setup-dab

/microsoft:setup-dab

Install and configure Microsoft Data API Builder (DAB) for production-ready SQL Server MCP integration.

Overview

Data API Builder (DAB) provides a production-grade MCP server for SQL Server with:

• RBAC: Role-based access control for entities
• Caching: Automatic result caching
• Telemetry: Built-in observability
• Deterministic queries: NL2DAB instead of fragile NL2SQL

Arguments

Parse arguments from $ARGUMENTS:

Flag	Description	Default
--init	Initialize new DAB configuration	false
--add <entity>	Add entity to configuration	(none)
--verify	Verify existing setup	false

Prerequisites

• .NET 8 SDK or later
• SQL Server database with accessible connection string
• Tables/views to expose as entities

Workflow

Step 1: Check DAB Installation

# Check if DAB is installed globally
dotnet tool list -g | grep -i dataapibuilder

# Check version
dab --version

If not installed:

Data API Builder not found.

Installing DAB globally...
  dotnet tool install -g microsoft.dataapibuilder --prerelease

Note: Using --prerelease for latest MCP features.

Install command:

dotnet tool install -g microsoft.dataapibuilder --prerelease

Step 2: Initialize Configuration (--init)

If --init specified or no dab-config.json exists:

DAB Configuration Wizard

Data API Builder requires entity configuration for security.
Unlike raw SQL access, DAB only exposes pre-approved entities.

Connection String Setup
-----------------------
Enter your SQL Server connection string (will be stored as env var reference):

Use AskUserQuestion to get connection string approach:

How do you want to configure the connection string?

Options:
1. Environment variable (Recommended) - Reference $DAB_CONNECTION_STRING
2. Direct entry - Store in dab-config.json (less secure)

Initialize with environment variable:

dab init --database-type mssql --connection-string "@env('DAB_CONNECTION_STRING')" --config dab-config.json

Step 3: Add Entities

Prompt user to add entities:

Entity Configuration
--------------------
DAB requires explicit entity definitions for each table/view you want to expose.

Would you like to:
1. Add an entity now
2. Skip (configure later)

If adding entity:

Entity Details

  Table/View name (e.g., dbo.Products):
  Entity name (e.g., Products):
  Permissions:
    - anonymous:read (read-only, no auth)
    - anonymous:* (full access, no auth)
    - authenticated:read (read-only, requires auth)
    - authenticated:* (full access, requires auth)

Add entity command:

# Read-only access
dab add Products --source dbo.Products --permissions "anonymous:read"

# Full CRUD access
dab add Products --source dbo.Products --permissions "anonymous:*"

# With specific operations
dab add Products --source dbo.Products --permissions "anonymous:read,create"

Step 4: Verify Configuration (--verify)

If --verify specified:

# Check config file
cat dab-config.json

# Validate configuration
dab validate --config dab-config.json

# Check environment variable
echo $DAB_CONNECTION_STRING

Report status:

DAB Configuration Verification

  Config File: dab-config.json
  Validation: Passed
  Database Type: mssql
  Connection: @env('DAB_CONNECTION_STRING')

  Entities:
    - Products (dbo.Products) - anonymous:read
    - Orders (dbo.Orders) - anonymous:read
    - Customers (dbo.Customers) - authenticated:*

  Environment:
    DAB_CONNECTION_STRING: Set

  Status: Ready to start

Step 5: Configure Claude Code

DAB is not enabled by default in the plugin. Add mssql-dab to your project's .claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mssql-dab": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:5000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or to enable globally, add to ~/.claude.json under mcpServers.

Step 6: Start Instructions

Setup Complete - Starting DAB

IMPORTANT: DAB uses HTTP transport. You must start DAB separately.

To start the DAB server (run in a separate terminal):

  # Set connection string (if not in profile)
  export DAB_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost;Database=test;..."

  # Start DAB - this runs a web server that exposes MCP at /mcp
  dab start --config dab-config.json

  # DAB will listen on http://localhost:5000 by default
  # MCP endpoint: http://localhost:5000/mcp

Available MCP Tools (once DAB is running):
  - describe_entities - List available entities and properties
  - create_record - Insert new data
  - read_records - Query data (auto-cached)
  - update_record - Modify data
  - delete_record - Remove data
  - execute_entity - Execute stored procedures

Output Format

Installation Success:

Data API Builder Setup

Phase 1: Installation
  Checking global tools...
  DAB not found, installing...
  dotnet tool install -g microsoft.dataapibuilder --prerelease
  Installed: microsoft.dataapibuilder 2.0.0-preview

Phase 2: Configuration
  Database type: mssql
  Connection: @env('DAB_CONNECTION_STRING')
  Config file: dab-config.json

Phase 3: Entities
  No entities configured yet.

  To add entities:
    dab add <EntityName> --source <schema.table> --permissions "anonymous:read"

  Examples:
    dab add Products --source dbo.Products --permissions "anonymous:read"
    dab add Orders --source dbo.Orders --permissions "authenticated:*"

Setup Complete

Environment variable required:
  DAB_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=...;Database=...;..."

Test with:
  dab start --config dab-config.json
  /microsoft:mssql status --dab

Verification Output:

DAB Configuration Verification

Config: dab-config.json

  Database: mssql
  Connection: @env('DAB_CONNECTION_STRING')
  Host Mode: Development

Entities (3):
  Entity       Source          Permissions
  -----------  --------------  ---------------
  Products     dbo.Products    anonymous:read
  Orders       dbo.Orders      anonymous:read
  Customers    dbo.Customers   authenticated:*

Environment:
  DAB_CONNECTION_STRING: Configured

Validation: Passed

Ready to start: dab start --config dab-config.json

DAB Configuration File

Example dab-config.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://github.com/Azure/data-api-builder/releases/latest/download/dab.draft.schema.json",
  "data-source": {
    "database-type": "mssql",
    "connection-string": "@env('DAB_CONNECTION_STRING')"
  },
  "runtime": {
    "rest": { "enabled": true },
    "graphql": { "enabled": true }
  },
  "entities": {
    "Products": {
      "source": "dbo.Products",
      "permissions": [{
        "role": "anonymous",
        "actions": ["read"]
      }]
    }
  }
}

Examples

# Install DAB and create initial config
/microsoft:setup-dab --init

# Add an entity with read-only access
/microsoft:setup-dab --add Products

# Verify existing configuration
/microsoft:setup-dab --verify

Manual Commands

If you prefer manual setup:

# Install DAB
dotnet tool install -g microsoft.dataapibuilder --prerelease

# Initialize config
dab init --database-type mssql --connection-string "@env('DAB_CONNECTION_STRING')"

# Add entities
dab add Products --source dbo.Products --permissions "anonymous:read"
dab add Orders --source dbo.Orders --permissions "authenticated:read,create"

# Validate
dab validate

# Start
dab start

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
DAB_CONNECTION_STRING	Yes	SQL Server connection string (used by dab start)
DAB_CONFIG_PATH	No	Path to dab-config.json (default: ./dab-config.json)
DAB_MCP_URL	No	MCP endpoint URL (default: http://localhost:5000/mcp)

Connection String Examples

# Local SQL Server with Windows Auth
DAB_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True"

# Azure SQL with AD Interactive
DAB_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=tcp:myserver.database.windows.net,1433;Database=MyDb;Authentication=Active Directory Interactive"

# SQL Server with username/password
DAB_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost;Database=MyDb;User Id=sa;Password=YourPassword;TrustServerCertificate=True"

Security Best Practices

1. Use environment variables for connection strings
2. Principle of least privilege - only expose needed entities
3. Use read-only permissions where possible
4. Enable authentication for sensitive data
5. Review permissions before production deployment

# Good: Read-only, specific entities
dab add Products --source dbo.Products --permissions "anonymous:read"

# Risky: Full access to all operations
dab add AllData --source dbo.SensitiveTable --permissions "anonymous:*"

Troubleshooting

DAB install fails:

If dotnet tool install fails:
  1. Check .NET 8+ is installed: dotnet --version
  2. Clear NuGet cache: dotnet nuget locals all --clear
  3. Check network/proxy settings
  4. Try without --prerelease for stable version

Connection fails:

If DAB can't connect:
  1. Verify connection string format
  2. Check SQL Server is running
  3. Verify firewall allows connections
  4. Test with: sqlcmd -S <server> -d <database>

Entity add fails:

If dab add fails:
  1. Verify table/view exists in database
  2. Check schema name (dbo.TableName not just TableName)
  3. Ensure user has SELECT permission on table

DAB vs MssqlMcp

Feature	DAB	MssqlMcp
Access Control	RBAC, entity-level	Connection-level only
Query Type	NL2DAB (deterministic)	NL2SQL (fragile)
Production Ready	Yes	Experimental
Setup Complexity	Higher (entity config)	Lower (connection only)
Caching	Built-in	No
Best For	Production apps	Quick exploration

Related Commands

• /microsoft:mssql - Manage MssqlMcp servers (status, rebuild, update)

Documentation

• DAB MCP Overview
• DAB CLI Reference
• DAB Configuration