BigQuery MCP server

1# BigQuery MCP server
2 
3[![smithery badge](https://smithery.ai/badge/mcp-server-bigquery)](https://smithery.ai/server/mcp-server-bigquery)
4 
5A Model Context Protocol server that provides access to BigQuery. This server enables LLMs to inspect database schemas and execute queries.
6 
7## Components
8 
9### Tools
10 
11The server implements one tool:
12 
13- `execute-query`: Executes a SQL query using BigQuery dialect
14- `list-tables`: Lists all tables in the BigQuery database
15- `describe-table`: Describes the schema of a specific table
16 
17## Configuration
18 
19The server can be configured either with command line arguments or environment variables.
20 
21| Argument     | Environment Variable | Required | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
22| ------------ | -------------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
23| `--project`  | `BIGQUERY_PROJECT`   | Yes      | The GCP project ID.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
24| `--location` | `BIGQUERY_LOCATION`  | Yes      | The GCP location (e.g. `europe-west9`).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
25| `--dataset`  | `BIGQUERY_DATASETS`  | No       | Only 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. |
26| `--key-file` | `BIGQUERY_KEY_FILE`  | No       | Path to a service account key file for BigQuery. If not provided, the server will use the default credentials.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
27| `--timeout`  | `BIGQUERY_TIMEOUT`   | No       | Maximum time in seconds to wait for a query to complete. If not provided, queries will wait indefinitely.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
28 
29## Installation
30 
31### Installing via Smithery
32 
33To install BigQuery Server for Claude Desktop automatically via [Smithery](https://smithery.ai/server/mcp-server-bigquery):
34 
35```bash
36npx -y @smithery/cli install mcp-server-bigquery --client claude
37```
38 
39### Claude Code
40 
41```bash
42claude mcp add bigquery --scope user --transport stdio -- uvx mcp-server-bigquery --project {PROJECT_ID} --location {{LOCATION}}
43```
44 
45### Claude Desktop
46 
47On MacOS: `~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`  
48On Windows: `%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
49 
50```json
51{
52  "mcpServers": {
53    "bigquery": {
54      "command": "uvx",
55      "args": ["mcp-server-bigquery"],
56      "env": {
57        "BIGQUERY_PROJECT": "{{GCP_PROJECT_ID}}",
58        "BIGQUERY_LOCATION": "{{GCP_LOCATION}}"
59      }
60    }
61  }
62}
63```
64 
65## Cursor
66 
671. Open Cursor Settings → MCP
682. Click Add new global MCP server
693. Add an entry for the BigQuery MCP, following the pattern below:
70 
71```json
72{
73  "mcpServers": {
74    "bigquery": {
75      "command": "uvx",
76      "args": ["mcp-server-bigquery"],
77      "env": {
78        "BIGQUERY_PROJECT": "{{GCP_PROJECT_ID}}",
79        "BIGQUERY_LOCATION": "{{GCP_LOCATION}}"
80      }
81    }
82  }
83}
84```
85