docbase
docbase gives an agent — or you, at a terminal — a complete set of MongoDB database tools: browse databases and collections, run find queries and aggregation pipelines, insert, update, and delete documents, manage indexes and collections, read database statistics and server logs, and ask the server to explain a query plan.
There is no bundled MongoDB driver. Every tool call is first mapped to
a plain MongoDB command document ({ find: ... }, { aggregate: ... },
{ createIndexes: ... }), and the default executor runs that document
through the mongosh command-line client with
db.runCommand(...). A machine that wants live answers therefore needs
mongosh on its PATH and a reachable MongoDB instance. Without
either, the server still starts and lists its tools; only the call
itself reports the problem, in plain language.
Install
npx @reneturcios/docbase call list-databases
Or run the container image:
docker run -i ghcr.io/cloudcorprecords/docbase
The container defaults to the MCP server (see below). Note the stock
image bundles no mongosh binary, so containerised live queries need
a mongosh provided on the host or mounted into the image.
CLI
# Run one tool; the JSON-args argument is optional for no-arg tools
docbase call list-databases
docbase call find '{"database":"shop","collection":"users","filter":{"active":true},"limit":5}'
docbase call db-stats '{"database":"shop"}'
# Start the MCP server (connection string optional, see below)
docbase mcp mongodb://alice@localhost:27017/shop
docbase --version
Exit codes: 0 on success, 1 when the tool call, the connection, or
mongosh itself fails (the error says which), 2 for usage errors.
The connection string is a normal MongoDB URL (mongodb:// or
mongodb+srv://). For both mcp and call it can be left off the
command line and supplied through the MDB_MCP_CONNECTION_STRING
environment variable. The connect tool also accepts a
connectionString argument, which is validated and used for that
call's ping.
How a call flows
- Arguments are validated (required database/collection names, object-shaped filters, non-empty document arrays, and so on). Invalid calls fail before anything reaches an executor.
- The call is mapped to its command document — for example
update-manybecomes{ update: <collection>, updates: [{ q: filter, u: update, multi: true }] }. - The executor runs the document. Three tools post-process the reply:
collection-schemasamples 25 documents ($sample) and infers a field-to-types map from them;mongodb-logsrunsgetLogand applies the requestedlimitto the returned lines;exportruns a find and returns the matching documents under the requested export title.
MCP server
One bin serves both faces. The mcp subcommand starts a stdio MCP
server:
npx -y @reneturcios/docbase mcp mongodb://alice@localhost:27017/shop
MCP client configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"docbase": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@reneturcios/docbase", "mcp"],
"env": { "MDB_MCP_CONNECTION_STRING": "mongodb://alice@localhost:27017/shop" }
}
}
}
Tools
| Tool | Required | Optional | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
connect |
— | connectionString |
Ping the instance (validates a supplied connection string) |
list-databases |
— | — | List all databases (listDatabases) |
list-collections |
database |
— | List a database's collections |
collection-schema |
database, collection |
— | Infer field types from a 25-document sample |
collection-indexes |
database, collection |
— | List a collection's indexes |
collection-storage-size |
database, collection |
— | Collection storage statistics (collStats) |
find |
database, collection |
filter, projection, limit, sort |
Run a find query |
aggregate |
database, collection, pipeline |
— | Run an aggregation pipeline |
count |
database, collection |
query |
Count matching documents |
insert-many |
database, collection, documents |
— | Insert documents (ordered) |
update-many |
database, collection, filter, update |
— | Update all matching documents |
delete-many |
database, collection, filter |
— | Delete all matching documents |
create-collection |
database, collection |
— | Create a collection |
drop-collection |
database, collection |
— | Drop a collection |
drop-database |
database |
— | Drop a database |
rename-collection |
database, collection, newName |
— | Rename a collection (same database) |
create-index |
database, collection, keys |
— | Create an index; the name is derived from the keys |
drop-index |
database, collection, indexName |
— | Drop an index by name |
explain |
database, collection |
method, methodArgs |
Explain a query plan (queryPlanner verbosity) |
export |
database, collection |
exportTitle, filter |
Return matching documents under an export title |
db-stats |
database |
— | Database statistics (dbStats) |
mongodb-logs |
— | limit, type |
Read server log lines (getLog, default global) |
Development
npm install
npm run build # tsc -> dist/
npm test # node test runner over test/*.test.ts, no network, no live database
npm run dev # run the CLI from source via tsx
All command construction, validation, schema inference, and log
limiting are covered by tests that drive the core through a fake
executor — no MongoDB server and no mongosh binary are needed to run
the suite.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.