MCP Playground
A demonstration MCP server that provides access to a SQLite employee database with tools for querying users and profiles, sending emails via Mailtrap, and proposing project teams based on employee skills.
What is MCP Playground?
MCP Playground is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to demonstration mcp server that provides access to a sqlite employee database with tools for querying users and profiles, sending emails via mailtrap, and proposing project teams based on employee skill...
A demonstration MCP server that provides access to a SQLite employee database with tools for querying users and profiles, sending emails via Mailtrap, and proposing project teams based on employee skills.
This server falls under the Developer Tools category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- A demonstration MCP server that provides access to a SQLite
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx mcp-playgroundConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use MCP Playground
MCP Playground is a demonstration MCP server that connects an AI assistant to a local SQLite employee database, enabling natural language queries against real employee records. It also integrates with Mailtrap for email delivery and provides an AI-driven prompt to propose project teams based on employee skills and competencies. This server is ideal for developers learning how to build and test MCP integrations with databases and external APIs.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.13 installed
- uv package manager (https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) installed
- SQLite3 available on your system
- Mailtrap account and API token for email features
- An MCP client such as Claude Desktop
Clone the repository
Clone the mcp_playground repository from GitHub and navigate into the project directory.
git clone https://github.com/JaanLavaerts/mcp_playground.git
cd mcp_playgroundInstall dependencies with uv
Use the uv package manager to sync all Python dependencies defined in the project.
uv syncInitialize the SQLite database
Navigate to the db folder and run the provided SQL scripts to create the schema and load sample employee data.
cd db
sqlite3 database.db < schema.sql
sqlite3 database.db < insert_data.sql
cd ..Configure the Mailtrap API token
Create a .env file in the project root and add your Mailtrap API token so the send_email tool can dispatch emails.
echo 'MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN=your_mailtrap_api_token_here' > .envAdd the server to Claude Desktop
Edit your claude_desktop_config.json to register the MCP Playground server using the uv executable and absolute paths to the project.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-playground": {
"command": "/path/to/uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--directory",
"/absolute/path/to/mcp_playground",
"main.py"
],
"env": {
"MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN": "your_mailtrap_api_token_here"
}
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop
Fully quit and relaunch Claude Desktop so it picks up the new MCP server configuration.
MCP Playground Examples
Client configuration
Complete claude_desktop_config.json snippet for running MCP Playground with uv.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-playground": {
"command": "/usr/local/bin/uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--directory",
"/Users/yourname/mcp_playground",
"main.py"
],
"env": {
"MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN": "your_mailtrap_api_token_here"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example natural language prompts to exercise the database, email, and team proposal tools.
- "List all employees in the database"
- "Show me the complete profile for employee ID 3"
- "Send an email to [email protected] with subject 'Meeting' and body 'See you at 3pm'"
- "Propose a 4-person team for a mobile app project focused on React Native and backend APIs"Troubleshooting MCP Playground
Server fails to start with 'ModuleNotFoundError'
Ensure you ran 'uv sync' inside the project directory and that the virtual environment is activated with 'source .venv/bin/activate' before running the server.
send_email tool returns an authentication error
Verify that MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN is correctly set in your .env file and that the token is valid. Double-check the token in your Mailtrap account settings.
Database queries return no results
Confirm you ran both schema.sql and insert_data.sql against the correct database file at db/database.db. Re-run the sqlite3 commands if necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions about MCP Playground
What is MCP Playground?
MCP Playground is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that demonstration mcp server that provides access to a sqlite employee database with tools for querying users and profiles, sending emails via mailtrap, and proposing project teams based on employee skills. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install MCP Playground?
Follow the installation instructions on the MCP Playground GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with MCP Playground?
MCP Playground works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is MCP Playground free to use?
Yes, MCP Playground is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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