistics for one table or the whole schema — `get_table_stats`
Credentials for a PostgreSQL database, passed as environment variables: `DB_HOST`, `DB_PORT` (5432), `DB_USER`, `DB_PASSWORD`, `DB_NAME` and `DB_SSL`. The package is `@abiswas97/postgres-mcp` 2.0.0 with a `postgres-mcp` binary, run over stdio. `READ_ONLY` is `true` unless you change it, which is the setting that decides whether an agent can write to this database at all — leave it on for anything you care about. `QUERY_TIMEOUT` cuts a statement off at 30000 milliseconds, `MAX_PAGE_SIZE` caps a page at 500 rows and `DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE` sets 100 when the call does not say.
One command plus a key — npx postgres-mcp-server, then supply credentials