timescale/tiger-docs-mcp-server

Tiger Docs MCP Server

An MCP server that supercharges AI assistants with deep PostgreSQL, TimescaleDB, and Tiger Cloud knowledge through semantic documentation search and curated prompt templates.

Quick Start

Want to use this MCP Server without running it yourself? Use the publicly available endpoint hosted by TigerData! https://mcp.tigerdata.com/docs

Claude Code installation:

claude mcp add --transport http tiger-docs https://mcp.tigerdata.com/docs

Cursor installation:

// .cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tiger-docs": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tigerdata.com/docs"
    }
  }
}

API

All methods are exposed as MCP tools and REST API endpoints.

Semantic Search - PostgreSQL Documentation

Searches the PostgreSQL documentation for relevant entries based on semantic similarity to the search prompt.

MCP Tool: semantic_search_postgres_docs REST Endpoint: GET /api/semantic-search/postgres-docs

Input

{
  "prompt": "What is the SQL command to create a table?",
  "version": 17,  // optional, default is 17 (supports versions 14-18)
  "limit": 10     // optional, default is 10
}

Output

{
  "results": [
    {
      "id": 11716,
      "content": "CREATE TABLE ...",
      "metadata": "{...}",  // JSON-encoded metadata
      "distance": 0.407     // lower = more relevant
    }
    // ...more results
  ]
}

Semantic Search - Tiger Docs

Searches the TigerData and TimescaleDB documentation using semantic similarity.

MCP Tool: semantic_search_tiger_docs REST Endpoint: GET /api/semantic-search/tiger-docs

Input

{
  "prompt": "How do I set up continuous aggregates?",
  "limit": 10  // optional, default is 10
}

Output

Same format as PostgreSQL semantic search above.

Prompt Templates

Retrieves curated prompt templates for common PostgreSQL and TimescaleDB tasks.

MCP Tool: get_prompt_template

Input

{
  "name": "setup_hypertable"  // see available prompt templates in tool description
}

Output

{
  "name": "setup_hypertable",
  "title": "TimescaleDB Complete Setup",
  "description": "Step-by-step instructions for designing table schemas and setting up TimescaleDB with hypertables, indexes, compression, retention policies, and continuous aggregates.",
  "content": "..."  // full prompt template content
}

Available Prompt Templates: Check the MCP tool description for the current list of available prompt templates.

Development

Clone the repo.

git clone git@github.com:timescale/tiger-docs-mcp-server.git

Configuration

Create a .env file based on the .env.sample file.

cp .env.sample .env

Add your OPENAI_API_KEY to be used for generating embeddings.

Run a TimescaleDB Database

You will need a database with the pgvector extension.

Using Tiger Cloud

Use the tiger CLI to create a Tiger Cloud service.

tiger service create --free --with-password -o json

Copy your database connection parameters into your .env file.

Using Docker

Run the database in a docker container.

# pull the latest image
docker pull timescale/timescaledb-ha:pg17

# run the database container
docker run -d --name tiger-docs \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=tsdb \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=tsdbadmin \
  -p 127.0.0.1:5432:5432 \
  timescale/timescaledb-ha:pg17

Copy your database connection parameters to your .env file:

PGHOST=localhost
PGPORT=5432
PGDATABASE=tsdb
PGUSER=tsdbadmin
PGPASSWORD=password

Building the MCP Server

Run npm i to install dependencies and build the project. Use npm run watch to rebuild on changes.

Loading the Database

The database is NOT preloaded with the documentation. To make the MCP server usable, you need to scrape, chunk, embed, load, and index the documentation. Follow the to load the database.

Testing

The MCP Inspector is a very handy to exercise the MCP server from a web-based UI.

npm run inspector

Testing in Claude Desktop

Create/edit the file ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json to add an entry like the following, making sure to use the absolute path to your local tiger-docs-mcp-server project, and real database credentials.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tiger-docs": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/tiger-docs-mcp-server/dist/index.js",
        "stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PGHOST": "x.y.tsdb.cloud.timescale.com",
        "PGDATABASE": "tsdb",
        "PGPORT": "32467",
        "PGUSER": "readonly_mcp_user",
        "PGPASSWORD": "abc123",
        "DB_SCHEMA": "docs",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-svcacct"
      }
    }
  }
}