mcp-arangodb-async by PCfVW - MCP Server

ArangoDB MCP Server for Python

A production-ready Model Context Protocol (MCP) server exposing advanced ArangoDB operations to AI assistants like Claude Desktop and Augment Code. Features async-first Python architecture, comprehensive graph management, flexible content conversion (JSON, Markdown, YAML, Table), backup/restore functionality, and analytics capabilities.

Quick Links

📚 Documentation: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/tree/master/docs

🚀 Quick Start: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/getting-started/quickstart.md

🔧 ArangoDB Setup: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/getting-started/install-arangodb.md

🗄️ Multi-Tenancy Guide: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/user-guide/multi-tenancy-guide.md

⚙️ CLI Reference: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/user-guide/cli-reference.md

📖 Tools Reference: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/user-guide/tools-reference.md

🎯 MCP Design Patterns: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/user-guide/mcp-design-patterns.md

📝 Changelog: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/developer-guide/changelog.md

🐛 Issues: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/issues

Features

✅ 46 MCP Tools - Complete ArangoDB operations (queries, collections, indexes, graphs) ✅ Multi-Tenancy - Work with multiple databases, environment switching, cross-database operations ✅ MCP Design Patterns - Progressive discovery, context switching, tool unloading (98.7% token savings) ✅ Graph Management - Create, traverse, backup/restore named graphs ✅ Content Conversion - JSON, Markdown, YAML, and Table formats ✅ Backup/Restore - Collection and graph-level backup with validation ✅ Analytics - Query profiling, explain plans, graph statistics ✅ Dual Transport - stdio (desktop clients) and HTTP (web/containerized) ✅ Docker Support - Run in Docker for isolation and reproducibility ✅ Production-Ready - Retry logic, graceful degradation, comprehensive error handling ✅ Type-Safe - Pydantic validation for all tool arguments

Architecture

┌────────────────────┐      ┌─────────────────────┐       ┌──────────────────┐
│   MCP Client       │      │  ArangoDB MCP       │       │   ArangoDB       │
│ (Claude, Augment)  │─────▶│  Server (Python)    │─────▶│  (Docker)        │
│                    │      │  • 46 Tools         │       │  • Multi-Model   │
│                    │      │  • Multi-Tenancy    │       │  • Graph Engine  │
│                    │      │  • Graph Mgmt       │       │  • AQL Engine    │
│                    │      │  • MCP Patterns     │       │                  │
└────────────────────┘      └─────────────────────┘       └──────────────────┘

Getting Started with ArangoDB

Prerequisites

Docker and Docker Compose installed
Python 3.11+ (for mcp-arangodb-async)

Step 1: Install ArangoDB

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  arangodb:
    image: arangodb:3.11
    environment:
      ARANGO_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${ARANGO_ROOT_PASSWORD:-changeme}
    ports:
      - "8529:8529"
    volumes:
      - arangodb_data:/var/lib/arangodb3
      - arangodb_apps:/var/lib/arangodb3-apps
    healthcheck:
      test: arangosh --server.username root --server.password "$ARANGO_ROOT_PASSWORD" --javascript.execute-string "require('@arangodb').db._version()" > /dev/null 2>&1 || exit 1
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 2s
      retries: 30
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  arangodb_data:
    driver: local
  arangodb_apps:
    driver: local

Create a .env file:

# ArangoDB root password
ARANGO_ROOT_PASSWORD=changeme

# MCP Server connection settings
ARANGO_URL=http://localhost:8529
ARANGO_DB=mcp_arangodb_test
ARANGO_USERNAME=mcp_arangodb_user
ARANGO_PASSWORD=mcp_arangodb_password

Start ArangoDB:

docker compose --env-file .env up -d

Step 2: Install mcp-arangodb-async

Install the MCP server package:

pip install mcp-arangodb-async

Alternative: Install with Conda/Mamba/Micromamba

# Create environment and install
conda create -n mcp-arango python=3.11
conda activate mcp-arango
pip install mcp-arangodb-async

# Or with mamba/micromamba:
# mamba create -n mcp-arango python=3.11
# mamba activate mcp-arango
# pip install mcp-arangodb-async

Alternative: Install with uv

# Create environment and install
uv venv .venv --python 3.11
uv pip install mcp-arangodb-async

Step 3: Create Database and User

Create the database and user for the MCP server:

maa db add mcp_arangodb_test \
  --url http://localhost:8529 \
  --with-user mcp_arangodb_user \
  --env-file .env

Expected output:

The following actions will be performed:
  [ADD] Database 'mcp_arangodb_test'
  [ADD] User 'mcp_arangodb_user' (active: true)
  [GRANT] Permission rw: mcp_arangodb_user → mcp_arangodb_test

Are you sure you want to proceed? [y/N]: y
db add:
[ADDED] Database 'mcp_arangodb_test'
[ADDED] User 'mcp_arangodb_user' (active: true)
[GRANTED] Permission rw: mcp_arangodb_user → mcp_arangodb_test

Verify the database connection:

# Set environment variables
export ARANGO_URL=http://localhost:8529
export ARANGO_DB=mcp_arangodb_test
export ARANGO_USERNAME=mcp_arangodb_user
export ARANGO_PASSWORD=mcp_arangodb_password

# Run health check
maa health

Expected output:

{"status": "healthy", "database_connected": true, "database_info": {"version": "3.11.x", "name": "mcp_arangodb_test"}}

Step 4: Configure MCP Host

Configure your MCP host to use the server. The configuration includes environment variables for database connection. The location of the configuration file depends on your MCP host. For Claude Desktop, the file is located at:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arangodb": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "mcp_arangodb_async"],
      "env": {
        "ARANGO_URL": "http://localhost:8529",
        "ARANGO_DB": "mcp_arangodb_test",
        "ARANGO_USERNAME": "mcp_arangodb_user",
        "ARANGO_PASSWORD": "mcp_arangodb_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative: Configuration for Conda/Mamba/Micromamba

If you installed with conda/mamba/micromamba, use the run command:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arangodb": {
      "command": "conda",
      "args": ["run", "-n", "mcp-arango", "maa", "server"],
      "env": {
        "ARANGO_URL": "http://localhost:8529",
        "ARANGO_DB": "mcp_arangodb_test",
        "ARANGO_USERNAME": "mcp_arangodb_user",
        "ARANGO_PASSWORD": "mcp_arangodb_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace "conda" with "mamba" or "micromamba" if using those tools.

Alternative: Configuration for uv

If you installed with uv, use uv run:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arangodb": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/project", "maa", "server"],
      "env": {
        "ARANGO_URL": "http://localhost:8529",
        "ARANGO_DB": "mcp_arangodb_test",
        "ARANGO_USERNAME": "mcp_arangodb_user",
        "ARANGO_PASSWORD": "mcp_arangodb_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/project with the directory containing your .venv folder.

Restart your MCP client after updating the configuration.

Test the connection:

Ask your MCP client: "List all collections in the ArangoDB database"

The assistant should successfully connect and list your collections.

Available Tools

The server exposes 46 MCP tools organized into 11 categories:

Multi-Tenancy Tools (4 tools)

arango_set_focused_database - Set focused database for session
arango_get_focused_database - Get currently focused database
arango_list_available_databases - List all configured databases
arango_get_database_resolution - Show database resolution algorithm

Core Data Operations (7 tools)

arango_query - Execute AQL queries
arango_list_collections - List all collections
arango_insert - Insert documents
arango_update - Update documents
arango_remove - Remove documents
arango_create_collection - Create collections
arango_backup - Backup collections

Index Management (3 tools)

arango_list_indexes - List indexes
arango_create_index - Create indexes
arango_delete_index - Delete indexes

Query Analysis (3 tools)

arango_explain_query - Explain query execution plan
arango_query_builder - Build AQL queries
arango_query_profile - Profile query performance

Data Validation (4 tools)

arango_validate_references - Validate document references
arango_insert_with_validation - Insert with validation
arango_create_schema - Create JSON schemas
arango_validate_document - Validate against schema

Bulk Operations (2 tools)

arango_bulk_insert - Bulk insert documents
arango_bulk_update - Bulk update documents

Graph Management (7 tools)

arango_create_graph - Create named graphs
arango_list_graphs - List all graphs
arango_add_vertex_collection - Add vertex collections
arango_add_edge_definition - Add edge definitions
arango_add_vertex - Add vertices
arango_add_edge - Add edges
arango_graph_traversal - Traverse graphs

Graph Traversal (2 tools)

arango_traverse - Graph traversal
arango_shortest_path - Find shortest paths

Graph Backup/Restore (5 tools)

arango_backup_graph - Backup single graph
arango_restore_graph - Restore single graph
arango_backup_named_graphs - Backup all named graphs
arango_validate_graph_integrity - Validate graph integrity
arango_graph_statistics - Graph statistics

Health & Status (1 tool)

arango_database_status - Get comprehensive status of all databases

Tool Aliases (2 tools)

arango_graph_traversal - Alias for arango_traverse
arango_add_vertex - Alias for arango_insert

MCP Design Pattern Tools (8 tools)

arango_search_tools - Search for tools by keywords
arango_list_tools_by_category - List tools by category
arango_switch_workflow - Switch workflow context
arango_get_active_workflow - Get active workflow
arango_list_workflows - List all workflows
arango_advance_workflow_stage - Advance workflow stage
arango_get_tool_usage_stats - Get tool usage statistics
arango_unload_tools - Unload specific tools

📖 Complete tools reference: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/user-guide/tools-reference.md

📖 MCP Design Patterns Guide: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/blob/master/docs/user-guide/mcp-design-patterns.md

Use Case Example: Codebase Graph Analysis

Model your codebase as a graph to analyze dependencies, find circular references, and understand architecture. Here is an excert from the longer codebase analysis example:

# 1. Create graph structure
Ask Claude: "Create a graph called 'codebase' with vertex collections 'modules' and  functions', and edge collection 'calls' connecting functions"

# 2. Import codebase data
Ask Claude: "Insert these modules into the 'modules' collection: [...]"

# 3. Analyze dependencies
Ask Claude: "Find all functions that depend on the 'auth' module using graph traversal"

# 4. Detect circular dependencies
Ask Claude: "Check for circular dependencies in the codebase graph"

# 5. Generate architecture diagram
Ask Claude: "Export the codebase graph structure as Markdown for visualization"

📖 More examples

Documentation

Getting Started

Configuration

User Guide

Developer Guide

Examples

Codebase Dependency Analysis

📖 Full documentation: https://github.com/PCfVW/mcp-arango-async/tree/master/docs

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Database connection fails:

# Check ArangoDB is running
docker ps | grep arangodb

# Test connection
curl http://localhost:8529/_api/version

# Check credentials
maa health

Server won't start in Claude Desktop:

# Verify Python installation
python --version  # Must be 3.11+

# Test module directly
maa health

# Check Claude Desktop logs
# Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\
# macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/

Tool execution errors:

Verify ArangoDB is healthy: docker compose ps
Check environment variables are set correctly
Review server logs for detailed error messages

📖 Complete troubleshooting guide

Why Docker for ArangoDB?

✅ Stability - Isolated environment, no host conflicts
✅ Zero-install - Start/stop with docker compose
✅ Reproducibility - Same image across all environments
✅ Health checks - Built-in readiness validation
✅ Fast reset - Recreate clean instances easily
✅ Portability - Consistent on Windows/macOS/Linux

License

This project: Apache License 2.0
ArangoDB 3.11: Apache License 2.0
ArangoDB 3.12+: Business Source License 1.1 (BUSL-1.1)

⚠️ Important: This repository does not grant rights to ArangoDB binaries. You must comply with ArangoDB's license for your deployment version.

📖 License details

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see our documentation for guidelines.

📖 Architecture decisions

Support

Acknowledgments

Built with:

Model Context Protocol by Anthropic
python-arango - Official ArangoDB Python driver
Pydantic - Data validation
Starlette - HTTP transport
ArangoDB - Multi-model database