Overview

arcticdb-mcp turns ArcticDB into an AI data copilot. Assistants can automate symbol updates, batch jobs, and time-series queries while built-in versioning protects every change. Go from question to data change in minutes, not scripts, with full traceability. You can also design your own workflows on top of arcticdb-mcp.

Table of Contents

• Demo Video
• Quickstart
• Installation
• Configuration
• Run Modes
• Tools
• Example Prompts
• Development
• Community Backlog
• Contributing
• License

Demo Video

Watch the live watch db demo:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/dd81f229-e1f9-46e6-8e79-7c7252bc25c6

Quickstart

1. Install and run with uvx (recommended):

uvx arcticdb-mcp

2. Configure your MCP client (Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf / Continue):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arcticdb": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["arcticdb-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ARCTICDB_URI": "lmdb:///path/to/your/database"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Ask your assistant:

• "Show me the last 5 rows of AAPL in library finance"
• "Create a snapshot of finance before I update symbols"
• "List versions for symbol ES_intraday"

Installation

Choose one:

# Recommended
uvx arcticdb-mcp

# Or
pipx install arcticdb-mcp

# Or
pip install arcticdb-mcp

Python requirement: >=3.9

Configuration

Set ARCTICDB_URI in MCP client config or environment.

URI examples

• Local LMDB (Linux/macOS): lmdb:///path/to/db
• Local LMDB (Windows): lmdb://C:/path/to/db
• AWS S3: s3://s3.amazonaws.com:bucket?region=us-east-1&access=KEY&secret=SECRET
• Azure Blob: azure://AccountName=X;AccountKey=Y;Container=Z
• S3-compatible (MinIO, etc.): s3://your-endpoint:bucket?access=KEY&secret=SECRET

You can also use a .env file:

ARCTICDB_URI=lmdb:///path/to/db

Run Modes

stdio (default)

This is the default mode used by desktop MCP clients.

ARCTICDB_URI=lmdb:///path/to/db python -m arcticdb_mcp

HTTP / SSE

Set ARCTICDB_MCP_PORT to run over HTTP/SSE:

ARCTICDB_URI=lmdb:///path/to/db ARCTICDB_MCP_PORT=8000 python -m arcticdb_mcp

Endpoint:

http://localhost:8000/sse

Tools

Current server exposes 48 tools.

Arctic and Libraries

Tool	File	What it does
get_uri	arcticdb_mcp/tools/arctic_tools.py	Return the ArcticDB URI used by this MCP server connection.
describe	arcticdb_mcp/tools/arctic_tools.py	Return a compact summary of the ArcticDB store.
modify_library_option	arcticdb_mcp/tools/arctic_tools.py	Modify a configurable library option.
list_libraries	arcticdb_mcp/tools/library_tools.py	List all libraries in the Arctic instance.
create_library	arcticdb_mcp/tools/library_tools.py	Create a new library with the given name.
delete_library	arcticdb_mcp/tools/library_tools.py	Delete a library and all its underlying data permanently.
library_exists	arcticdb_mcp/tools/library_tools.py	Check whether a library with the given name exists.
get_library	arcticdb_mcp/tools/library_tools.py	Return the name and full list of symbols stored in a library.
get_library_options	arcticdb_mcp/tools/maintenance_tools.py	Return non-enterprise library options.
get_enterprise_options	arcticdb_mcp/tools/maintenance_tools.py	Return enterprise library options.

Symbols

Tool	File	What it does
list_symbols	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	List all symbol names stored in the given library.
symbol_exists	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Check whether a symbol exists in the given library.
read_symbol	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Read a symbol's full data as row records with index included.
head_symbol	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Return the first n rows of a symbol (default 5).
tail_symbol	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Return the last n rows of a symbol (default 5).
write_symbol	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Write data to a symbol, creating a new version.
append_symbol	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Append rows to an existing symbol, creating a new version.
update_symbol	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Update a date range of a timeseries symbol, creating a new version.
delete_symbol	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Delete a symbol and all its versions from the library.
delete_data_in_range	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Delete rows within a date range from a timeseries symbol, creating a new version.
get_symbol_info	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Return schema, row count, date range, and metadata summary for a symbol.
list_versions	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	List all versions of a symbol with version number and write timestamp.
read_metadata	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Read only metadata for a symbol without loading its data.
write_metadata	arcticdb_mcp/tools/symbol_tools.py	Update metadata for a symbol without modifying its data.

Batch Operations

Tool	File	What it does
write_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Write multiple symbols in one call.
append_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Append to multiple symbols in one call.
update_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Update multiple symbols in one call.
delete_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Delete multiple symbols or symbol versions in one call.
read_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Read multiple symbols in one call.
read_metadata_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Read metadata for multiple symbols in one call.
get_description_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Get schema/description for multiple symbols in one call.
write_metadata_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Write metadata for multiple symbols in one call.
write_pickle	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Write arbitrary pickle-serializable data to a symbol.
write_pickle_batch	arcticdb_mcp/tools/batch_tools.py	Write multiple pickle-serializable payloads in one call.

Snapshots

Tool	File	What it does
create_snapshot	arcticdb_mcp/tools/snapshot_tools.py	Create a named snapshot of the current library state.
list_snapshots	arcticdb_mcp/tools/snapshot_tools.py	List the names of all snapshots in a library.
delete_snapshot	arcticdb_mcp/tools/snapshot_tools.py	Delete a named snapshot from a library.
read_symbol_from_snapshot	arcticdb_mcp/tools/snapshot_tools.py	Read a symbol as it existed when a snapshot was created.

Query Helpers

Tool	File	What it does
query_filter	arcticdb_mcp/tools/query_tools.py	Filter rows using conditions.
query_filter_isin	arcticdb_mcp/tools/query_tools.py	Filter rows where a column value is in a list.
query_groupby	arcticdb_mcp/tools/query_tools.py	Group by a column and aggregate.
query_date_range	arcticdb_mcp/tools/query_tools.py	Filter rows by date range on a datetime-indexed symbol.
query_resample	arcticdb_mcp/tools/query_tools.py	Resample a datetime-indexed symbol and aggregate.

Maintenance

Tool	File	What it does
reload_symbol_list	arcticdb_mcp/tools/maintenance_tools.py	Force a symbol-list cache reload for a library.
compact_symbol_list	arcticdb_mcp/tools/maintenance_tools.py	Compact symbol-list cache into a single key in storage.
is_symbol_fragmented	arcticdb_mcp/tools/maintenance_tools.py	Check whether compaction would reduce segment count for a symbol.
defragment_symbol_data	arcticdb_mcp/tools/maintenance_tools.py	Defragment symbol data by compacting fragmented row-sliced segments.
prune_previous_versions	arcticdb_mcp/tools/maintenance_tools.py	Remove non-snapshotted symbol versions except the latest one.

Example Prompts

• "Read symbol NVDA from library finance"
• "Filter NVDA where price > 500 and volume >= 1000"
• "Resample ES_intraday to 5min and aggregate price mean, volume sum"
• "Write metadata owner=research to symbol ES_intraday"
• "Delete data in range for ES_intraday from 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-05"

Development

git clone https://github.com/YMuskrat/arcticdb-mcp
cd arcticdb-mcp
pip install -e .

Run locally:

ARCTICDB_URI=lmdb:///path/to/db python -m arcticdb_mcp

Test with MCP Inspector:

ARCTICDB_URI=lmdb:///tmp/test_db npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python -m arcticdb_mcp

Community Backlog

These ArcticDB capabilities are intentionally left open for contributors:

• stage
• finalize_staged_data
• sort_and_finalize_staged_data
• delete_staged_data
• get_staged_symbols
• read_batch_and_join
• admin_tools

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT