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Integrate Claude with dbt MCP

Claude is an AI assistant from Anthropic with two primary interfaces:

  • Claude for desktop: A GUI with MCP support for file access and commands as well as basic coding features
  • Claude Code: A terminal/IDE tool for development

Claude Desktop​

Static subdomains required

Only accounts with static subdomains (for example, abc123 in abc123.us1.dbt.com) can use OAuth with MCP servers. Follow these instructions to find your account subdomain. If your account does not have a subdomain, contact support for more information.

To configure Claude Desktop to use the dbt MCP server:

  1. Go to the latest dbt MCP release and download the dbt-mcp.mcpb file.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file to open it in Claude Desktop.
  3. Configure the dbt Platform Host. You can find this in your dbt platform account by navigating to Account settings and copying the Access URL.
  4. Enable the server in Claude Desktop.
  5. Ask Claude a data-related question and see dbt MCP in action!

Advanced configuration with Claude Desktop​

To add advanced configurations:

  1. Go to the Claude settings and select Settings….

  2. In the Settings window, navigate to the Developer tab in the left sidebar. This section contains options for configuring MCP servers and other developer features.

  3. Click the Edit Config button and open the configuration file with a text editor.

  4. Add your server configuration based on your use case. Choose the correct JSON structure from the following options:

     Local MCP with OAuth

    Local MCP with dbt platform authentication EnterpriseEnterprise +​

    Configuration for users who want seamless OAuth authentication with the dbt platform

    This option is for users who only want dbt platform features (Discovery API, Semantic Layer, job management) without local CLI commands.

    When you use only the dbt platform, the CLI tools are automatically disabled. You can find the DBT_HOST field value in your dbt platform account information under Access URLs.

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "dbt": {
          "command": "uvx",
          "args": ["dbt-mcp"],
          "env": {
            "DBT_HOST": "https://<your-dbt-host-with-custom-subdomain>",
          }
        }
      }
    }

    Note: Replace <your-dbt-host-with-custom-subdomain> with your actual host (for example, abc123.us1.dbt.com). This enables OAuth authentication without requiring local dbt installation.

     Local MCP (CLI only)

    Local configuration for users who only want to use dbt CLI commands with dbt Core or Fusion

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "dbt": {
          "command": "uvx",
          "args": ["dbt-mcp"],
          "env": {
            "DBT_PROJECT_DIR": "/path/to/your/dbt/project",
            "DBT_PATH": "/path/to/your/dbt/executable"
          }
        }
      }
    }

    Finding your paths:

    • DBT_PROJECT_DIR: Full path to the folder containing your dbt_project.yml file
    • DBT_PATH: Find by running which dbt in Terminal (macOS/Linux) or where dbt (Windows) in Powershell
     Local MCP with .env

    Advanced configuration for users who need custom environment variables

    Using the env field (recommended):

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "dbt": {
          "command": "uvx",
          "args": ["dbt-mcp"],
          "env": {
            "DBT_HOST": "cloud.getdbt.com",
            "DBT_TOKEN": "your-token-here",
            "DBT_PROD_ENV_ID": "12345",
            "DBT_PROJECT_DIR": "/path/to/project",
            "DBT_PATH": "/path/to/dbt"
          }
        }
      }
    }

    Using an .env file (alternative):

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "dbt": {
          "command": "uvx",
          "args": ["--env-file", "/path/to/.env", "dbt-mcp"]
        }
      }
    }

  5. Save the file. Upon a successful restart of Claude Desktop, you'll see an MCP server indicator in the bottom-right corner of the conversation input box.

For debugging, you can find the Claude desktop logs at ~/Library/Logs/Claude for Mac or %APPDATA%\Claude\logs for Windows.

Claude Code​

You can set up Claude Code with both the local and remote dbt-mcp server. We recommend using the local dbt-mcp for more developer-focused workloads. See the About MCP page for more more information about local and remote server features.

Set up with local dbt MCP server​

Prerequisites:

  • Complete the local MCP setup.
  • Know your configuration method (OAuth or environment variables)

In your Claude Code set up, run one of these commands based on your use case. Be sure to update the commands for your specific needs:

For dbt Core or Fusion only (no dbt platform account):

claude mcp add dbt \
-e DBT_PROJECT_DIR=/path/to/your/dbt/project \
-e DBT_PATH=/path/to/your/dbt/executable \
-- uvx dbt-mcp

Using an .env file​

If you prefer to manage environment variables in a separate file, you can use the --env-file parameter from uvx:

claude mcp add dbt -- uvx --env-file <path-to-.env-file> dbt-mcp

Replace <path-to-.env-file> with the full path to your .env file.

Troubleshooting​

  • Claude desktop may return errors such as Error: spawn uvx ENOENT or Could not connect to MCP server dbt-mcp. Try replacing the command and environment variables file path with the full path. For uvx, find the full path to uvx by running which uvx on Unix systems and placing this full path in the JSON. For instance: "command": "/the/full/path/to/uvx".

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