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Author: maxandersen

_posts/2025-01-28-introducing-mcp-jdbc.adoc

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+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Introducing Model Context Protocol servers project'
+date: 2025-01-28
+tags: ai
+synopsis: Introducing the Model Context Protocol servers project which provides a set of MCP servers implemented using Quarkus and Java. Starting with JDBC, filesystem and JavaFX.
+author: maxandersen
+---
+:imagesdir: /assets/images/posts/mcpservers
+ifdef::env-github,env-browser,env-vscode[:imagesdir: ../assets/images/posts/mcpservers]
+
+Today, I'm excited to introduce the Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers project.
+
+Model Context Protocol is the recent approach to enable AI models to interact with your applications and services in a nice decoupled way.
+
+The https://github.com/quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers[mcp-servers] project is as far as I know the first one to provide a set of MCP servers implemented using Java and at least uniquely Quarkus.
+
+Intended to show-case the capabilities of the Model Context Protocol, and inspiration for what you can do with it - especially in Java.
+
+== The Servers
+
+At time of writing there are three servers implemented:
+
+JDBC:: Let your AI app introspect and interact to any JDBC-compatible database, let it be PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, Oracle, etc.
+
+Filesystem:: Access the file system of your machine, let it be your home directory, your code directory, your project directory, etc.
+
+JavaFX:: Draw on a JavaFX canvas, get your AI to draw some art for you!
+
+Each server is implemented using Quarkus and Java, and each server is available to easily run using JBang.
+
+== How to use the servers
+
+The general setup is to install JBang (no need for Java, Quarkus or any other Java tool installed).
+
+Then in your MCP client configure it with:
+
+`jbang [server-name]@quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers [arguments]`
+
+Thus for example to run the JDBC server to connect to a MariaDB database you would do:
+
+`jbang mcp-jdbc-server@quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers jdbc:mariadb://localhost:3306/test --user root --password mysecretpassword`
+
+or use a downlodable SQLite database of Netflix movies:
+
+`jbang mcp-jdbc-server@quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers jdbc:sqlite:%{https://github.com/lerocha/netflixdb/releases/download/v1.0.0/netflixdb.sqlite}`
+
+TIP: Tthe `%{}` syntax is a JBang feature to download a file from a URL in the command line and use it as a local file.
+
+== Tested MCP Clients
+
+During development we tested the servers with the following clients:
+
+* Claude Desktop
+* mcp-cli
+* Goose
+
+There are more MCP clients out there, and we're sure that the servers will work with many more.
+
+Goose is noteworthy given it is opensource and available both as a desktop app (on MacOS) and as a cli tool. It was https://block.github.io/goose/docs/quickstart/[recently announced] with full support for the Model Context Protocol.
+
+Here I configured Goose to use the SQLLite database from the Northwind sample database with this setup stored in `~/.config/goose/config.yaml`:
+
+```yaml
+extensions:
+  netflixdb:
+  args:
+    - jdbc@quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers
+    - jdbc:sqlite:%{https://github.com/lerocha/netflixdb/releases/download/v1.0.0/netflixdb.sqlite}
+    cmd: jbang
+    enabled: true
+    envs: {}
+    name: netflixdb
+    type: stdio
+```
+
+Note: we do recommend to use `goose config` to generate/edit the config file.
+
+With the above config Goose will be able to use the JDBC server to connect to the SQLLite database:
+
+image::mcp-jdbc-goose.png[Goose using the JDBC server to connect to the SQLLite database]
+
+== Unique features for Quarkus MCP Servers
+
+All that is great, but why use Quarkus for implementing the MCP servers?
+
+First is that the programming model provided by Quarkus is very powerful, allowing you to easily focus on the business logic of your application. See https://quarkus.io/blog/mcp-server/[previous blog] for details on how to implement a server or look at the https://github.com/quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers/blob/main/jdbc/src/main/java/io/quarkus/mcp/servers/jdbc/MCPServerJDBC.java[code of the JDBC servers]. Notice how compact it is!
+
+Second, is the wast Java ecosystem provides things like JDBC drivers which enables us to make a single server that works with any JDBC-compatible database. We use `jbang` to dynamically download https://github.com/quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers/blob/main/jdbc/.scripts/mcpjdbc.java[the right JDBC driver] and then launch the quarkus mcp server. Similar is done for `jfx` to https://github.com/quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers/blob/main/jbang-catalog.json#L34[fetch] the right OS specific JavaFX dependencies.
+
+Thirdly, ability to run the servers as a native executable. In the MCP servers project the `filesystem` server is https://github.com/quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers/releases[published as a native executable] you can download and gain a much faster startup time.
+
+== Sky is the limit!
+
+The Model Context Protocol opens up exciting possibilities for building intelligent applications using your application data with your favourte programming language and framework. With Quarkus MCP Servers, you have a powerful foundation to create your own Java based servers that can bridge AI with any data source or system you can imagine.
+
+Whether you want to connect to your favorite database, integrate with your company's internal systems, or build something completely new - the sky truly is the limit! The simplicity of implementing MCP servers with Quarkus means you can focus on the creative aspects rather than the plumbing.
+
+We'd love to see what you build! Leave a comment or consider contributing your MCP servers back to the community through the https://github.com/quarkiverse/quarkus-mcp-servers[Quarkiverse MCP Servers project]. Your implementation could help others solve similar problems or inspire them to create something even more amazing.
+
+So what are you waiting for? Grab the code, fire up your IDE, and start building your own MCP server today. The future of AI-powered applications is here, and you can be part of shaping it!
+
+Have Fun!
+
+