Quickstart (MCP)

How to get started running Toolbox locally with MCP Inspector.

Overview

Model Context Protocol is an open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context to LLMs. Check out this page on how to connect to Toolbox via MCP.

Step 1: Set up your database

In this section, we will create a database, insert some data that needs to be access by our agent, and create a database user for Toolbox to connect with.

Connect to postgres using the psql command:
```
psql -h 127.0.0.1 -U postgres
```
Here, postgres denotes the default postgres superuser.
Create a new database and a new user:
Tip
For a real application, it’s best to follow the principle of least permission and only grant the privileges your application needs.
```
  CREATE USER toolbox_user WITH PASSWORD 'my-password';

  CREATE DATABASE toolbox_db;
  GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE toolbox_db TO toolbox_user;

  ALTER DATABASE toolbox_db OWNER TO toolbox_user;
```
End the database session:
```
\q
```

Connect to your database with your new user:


psql -h 127.0.0.1 -U toolbox_user -d toolbox_db

Create a table using the following command:


CREATE TABLE hotels(
  id            INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
  name          VARCHAR NOT NULL,
  location      VARCHAR NOT NULL,
  price_tier    VARCHAR NOT NULL,
  checkin_date  DATE    NOT NULL,
  checkout_date DATE    NOT NULL,
  booked        BIT     NOT NULL
);

Insert data into the table.


INSERT INTO hotels(id, name, location, price_tier, checkin_date, checkout_date, booked)
VALUES 
  (1, 'Hilton Basel', 'Basel', 'Luxury', '2024-04-22', '2024-04-20', B'0'),
  (2, 'Marriott Zurich', 'Zurich', 'Upscale', '2024-04-14', '2024-04-21', B'0'),
  (3, 'Hyatt Regency Basel', 'Basel', 'Upper Upscale', '2024-04-02', '2024-04-20', B'0'),
  (4, 'Radisson Blu Lucerne', 'Lucerne', 'Midscale', '2024-04-24', '2024-04-05', B'0'),
  (5, 'Best Western Bern', 'Bern', 'Upper Midscale', '2024-04-23', '2024-04-01', B'0'),
  (6, 'InterContinental Geneva', 'Geneva', 'Luxury', '2024-04-23', '2024-04-28', B'0'),
  (7, 'Sheraton Zurich', 'Zurich', 'Upper Upscale', '2024-04-27', '2024-04-02', B'0'),
  (8, 'Holiday Inn Basel', 'Basel', 'Upper Midscale', '2024-04-24', '2024-04-09', B'0'),
  (9, 'Courtyard Zurich', 'Zurich', 'Upscale', '2024-04-03', '2024-04-13', B'0'),
  (10, 'Comfort Inn Bern', 'Bern', 'Midscale', '2024-04-04', '2024-04-16', B'0');

End the database session:
```
\q
```

Step 2: Install and configure Toolbox

In this section, we will download Toolbox, configure our tools in a tools.yaml, and then run the Toolbox server.

Download the latest version of Toolbox as a binary:

Tip

Select the correct binary corresponding to your OS and CPU architecture.


export OS="linux/amd64" # one of linux/amd64, darwin/arm64, darwin/amd64, or windows/amd64
curl -O https://storage.googleapis.com/genai-toolbox/v0.3.0/$OS/toolbox

Make the binary executable:
```
chmod +x toolbox
```

Write the following into a tools.yaml file. Be sure to update any fields such as user, password, or database that you may have customized in the previous step.


sources:
  my-pg-source:
    kind: postgres
    host: 127.0.0.1
    port: 5432
    database: toolbox_db
    user: toolbox_user
    password: my-password
tools:
  search-hotels-by-name:
    kind: postgres-sql
    source: my-pg-source
    description: Search for hotels based on name.
    parameters:
      - name: name
        type: string
        description: The name of the hotel.
    statement: SELECT * FROM hotels WHERE name ILIKE '%' || $1 || '%';
  search-hotels-by-location:
    kind: postgres-sql
    source: my-pg-source
    description: Search for hotels based on location.
    parameters:
      - name: location
        type: string
        description: The location of the hotel.
    statement: SELECT * FROM hotels WHERE location ILIKE '%' || $1 || '%';
  book-hotel:
    kind: postgres-sql
    source: my-pg-source
    description: >-
       Book a hotel by its ID. If the hotel is successfully booked, returns a NULL, raises an error if not.
    parameters:
      - name: hotel_id
        type: string
        description: The ID of the hotel to book.
    statement: UPDATE hotels SET booked = B'1' WHERE id = $1;
  update-hotel:
    kind: postgres-sql
    source: my-pg-source
    description: >-
      Update a hotel's check-in and check-out dates by its ID. Returns a message
      indicating  whether the hotel was successfully updated or not.
    parameters:
      - name: hotel_id
        type: string
        description: The ID of the hotel to update.
      - name: checkin_date
        type: string
        description: The new check-in date of the hotel.
      - name: checkout_date
        type: string
        description: The new check-out date of the hotel.
    statement: >-
      UPDATE hotels SET checkin_date = CAST($2 as date), checkout_date = CAST($3
      as date) WHERE id = $1;
  cancel-hotel:
    kind: postgres-sql
    source: my-pg-source
    description: Cancel a hotel by its ID.
    parameters:
      - name: hotel_id
        type: string
        description: The ID of the hotel to cancel.
    statement: UPDATE hotels SET booked = B'0' WHERE id = $1;

For more info on tools, check out the Tools section.

Run the Toolbox server, pointing to the tools.yaml file created earlier:
```
./toolbox --tools_file "tools.yaml"
```

Step 3: Connect to MCP Inspector

Run the MCP Inspector:
```
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector
```
Type y when it asks to install the inspector package.
It should show the following when the MCP Inspector is up and runnning:
```
🔍 MCP Inspector is up and running at http://127.0.0.1:5173 🚀
```
Open the above link in your browser.
For Transport Type, select SSE.
For URL, type in http://127.0.0.1:5000/mcp/sse.
Click Connect.
Select List Tools, you will see a list of tools configured in tools.yaml.
Test out your tools here!

Last modified April 9, 2025: chore: fix link (#417) (6b907db9)