Business Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects Claude — or any MCP-compatible AI client — to a real business database. It lets the AI query customers, orders, and revenue using natural language, by exposing safe, well-defined tools over the database.

Built as a hands-on demonstration of Python, APIs, and the Model Context Protocol — the emerging standard for connecting LLMs to real-world systems.

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🧠 What is MCP?

Large Language Models only know what they were trained on — they can't read your database, CRM, or spreadsheet. MCP is an open standard (introduced by Anthropic) that acts like a universal adapter between an AI model and external systems.

┌─────────┐      ┌──────────────┐      ┌────────────────┐
│ Claude  │ ───► │  MCP Server  │ ───► │  SQLite (DB)   │
│ (client)│ ◄─── │  (this repo) │ ◄─── │  customers,    │
└─────────┘      └──────────────┘      │  orders        │
                                       └────────────────┘

The MCP server exposes tools (actions). The AI decides when and how to call them — you simply grant the capability.

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🛠️ Tools exposed

Tool	Description
list_customers()	Returns all customers (name, email, city, join date).
search_customers(keyword)	Finds customers by name or city.
get_customer_orders(customer_id)	Returns all orders for a given customer.
revenue_summary()	Total revenue from completed orders + order counts.

All database access goes through a single helper that uses parameterized queries (? placeholders) to prevent SQL injection.

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📦 Tech stack

• Python 3.13
• MCP Python SDK (mcp[cli]) — FastMCP
• SQLite (standard library sqlite3) — the business database

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🚀 Getting started

# 1. Clone and enter the project
git clone https://github.com/bke1302/business-mcp-server.git
cd business-mcp-server

# 2. Create and activate a virtual environment
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate        # Windows
# source venv/bin/activate   # macOS / Linux

# 3. Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# 4. Create the sample database
python init_db.py

Connect to Claude Code

claude mcp add business-db -- python /full/path/to/server.py

Then ask Claude naturally:

"How much revenue have we made?" "Show me Maya's orders." "Which customers are from Tel Aviv?"

Claude will call the right tool and answer from your live data.

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📁 Project structure

business-mcp-server/
├── server.py          # The MCP server — defines and serves the tools
├── init_db.py         # Creates and seeds the SQLite database
├── requirements.txt   # Python dependencies
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

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📚 What this project demonstrates

• Building an MCP server from scratch with the official Python SDK
• Designing clear, well-documented tools an AI can reason about
• Safe database access with parameterized SQL queries
• Clean, portable code (absolute paths, isolated virtual environment)

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🗺️ Roadmap

• Add Google Sheets as an alternative data source
• Add write tools (create / update orders)
• Add automated tests

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Built while transitioning from operations management into AI engineering — closing the gap from low-code automation to real Python & technical architecture.