ebay -by-cdata

This MCP server provides a read-only interface to eBay data via the CData JDBC Driver for eBay. It wraps the JDBC driver behind a lightweight MCP surface so large language models can query live eBay data without writing SQL. The server exposes a small set of tools that let clients discover the data schema and run read queries against the underlying eBay data source. You typically don’t call the tools directly unless scripting; you can also use Claude Desktop or similar clients to drive these tools automatically.

The available tools (named per the server) include ebay_get_tables, ebay_get_columns, and ebay_run_query. ebay_get_tables returns a CSV list of available tables; ebay_get_columns fetches the columns for a given table (also CSV with a header row); ebay_run_query executes a SQL SELECT query against the connected data source. These tools are designed to be invoked via JSON-RPC requests or through the host client’s UI, and they return results in a structured format suitable for natural language interfaces to interpret and present to users.

When configured, you can ask the AI agent questions like: “Show me the active listings for electronics,” “What is average price by category for completed items?” or “List the tables available in the data source.” The AI client will transparently route questions to the appropriate tools and present results to you, without exposing raw SQL or requiring you to write queries yourself.

Prerequisites

• Java Runtime / JDK (recommended 8+ or newer)
• Maven for building the MCP server
• The CData JDBC Driver for eBay (download and license as described below)

Installation steps

1. Clone the repository and build the MCP server

git clone https://github.com/cdatasoftware/ebay-mcp-server-by-cdata.git
cd ebay-mcp-server-by-cdata
mvn clean install

This produces the jar file: CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar

2. Download and license the CData JDBC Driver for eBay

• Download the JDBC driver from: https://www.cdata.com/drivers/ebay/download/jdbc
• Install the driver following the vendor instructions on your platform
• License the driver (example for Linux/Mac/Windows as provided in the README):
  • Navigate to the driver’s lib folder and run the license command, then provide your name, email, and license (TRIAL or key)

3. Configure the JDBC connection (example steps from README)

• Run the Connection String utility to build your connection string:

  java -jar cdata.jdbc.ebay.jar
  

• Use the UI to form and test the connection string, then copy it for your .prp file

4. Create the .prp configuration file for the MCP server

• Create a file named ebay.prp with the JDBC connection details, including Prefix, ServerName, ServerVersion, DriverPath, DriverClass, and JdbcUrl as shown in the README example

5. Run the MCP server

• Start the MCP server using the generated jar and the .prp file:

java -jar /PATH/TO/CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar /PATH/TO/Salesforce.prp

Note: The server uses stdio for I/O, so it must run on the same machine as clients that connect to it.

6. Connect via Claude Desktop or your client of choice

• Add an entry to your claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers with the server name and the path to java and the jar, as shown in the README examples. Then run or refresh Claude Desktop to discover the MCP server.

Tips and considerations:

• The server is read-only by design for local setups; write/update/delete capabilities are exposed in other MCP configurations, but not in this ebay-mcp-server-by-cdata variant.
• Ensure the JDBC driver is licensed correctly; an invalid or missing license will prevent connections.
• The MCP server communicates via stdio, meaning the client must reside on the same host or a compatible client that supports stdio-based communication.
• The JSON-RPC tooling examples (source_get_tables, source_get_columns, source_run_query) assume the server name in config is used as the prefix for tool names (e.g., ebay_get_tables).
• If Claude Desktop or your client cannot see the MCP server, fully quit and re-launch the client to pick up new servers.
• If you encounter connection issues, verify DriverPath, DriverClass, and JdbcUrl values in ebay.prp and ensure the Oracle-like environment variables are not misconfigured.