Civis MCP Server

Civis MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that provides an interface to the Civis Platform

Configuration

Configure for Claude.app

Add the following to your Claude settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "civis": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "CIVIS_API_KEY" "civisanalytics/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "CIVIS_API_KEY": "Put a valid API key here"
      }
    }
  }
}

The settings file is at ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on MacOS. You'll need to add a valid Civis API key to the file, so make sure to run chmod 600 to restrict access to that file, and never commit it to version control.

Configure for VS Code

Add the following JSON block to your User Settings (JSON) file in VS Code. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P and typing Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).

Optionally, you can add it to a file called .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace. This will allow you to share the configuration with others.

Note that the mcp key is needed when using the mcp.json file.

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [{
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "CIVIS_API_KEY",
      "description": "CIVIS API Key",
      "password": true
    }],
    "servers": {
      "civis": {
        "command": "docker",
        "args": [
          "run",
          "-i",
          "--rm",
          "-e", "CIVIS_API_KEY",
          "civisanalytics/mcp-server",
      ],
      "env": {
          "CIVIS_API_KEY": "${input:CIVIS_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Schema-Restricted Mode

The --schema parameter limits the server to read-only data exploration within a specific schema, disabling workflow tools and access to other schemas.

When enabled:

• Only data tools are available: run_query, list_tables, get_table, pull_data_list, publish_html_report
• Queries are wrapped with BEGIN READ ONLY;
• Queries must reference the configured schema

To enable, add "--schema", "your_schema" to the args. You can optionally add "--description", "context about your data" to help the AI understand the data.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "civis": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "CIVIS_API_KEY",
        "civisanalytics/mcp-server",
        "--schema", "analytics_mart"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CIVIS_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Examples of Questions

1. "Query the donations table from the donors schema in Civis.

How many donations happened in the last 30 days compared to one year ago?"

1. "Add all the tables from the salesforce_prod schema in Civis as dbt

sources. Include column names and types."

1. "Post this YAML file as a Civis workflow and execute it."
2. "How long did my most recent workflow take to execute?"

Local Installation

Using uv (recommended)

When using uv no specific installation is needed. We will use uvx to directly run mcp-server-civis.

Using PIP

Alternatively you can install mcp-server-civis via pip:

pip install mcp-server-civis

After installation, you can run it as a script using:

python -m mcp_server_civis

Debugging

You can use the MCP inspector to debug the server. For uvx installations:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uvx mcp-server-civis

Or if you've installed the package in a specific directory or are developing on it:

cd path/to/servers/src/time
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv run mcp-server-civis

Build

Docker build:

docker build -t civisanalytics/mcp-server .

Contributing

We encourage contributions to help expand and improve mcp-server-civis. Whether you want to add new time-related tools, enhance existing functionality, or improve documentation, your input is valuable.

For examples of other MCP servers and implementation patterns, see: (https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers)

Pull requests are welcome! Feel free to contribute new ideas, bug fixes, or enhancements to make mcp-server-civis even more powerful and useful.

License

mcp-server-civis is licensed under the 3-Clause BSD License. This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute the software, subject to the terms and conditions of that license. For more details, please see the LICENSE.md file in the project repository.