🚀 Introducing MCP Chat Buddy – AI-Powered Database Chat for Phoenix

We’re excited to announce MCP Chat Buddy, the latest template from phxTemplate. Built with Phoenix LiveView and powered by Model Context Protocol (MCP), this template lets you chat directly with your database using natural language. No SQL needed—just ask questions in plain English and get instant answers.

Whether you want to explore structured data, test AI database integrations, or learn how to build secure AI-powered apps with Phoenix, MCP Chat Buddy is your new go-to starting point.

💡 What Is MCP Chat Buddy?

MCP Chat Buddy is a fully functional Phoenix LiveView application that integrates with Ollama and MCP to turn your data into a conversational experience.

Ask natural language questions like: “How many horses do I have?” or “Show me all the Arabian horses.”
Get AI-powered answers that run safely against your database.
Enjoy real-time interactions thanks to Phoenix LiveView.

To make it fun, the project ships with a horse database (20 horses with diverse breeds, ages, heights, and colors). But the real magic is that you can swap in your own data and keep chatting with it.

⚡ Quick Start with DevPod

We’ve made getting started ridiculously easy with a pre-configured DevContainer.

Extract your project files
Launch with DevPod (or VS Code DevContainers)
Wait for setup (Elixir, PostgreSQL, Ollama all ready to go)
Run mix phx.server and start chatting with your data

That’s it—your AI buddy is live.

🐴 Out-of-the-Box Horse Database

To help you see the template in action, MCP Chat Buddy comes seeded with 20 horses across multiple breeds, colors, and sizes.

Example queries you can try right away:

“What’s the tallest horse?”
“List horses by age, oldest first.”
“Show me horses under 15 hands.”

This gives you an immediate playground to experiment with natural language SQL queries.

🔒 Built-In Security

We know AI + databases can be tricky, so MCP Chat Buddy is designed with safety first:

Read-only SQL (no INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE allowed)
Retry logic for unsafe or broken queries
Strict input validation
Network access control (MCP endpoint restricted to localhost/private IPs)

This makes it an excellent foundation for learning and extending without worrying about your database getting corrupted.

🏗️ Under the Hood

Here’s how the system works:

Chat Buddy Widget (bottom-right of every page) → you ask a question
MCP Client decides whether to chat or query the DB
MCP Server translates your question into safe SQL
Database queried and results turned back into conversational answers

It’s a powerful architecture that cleanly separates AI reasoning, database access, and LiveView presentation.

🔧 Customization Made Simple

Want to extend MCP Chat Buddy? We’ve got you covered:

Add new tables – AI automatically discovers schema updates
Change models – just swap Ollama models in config/config.exs
Build custom MCP tools – extend with domain-specific queries
Add visualizations, voice input, or exports – endless possibilities

This isn’t just a template—it’s a learning playground for advanced Phoenix + AI apps.

🎯 Why Use MCP Chat Buddy?

Get a production-ready Phoenix + MCP app in minutes
Learn how to build safe AI database interfaces
Explore real-time AI chat UX with LiveView
Extend and adapt to your own use case

Whether you’re building SaaS tools, internal dashboards, or experimenting with AI-driven apps, MCP Chat Buddy saves you weeks of setup and learning curve.

📚 Learn More

💝 Final Thoughts

MCP Chat Buddy is more than just another template—it’s a hands-on example of the future of AI-powered applications. With natural language queries, secure MCP integration, and Phoenix LiveView’s real-time magic, you’ll be shipping smarter apps faster than ever.

👉 Ready to start chatting with your data? Grab MCP Chat Buddy today and see what AI + Phoenix can do together.

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