How to integrate NocoDB MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting NocoDB to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working NocoDB agent that can list all projects updated this week, add a new record to clients table, update status of task id 42 to done through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a NocoDB account through Composio's NocoDB MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for NocoDB
  • Configure an AI agent that can use NocoDB as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform NocoDB operations

What is open-ai-agents-sdk?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

What is the NocoDB MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The NocoDB MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your NocoDB account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform NocoDB operations on your behalf.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Get User InfoTool to get authenticated user information including email, name, roles, and profile details.
Forgot PasswordTool to initiate password reset process by sending a reset email to the user.
Sign Out UserTool to sign out the authenticated user and clear their refresh token from the database and cookie.
Get Sort MetadataTool to retrieve sort configuration by ID from NocoDB.
Update View ColumnTool to update a column configuration in a view.
Delete ViewTool to delete a view from a NocoDB table.
Delete Table View RowTool to delete a specific row from a table view in NocoDB.
Get Integration InfoTool to retrieve metadata for a specific NocoDB integration by type and subtype.
List IntegrationsTool to retrieve all available integrations in NocoDB.
Store Integration ConfigurationTool to store configuration for a NocoDB integration.
Delete NotificationTool to delete a notification for the authenticated user.
List NotificationsTool to retrieve paginated notification records for the authenticated user.
Poll NotificationsTool to poll for notifications using long-polling mechanism.
Get Plugin StatusTool to check if a NocoDB plugin is active or not.
List Public Shared View Grouped DataTool to retrieve grouped data from a publicly shared NocoDB view.
Upload Attachments by URLTool to upload attachments from remote URLs to NocoDB storage.
Get Table SchemaTool to retrieve complete schema information for a specific table.
Update User ProfileTool to update authenticated user's profile information including display name, first name, and last name.
Get Aggregated Meta InfoTool to get aggregated meta information such as tableCount, dbViewCount, viewCount and other statistics about the NocoDB instance.
Get Application Health StatusTool to get the NocoDB application health status.
Get Application InfoTool to get comprehensive NocoDB application information including authentication settings, version, limits, and deployment configuration.
Get Cloud FeaturesTool to get NocoDB Cloud features.
Get Command Palette SuggestionsTool to get dynamic command palette suggestions based on scope.
Report ErrorTool to report errors to NocoDB's error tracking system.
Get Product FeedTool to get NocoDB product feed from social media sources including GitHub, YouTube, Twitter, and Cloud.
Convert URL to Database ConfigTool to convert JDBC URL or database connection URL to connection configuration object.
List Workspace BasesTool to list all bases in a NocoDB workspace.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Tool Router

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live NocoDB project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key

Install dependencies

pip install composio_openai_agents openai-agents python-dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

Import dependencies

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like NocoDB.

Set up the Composio instance

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())
What's happening:
  • load_dotenv() loads your .env file so OPENAI_API_KEY and COMPOSIO_API_KEY are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.

Create a Tool Router session

# Create a NocoDB Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["nocodb"]
)

mcp_url = session.mcp.url

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only nocodb.
  • The router checks the user's NocoDB connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access NocoDB.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request NocoDB tools only when needed during the conversation.

Configure the agent

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access NocoDB. "
        "Help users perform NocoDB operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access NocoDB and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a HostedMCPTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers dict includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • require_approval: 'never' means the agent can execute NocoDB operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.

Start chat loop and handle conversation

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize NocoDB.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using Runner.run().
  • The responses are printed to the console, and conversations are saved locally using SQLite.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with NocoDB and open-ai-agents-sdk:

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())

# Create Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["nocodb"]
)
mcp_url = session.mcp.url

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access NocoDB. "
        "Help users perform NocoDB operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating NocoDB MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with NocoDB.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.

How to build NocoDB MCP Agent with another framework

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Agent SDK

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Google ADK

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LangChain

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Vercel AI SDK

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Use NocoDB MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI

Mastra AI

Use NocoDB MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex

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Use NocoDB MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI

CrewAI

Use NocoDB MCP with CrewAI

Claude Code

Claude Code

Use NocoDB MCP with Claude Code

Codex

Codex

Use NocoDB MCP with Codex

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and NocoDB MCP?

With a standalone NocoDB MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of NocoDB tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from NocoDB and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK?

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right NocoDB tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for NocoDB while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which NocoDB scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your NocoDB data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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