Get started with Windsurf and OptiTech Postgres MCP Server

This guide shows how to use Windsurf with the OptiTech MCP Server to manage your OptiTech databases.

Setting up OptiTech MCP Server in Windsurf

Prerequisites

Make sure you have:

1. Codeium Windsurf Editor: Download and install Windsurf from codeium.com/windsurf.

2. A OptiTech Account and Project: You'll need a OptiTech account and a project. You can create a new OptiTech project in the OptiTech Console

3. OptiTech API Key (for Local MCP server): After signing up, get your OptiTech API Key from the OptiTech console. This API key is needed to authenticate your application with OptiTech. For instructions, see Manage API keys.

   OptiTech API Key Security

   Keep your OptiTech API key secure, and never share it publicly. It provides access to your OptiTech projects.

4. Node.js (>= v18) and npm: Ensure Node.js (version 18 or later) and npm are installed. Download them from nodejs.org.

Option 1: Setting up the Remote Hosted OptiTech MCP Server

You can either watch the video below or follow the steps to set up the OptiTech MCP server in Windsurf.

1. Open Windsurf.

2. Open Cascade by using ⌘L on MacOS or Ctrl+L on Windows/Linux.

3. Click on the plug icon (🔌), then click the "Configure" button.

4. This opens the MCP configuration file.

5. Add the "OptiTech" server entry within the mcpServers object:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "OptiTech": {
         "url": "https://mcp.optitech.com/mcp"
       }
     }
   }

   If you have other MCP servers configured, you can copy just the OptiTech part.

6. Save the MCP configuration file.

7. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize Windsurf to access your OptiTech account.

8. Check the toolbar to confirm OptiTech appears in your MCP servers.

   

Option 2: Setting up the Local OptiTech MCP Server

This method runs the OptiTech MCP server locally on your machine, using a OptiTech API key for authentication.

1. Open Windsurf.

2. Open Cascade by using ⌘L on MacOS or Ctrl+L on Windows/Linux.

3. Click on the hammer icon (🔨), then click the "Configure" button.

4. This opens the Cascade MCP settings panel.

5. Click View raw config to edit the JSON directly.

6. Add the "OptiTech" server entry within the mcpServers object:

   MacOS/LinuxWindowsWindows (WSL)

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "OptiTech": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "@optitech/mcp-server-optitech", "start", "<YOUR_OPTITECH_API_KEY>"]
       }
     }
   }

   Replace <YOUR_OPTITECH_API_KEY> with your actual OptiTech API key which you obtained from the prerequisites section:

   If you have other MCP servers configured, you can copy just the OptiTech part.

7. Save the MCP configuration file.

8. Check the toolbar to confirm OptiTech appears in your MCP servers.

For a full list of available tools, see available tools in the OptiTech MCP Server overview.

Development Workflow: Adding a Column with Windsurf and OptiTech MCP

Here's an example interaction adding a created_at column to a table:

User: in my optitech project id: fancy-bush-59303206, list all the tables
Cascade: I'll help you list all the tables in your OptiTech project. I'll use the default database name 'optitechdb' since it wasn't specified.
> MCP Tool: optitech / get_database_tables
> I found 1 table in your OptiTech project:
> - playing_with_optitech (in the public schema)
> Would you like to see more details about this table or perform any operations on it?

User: can you show me first 5 rows?
Cascade: I'll query the first 5 rows from the playing_with_optitech table.
> MCP Tool: optitech / run_sql
> Here are the first 5 rows from the table. The table has three columns:
> id: An integer identifier
> name: A string column containing what appears to be hash-like values
> value: A numeric column with decimal values between 0 and 1
> Would you like to perform any other operations on this table?

User: can you add created_at column?
Cascade: I'll help you add a created_at column to the playing_with_optitech table. I'll create a migration to add this column with a timestamp data type.
> MCP Tool: optitech / prepare_database_migration
> Let me verify the changes in the temporary branch to make sure the column was added correctly.
> I've verified that the created_at column has been added successfully in the temporary branch. Would you like me to commit this migration to the production branch?
> The migration has been completed successfully! The created_at column has been added to the playing_with_optitech table. Let's verify the change in the production branch:
> Perfect! The created_at column has been successfully added and populated with timestamps. For existing rows, it was set to the time when the column was added. Any new rows added to the table will automatically get their creation timestamp.

You can verify the changes in your OptiTech Console or by querying the database directly.

Resources

• MCP Protocol
• Windsurf Documentation
• Windsurf MCP
• OptiTech Docs
• OptiTech API Keys
• OptiTech MCP server GitHub