Working with Local Databases

This guide will help you connect your local databases to Skeet/MCP services by creating the appropriate DSN (Data Source Name) strings and setting up secure tunnels for remote access.

Overview

When developing locally, you often need to connect your Skeet MCP servers to databases running on your machine. This requires:

1. A local database instance (e.g., PostgreSQL, Redis, etc.)
2. A tunnel service to make your local database accessible via the internet
3. Proper DSN string configuration

Tunnel Options

Ngrok

Popular alternative with additional features:

# Install ngrok
brew install ngrok

# Create tunnel for PostgreSQL
ngrok tcp 5432

Example DSN string:

postgresql://username:password@X.tcp.ngrok.io:XXXXX/dbname

Complete Setup Example

Let's walk through a complete setup using PostgreSQL and Cloudflare Tunnel:

1. Start your local PostgreSQL server

# Ensure PostgreSQL is running on default port 5432
brew services start postgresql

2. Create a Cloudflare Tunnel

# Create a named tunnel
cloudflared tunnel create skeet-dev-db

# Configure the tunnel
cloudflared tunnel route dns skeet-dev-db dev-db.yourdomain.com

# Start the tunnel
cloudflared tunnel run --url tcp://localhost:5432 skeet-dev-db

3. Configure your DSN string in Skeet and add it to the Skeet dashboard by clicking Connect

postgresql://username:password@dev-db.yourdomain.com:5432/skeet_dev

Security Considerations

When exposing local databases to the internet, always:

1. Use Strong Passwords: Never use default or weak credentials
2. Restrict Access: Configure your database to accept connections only from known IP ranges
3. Enable SSL: Use encrypted connections whenever possible
4. Monitor Access: Keep logs of all database connections
5. Use Temporary Tunnels: For development, create temporary rather than permanent tunnels

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. Connection Timeouts

   • Verify tunnel is running
   • Check if local database accepts external connections
   • Ensure firewall rules allow the connection

2. Authentication Errors

   • Verify database credentials
   • Check if database user has proper permissions
   • Ensure DSN string format is correct

3. SSL/TLS Issues

   • Configure SSL certificates if required
   • Add sslmode=require to DSN string for secure connections

Additional Resources

• ngrok Documentation