documentdb-mcp-setup

DocumentDB MCP Server Setup

This skill guides users through wiring the microsoft/documentdb-mcp server into an agentic client and pointing it at Azure DocumentDB (or another MongoDB-compatible endpoint).

The DocumentDB MCP server is stateless and administrator-controlled: backend connection details live in a CONNECTION_PROFILES JSON map defined in the MCP client's config. Tools never accept a connection string as a runtime argument — they reference a named profile via connection_profile.

Safety: never receive credentials in chat

The DocumentDB connection string is a secret — it contains a username and password that grant database access. The agent MUST follow these rules:

1. Never ask the user to paste a connection string, password, or token into the chat. Always instruct the user to add the value directly to their local MCP config file themselves (or run the bundled installer, which prompts via stdin instead of chat).
2. Never read, echo, log, or repeat back a credential the user pasted by mistake. If the user pastes one anyway, respond with: "I won't process that value — please delete it from the chat history and add it directly to your client's MCP config instead," and continue with placeholders only. The agent itself cannot remove messages it has already received — only the user can delete the message from their chat history.
3. Never run a shell command that would print a credential to stdout.
4. Never write the credential to any file the agent itself creates or edits. The agent only writes placeholder [USER]:[PASSWORD]@... (square brackets defeat the mongodb://[^:]+:[^@]+@ secret-scanner regex); the user replaces it locally.
5. Never include a credential in a generated explanation, summary, commit message, or example. Use <redacted> if you must reference its position.

If any step below appears to require a credential value, treat it as a placeholder for the user to fill in locally.

Fastest path: bundled installer

If the user wants the quickest path and is willing to run a script, point them at the kit's installer, which installs both this skill pack and the MCP server into every detected client in one command:

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/documentdb-agent-kit/main/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/documentdb-agent-kit/main/install.ps1 | iex

The installer prompts for a connection string, writes it as the default profile, and configures all detected clients. The rest of this skill covers the manual path (and is also the right reference when the installer fails or the user wants to customize).

Manual setup overview

Setup is per-client. For each client the user has installed:

1. Make sure Node.js 20+ is available (the MCP server runs on Node).
2. Find that client's MCP config file.
3. Add a DocumentDB server entry that launches the upstream MCP server and passes CONNECTION_PROFILES (and TRANSPORT=stdio + AUTH_REQUIRED=false
   • TRUST_LOCAL_STDIO=true for local stdio use).
4. Restart the client.

Step 1: Confirm prerequisites

node --version   # must be >= 20
git --version    # required by `npx -y github:microsoft/documentdb-mcp`

If either is missing, install them before continuing.

Step 2: Pick the connection target

Option	When to use	Example URI
A. Azure DocumentDB	Production / cloud dev	mongodb+srv://<user>:<pw>@<cluster>.mongocluster.cosmos.azure.com/?tls=true&authMechanism=SCRAM-SHA-256
B. Local MongoDB / DocumentDB	Local dev	mongodb://localhost:27017
C. Custom MongoDB-compatible	Atlas, self-hosted, third-party	mongodb://<user>:<pw>@host:port/?tls=true

Azure DocumentDB connection string: Azure portal → your DocumentDB cluster → Settings → Connection strings. Replace <username> / <password> with database user credentials. TLS is required (tls=true must be present).

Step 3: Pick a transport

• stdio (default, recommended) — the client launches the server as a subprocess. Use this for every client below.
• streamable-http — only for browser clients or custom HTTP integrations where you have a separate, long-running server with Entra-authenticated bearer tokens. Not covered here; see the upstream README.

For stdio, set AUTH_REQUIRED=false and TRUST_LOCAL_STDIO=true. The server defaults AUTH_REQUIRED=true and exits at startup unless ENTRA_TENANT_ID / ENTRA_AUDIENCE are set, even for stdio. (TRUST_LOCAL_STDIO was named ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_STDIO before microsoft/documentdb-mcp#83 — if you're on an older server build, use that name instead.)

AUTH_REQUIRED=false does not weaken your cluster's auth. It gates only the Entra-JWT bearer-token check on the MCP server's HTTP/SSE transport — i.e., calls from the MCP client to this server. It is fully independent from how the MCP server talks to your DocumentDB cluster: SCRAM username/password (from the connection-string URI) and Entra-to-cluster tokens (authMode: "entra") flow through CONNECTION_PROFILES and stay active regardless of AUTH_REQUIRED. TLS to the cluster (tls=true), capability gates (ENABLE_*_TOOLS), and tool-tier authorization are also unaffected.

This setup is safe only because TRANSPORT=stdio: the MCP server runs as a subprocess of the trusted local client — no network listener is opened. If you ever switch TRANSPORT to streamable-http or sse, set AUTH_REQUIRED=true and provide the Entra tenant/audience, or the /mcp endpoint will be exposed unauthenticated.

Step 4: Write the MCP config

The MCP server entry has the same shape for every client. Only the wrapping config file and the top-level key (mcpServers vs mcp.servers) differ.

Server entry template (substitute <CONN_STRING> with the URI from Step 2):

{
  "DocumentDB": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "github:microsoft/documentdb-mcp"],
    "env": {
      "TRANSPORT": "stdio",
      "AUTH_REQUIRED": "false",
      "TRUST_LOCAL_STDIO": "true",
      "CONNECTION_PROFILES": "{\"default\":{\"authMode\":\"connectionString\",\"uri\":\"<CONN_STRING>\"}}"
    }
  }
}

Notes:

• CONNECTION_PROFILES is a JSON string (escaped) — not a JSON object.
• The profile name default is what agents pass to tool calls via the connection_profile argument. You can use any name; default keeps it simple.
• To allow write or management tools, add "ENABLE_WRITE_TOOLS": "true" and/or "ENABLE_MANAGEMENT_TOOLS": "true" to env. Read tools are on by default.
• The first npx -y github:... invocation will clone and build the server (~30 s on a fast connection). Subsequent invocations use the npx cache. For faster startup, install once locally and point command/args at the built node /path/to/dist/main.js instead — this is what the bundled installer does.

Client-specific config files

Client	Config file	Top-level key
Claude Code (user-scoped)	~/.claude.json	mcpServers
Claude Desktop	macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json	mcpServers
Cursor (user-scoped)	~/.cursor/mcp.json	mcpServers
GitHub Copilot CLI	~/.copilot/mcp-config.json	mcpServers
GitHub Copilot for VS Code	VS Code settings.json	mcp.servers
Gemini CLI	~/.gemini/settings.json	mcpServers

If the file doesn't exist yet, create it with a single top-level object:

{ "mcpServers": { "DocumentDB": { ... } } }

If it already has other servers, add the DocumentDB entry inside the existing mcpServers object — don't overwrite the whole file.

Step 5: Restart the client and verify

1. Fully quit the client (not just close the window).
2. Reopen it.
3. Ask the agent to list available DocumentDB tools, or run a tool directly (the agent should pass connection_profile: "default"):
   • list_databases — confirms the server is reachable and the profile works
   • db_stats — basic round-trip check

Troubleshooting

• npx errors / repo not found: the upstream microsoft/documentdb-mcp repo may be private or unreachable. Check git ls-remote https://github.com/microsoft/documentdb-mcp.git; if it fails, fall back to cloning the repo manually, running npm install && npm run build, and pointing command → node, args → ["<abs-path>/dist/main.js"].
• stdio transport is disabled when AUTH_REQUIRED=true / unauthenticated stdio is disabled: you forgot TRUST_LOCAL_STDIO: "true" in env (or, on older builds before microsoft/documentdb-mcp#83, ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_STDIO: "true").
• AUTH_REQUIRED is true but ... / server exits immediately on launch: add "AUTH_REQUIRED": "false" to env. The server defaults this to true and refuses to start without Entra tenant/audience config. This flag gates only the Entra-JWT bearer check on the MCP server's HTTP/SSE transport — it does not disable MongoDB-level auth (SCRAM or authMode=entra), TLS, or capability gates. Only set it to false together with TRANSPORT=stdio.
• connection_profile "default" not found: the agent is passing a different profile name than what's defined in CONNECTION_PROFILES. Either rename your profile or tell the agent which name to use.
• TLS errors against Azure DocumentDB: ensure tls=true is in the URI and the connection string is fully URL-encoded (special characters in passwords must be percent-encoded).
• Auth errors: verify the database user exists in Azure portal under your cluster's Settings → Authentication, and that the password is correct.
• Connection timeout to Azure: Azure DocumentDB firewall may be blocking your IP. Portal → cluster → Networking → add your client IP to the allowlist.
• JSON escape issues: CONNECTION_PROFILES is a string of JSON. Inner double quotes must be escaped (\"). Use a JSON validator if the client silently ignores the server. The bundled installer handles escaping correctly — prefer it if escaping is painful.
• Client doesn't pick up the new server: ensure a full restart of the client (quit + reopen), not just a window reload.
• VS Code uses mcp.servers, not mcpServers: this is the one client with a different top-level key.