Tool Filtering

Tool Filtering

With 191 tools, you need to filter tools to stay within AI IDE limits (Cursor warns at ~80 tools).

---

Quick Start: Recommended Configuration

The easiest way to filter is using whitelist mode — simply specify the group you want, and everything else is automatically disabled.

Recommended Default (~38 tools):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mysql-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "C:/path/to/mysql-mcp/dist/cli.js",
        "--transport", "stdio",
        "--mysql", "mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/database",
        "--tool-filter", "+starter"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: If you provide no --tool-filter argument, it defaults to +starter automatically.

---

Shortcuts (Meta-Groups)

Shortcuts are predefined groups designed to fit specific roles while staying under the 50-tool limit.

Shortcut	Tools	Use Case	What's Included
starter	38	🌟 Recommended	Core, JSON, trans, text
essential	15	Minimal footprint	Only core + transactions
dev-power	45	Power Developer	Core, schema, perf, stats, fulltext
ai-data	44	AI Data Analyst	Core, JSON, docstore, text, fulltext
ai-spatial	43	AI Spatial Analyst	Core, spatial, stats, perf
dba-monitor	35	DBA Monitoring	Core, monitor, perf, sysschema, opt
dba-manage	33	DBA Management	Core, admin, backup, repl, parts, events
dba-secure	42	DBA Security	Core, security, roles, cluster
base-core	48	Base Ops	Core, JSON, trans, text, schema
base-advanced	39	Advanced Features	DocStore, spatial, stats, fulltext, events
ecosystem	31	External Tools	Router, ProxySQL, Shell

---

Need More Tools?

Start with a shortcut and add individual groups as needed:

Starter + Fulltext (42 tools):

"--tool-filter", "starter,+fulltext"

Starter + Performance Analysis (46 tools):

"--tool-filter", "starter,+performance"

Starter + Spatial/GIS (50 tools):

"--tool-filter", "starter,+spatial"

---

How Filtering Works

1. Whitelist Mode (Recommended): simpler and safer. Start with +group or just group.

   • starter → Enables ONLY starter tools (38).
   • starter,+spatial → Enables starter AND spatial tools.

2. Legacy/Exclusion Mode: Start with -group.

   • -ecosystem → Enables ALL 191 tools, then removes ecosystem.
   • Warning: This will exceed tool limits in most IDEs.

Syntax Reference:

Prefix	Target	Example	Effect
+ (or none)	Shortcut	starter	Whitelist Mode: Enable ONLY this shortcut
-	Group	-admin	Disable tools in that specific group
+	Group	+spatial	Add tools from this group
-	Tool	-mysql_drop_table	Disable one specific tool
+	Tool	+mysql_explain	Enable one specific tool

---

All Tool Groups (24 groups)

If you need fine-grained control, use individual groups:

Group	Tools	Description
core	8	Read/write queries, tables, indexes
transactions	7	BEGIN, COMMIT, ROLLBACK, savepoints
json	17	JSON functions + merge, diff, stats
text	6	REGEXP, LIKE, SOUNDEX
fulltext	4	Natural language search
performance	8	EXPLAIN, query analysis
optimization	4	Index hints, recommendations
admin	6	OPTIMIZE, ANALYZE, CHECK
monitoring	7	PROCESSLIST, status variables
backup	4	Export, import, mysqldump
replication	5	Master/slave, binlog
partitioning	4	Partition management
router	9	MySQL Router REST API
proxysql	12	Proxy management
shell	10	MySQL Shell utilities
schema	10	Views, procedures, triggers, constraints
events	6	Event Scheduler management
sysschema	8	MySQL sys schema diagnostics
stats	8	Statistical analysis tools
spatial	12	Geometry operations, distance, GeoJSON
security	9	Audit, SSL, encryption, masking
cluster	10	Group Replication, InnoDB Cluster
roles	8	MySQL 8.0 role management
docstore	9	JSON document collections

---

See Also

• Tool-Reference - Complete list of all 191 tools
• Configuration - MCP client configuration