SeaTable MCP

The official Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for SeaTable, built and maintained by SeaTable GmbH. It lets AI agents interact with data in your bases — reading, writing, searching, linking, and querying rows through a focused set of tools. The server intentionally focuses on data operations, not schema management (creating/deleting tables or columns), keeping the tool set lean and safe for autonomous agent use.

Quick Start

The fastest way to get started depends on your setup:

• SeaTable Cloud — Use the hosted MCP server at mcp.seatable.com, no installation needed
• Self-hosted SeaTable — Run the MCP server locally via npx in your IDE

SeaTable Cloud (hosted MCP server)

If you use SeaTable Cloud, there is a hosted MCP server ready to use — no installation required. Configure your MCP client with the Streamable HTTP endpoint:

Claude Desktop — add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "seatable": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://mcp.seatable.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor / VSCode — add to your MCP settings (JSON):

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "seatable": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://mcp.seatable.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

ChatGPT and other OAuth-compatible clients — use the built-in OAuth flow. In ChatGPT's developer mode, configure:

• Server URL: https://mcp.seatable.com/mcp
• Auth type: OAuth
• Authorization URL: https://mcp.seatable.com/authorize
• Token URL: https://mcp.seatable.com/token

You will be prompted to enter your SeaTable API token during the authorization step.

Self-hosted SeaTable

For self-hosted SeaTable instances, run the MCP server locally via npx. Your IDE starts and manages the process automatically.

Claude Desktop — add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "seatable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@seatable/mcp-seatable"],
      "env": {
        "SEATABLE_SERVER_URL": "https://your-seatable-server.com",
        "SEATABLE_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor / VSCode — add to your MCP settings (JSON):

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "seatable": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@seatable/mcp-seatable"],
      "env": {
        "SEATABLE_SERVER_URL": "https://your-seatable-server.com",
        "SEATABLE_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Deployment Options

If you need to run your own server instance — for example on your own infrastructure, with multi-base support, or in multi-tenant mode — use one of the options below.

HTTP Server (Network Access)

Run a local HTTP server with Streamable HTTP transport:

PORT=3001 npx -y @seatable/mcp-seatable --sse

# Health check
curl http://localhost:3001/health

# MCP endpoint: POST/GET/DELETE http://localhost:3001/mcp

Multi-Base (Selfhosted)

Serve multiple bases from a single process:

SEATABLE_SERVER_URL=https://your-seatable-server.com \
SEATABLE_BASES='[{"base_name":"CRM","api_token":"token_abc"},{"base_name":"Projects","api_token":"token_def"}]' \
npx -y @seatable/mcp-seatable

Each tool automatically gets a base parameter. Use list_bases to see available bases.

Managed Mode (Multi-Tenant HTTP)

For hosting an MCP endpoint where each client authenticates with their own SeaTable API token:

SEATABLE_MODE=managed \
SEATABLE_SERVER_URL=https://your-seatable-server.com \
PORT=3000 npx -y @seatable/mcp-seatable --sse

Clients pass their API token via Authorization: Bearer <token> on session initialization. The server validates the token against SeaTable and applies rate limits (60 req/min per token, 120/min per IP, 20 concurrent connections per token).

OAuth support: Managed mode also exposes OAuth 2.0 endpoints (/authorize and /token), enabling OAuth-compatible clients like ChatGPT to connect. During the OAuth flow, the user enters their SeaTable API token, which is then used as the access token — no external OAuth provider required.

OAuth endpoints follow the MCP specification (RFC 8414 metadata discovery, PKCE, dynamic client registration):

Endpoint	Path
Metadata Discovery	/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server
Authorization	/authorize
Token	/token
Client Registration	/register

Client ID and secret are not validated — dynamic client registration generates one automatically.

Docker

docker run -d --name seatable-mcp \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e SEATABLE_SERVER_URL=https://your-seatable-server.com \
  -e SEATABLE_API_TOKEN=your-api-token \
  seatable/seatable-mcp:latest

# Health check
curl http://localhost:3000/health

Security Model

The security characteristics differ significantly between transport modes:

	stdio (default)	Selfhosted HTTP	Managed HTTP
Network exposure	None (local process)	TCP port, no auth	TCP port, Bearer auth
Authentication	Not needed (local)	None	Bearer token or OAuth 2.0, validated against SeaTable
Rate limiting	None	None	Per-token, per-IP, global
Connection limits	N/A	None	20 concurrent sessions per token
Data scope	All configured bases	All configured bases	One base per client token

⚠️ Warning: Selfhosted HTTP mode (--sse / --http) has no authentication. Anyone who can reach the port gets full access to all configured bases, including write and delete operations. Only run it in trusted networks (localhost, Docker-internal) or behind a reverse proxy that handles authentication. For untrusted networks, use managed mode instead.

Rate Limiting

SeaTable's own API gateway enforces rate limits per base (default: 500 requests/minute per base_uuid) and per organization (monthly quota). These limits apply regardless of whether requests come from the MCP server, the web UI, or direct API calls. The MCP server does not duplicate these limits — instead, it retries automatically with exponential backoff when SeaTable returns 429 Too Many Requests.

In managed mode, the MCP server adds its own rate limits to protect the server process itself (not the SeaTable backend): 60 req/min per token, 120/min per IP, 30/min for new session creation, and 20 concurrent connections per token.

Input Validation

All tool inputs are validated with Zod schemas before execution. Write tools (add_row, append_rows, update_rows, upsert_rows) additionally validate row data against the table schema — unknown columns are rejected, and read-only columns (formula, auto-number, creator, etc.) are stripped with a note in the response.

Tool schemas are published with additionalProperties: true to remain compatible with MCP clients that may attach internal fields (e.g. _meta). Unexpected fields are ignored by the server — they do not cause errors but are not processed either. This is a deliberate trade-off: stricter validation would improve error messages for typos but risk breaking compatibility with MCP clients.

Row Responses

Row responses include all columns and SeaTable system fields (_id, _mtime, _ctime, _creator, _last_modifier). System fields are not filtered — _id is required for updates and deletes, timestamps are useful for sorting and freshness checks, and creator/modifier fields can be resolved to display names via list_collaborators.

Caching

The server caches base metadata (table/column definitions) for 60 seconds to avoid redundant API calls during write operations. Schema-reading tools (get_schema, list_tables) always bypass the cache and return fresh data. If a cached schema becomes stale (e.g. a column was renamed), the SeaTable API will reject the write and the AI agent can call get_schema to refresh.

Environment Variables

Required:

• SEATABLE_SERVER_URL — Your SeaTable server URL

Authentication (one of these is required in selfhosted mode):

• SEATABLE_API_TOKEN — Single-base API token
• SEATABLE_BASES — Multi-base: JSON array (e.g. '[{"base_name":"CRM","api_token":"..."}]')

Optional:

• SEATABLE_MODE — selfhosted (default) or managed (multi-tenant HTTP with per-client auth)
• SEATABLE_MOCK=true — Enable mock mode for offline testing
• CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS — Comma-separated list of allowed origins for CORS (HTTP mode only, disabled if unset)
• METRICS_PORT — Prometheus metrics port (default: 9090, HTTP mode only)

Monitoring

In HTTP mode, the server exposes Prometheus metrics on a separate port (default 9090):

curl http://localhost:9090/metrics

Available metrics:

Metric	Type	Description
mcp_tool_calls_total{tool, status}	Counter	Tool calls by name and result (success/error)
mcp_tool_calls_by_tool_total{tool}	Counter	Total calls per tool (regardless of outcome)
mcp_tool_duration_seconds{tool}	Histogram	Tool execution time
mcp_http_requests_total{method, status}	Counter	HTTP requests by method and status code
mcp_rate_limit_exceeded_total{type}	Counter	Rate limit rejections (global/per_ip/per_token)
mcp_auth_validations_total{result}	Counter	Auth validations (success/failure/cache_hit)
mcp_active_sessions	Gauge	Currently active HTTP sessions
mcp_active_connections	Gauge	Currently active connections
seatable_api_requests_total{operation, status}	Counter	SeaTable API calls by operation
seatable_api_duration_seconds{operation}	Histogram	SeaTable API latency

Plus standard Node.js metrics (memory, CPU, event loop) via prom-client.

The metrics server only starts in HTTP mode (not stdio) and binds to 0.0.0.0 — in Docker, expose the port only within your internal network.

MCP Tools

Schema Introspection

• list_tables — Get all tables with metadata
• get_schema — Get complete database structure
• list_bases — List available bases (multi-base mode only)
• list_collaborators — List users with access to the base (for collaborator columns)

Reading Data

• list_rows — Paginated row listing (use query_sql for filtering/sorting)
• get_row — Retrieve specific row by ID
• find_rows — Client-side filtering with DSL
• search_rows — Search via SQL WHERE clauses
• query_sql — Execute SQL queries with parameterized inputs

Writing Data

• add_row — Add single new row
• append_rows — Batch insert rows
• update_rows — Batch update rows
• upsert_rows — Insert or update rows by key columns
• delete_rows — Remove rows by ID

Files

• upload_file — Upload a file or image to a row (base64-encoded)
• download_file — Read file content from a file or image column (text files and PDFs as text, binary files as download link, max 1 MB)

Linking

• link_rows — Create relationships between rows
• unlink_rows — Remove relationships between rows

Utilities

• get_row_activities — Get change history of a row (who changed what, when, old/new values)
• create_snapshot — Create a snapshot of the current base (10 min cooldown)
• add_select_options — Add new options to single-select or multi-select columns
• ping_seatable — Health check with latency monitoring

Supported Column Types

SeaTable bases can contain many different column types. The following table shows which types can be written via the API and what format to use.

Column Type	Writable	Value Format
Text	Yes	"string"
Long Text	Yes	"Markdown string"
Number (incl. percent, currency)	Yes	123.45
Checkbox	Yes	true / false
Date	Yes	"YYYY-MM-DD" or "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm"
Duration	Yes	"h:mm" or "h:mm:ss"
Single Select	Yes	"option name"
Multiple Select	Yes	["option a", "option b"]
Email	Yes	"user@example.com"
URL	Yes	"https://..."
Rating	Yes	4 (integer)
Geolocation	Yes	{"lat": 52.52, "lng": 13.40}
Collaborator	Yes	["0b995819003140ed8e9efe05e817b000@auth.local"] — use list_collaborators to get user IDs
Link	Yes	Use link_rows / unlink_rows tools
Image / File	Yes	Use upload_file to upload (base64), download_file to read content
Formula / Link Formula	No	Read-only, computed by SeaTable
Creator / Created Time / Modified Time	No	Read-only, set automatically
Auto Number	No	Read-only, set automatically
Button / Digital Signature	No	Not accessible via API

Tool Examples

// List all tables
{ "tool": "list_tables", "args": {} }

// Get rows with pagination
{ "tool": "list_rows", "args": { "table": "Tasks", "page_size": 10 } }

// Add rows
{ "tool": "append_rows", "args": { "table": "Tasks", "rows": [{ "Title": "New Task", "Status": "Todo" }] } }

// SQL query
{ "tool": "query_sql", "args": { "sql": "SELECT Status, COUNT(*) as count FROM Tasks GROUP BY Status" } }

Programmatic Usage

import { createMcpServer } from '@seatable/mcp-seatable'

const server = await createMcpServer({
  serverUrl: 'https://your-seatable-server.com',
  apiToken: 'your-api-token',
})

Mock Mode

SEATABLE_MOCK=true npm run dev

In-memory tables and rows for demos and tests without a live SeaTable instance.

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20

Setup

git clone https://github.com/seatable/seatable-mcp
cd seatable-mcp
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # Configure your SeaTable settings
npm run dev             # Start in watch mode

Scripts

• npm run dev — Start server in watch mode (tsx)
• npm run build — Compile TypeScript
• npm run start — Run compiled server
• npm test — Run tests (vitest)
• npm run lint — Lint code
• npm run typecheck — TypeScript type check

Testing Tools

node scripts/mcp-call.cjs ping_seatable '{}'
node scripts/mcp-call.cjs list_tables '{}'
node scripts/mcp-call.cjs list_rows '{"table": "Tasks", "page_size": 5}'

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Invalid API token	Check SEATABLE_API_TOKEN
Base not found	Check API token permissions
Connection timeout	Check SEATABLE_SERVER_URL and network access
Permission denied	Ensure API token has required base permissions
You don't have permission to perform this operation on this base.	API token is read-only or row limit exceeded
Asset quota exceeded.	Storage quota reached — delete files or upgrade plan
too many requests	Rate-limited by SeaTable — requests are automatically retried with backoff (3 attempts)

License

MIT