# Metabase setup for PopMCP You paste two values into PopMCP: your Metabase address and an API key an admin creates in Metabase under Admin, Settings, Authentication, API keys. - Auth: API credentials - Setup time: 2 min - API base URL: https://YOUR-METABASE/api - Credentials screen: https://YOUR-METABASE/admin/settings/authentication (replace YOUR-METABASE with your Metabase metabase) - Provider docs: https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/people-and-groups/api-keys ## Before you begin - Metabase Cloud, or self-hosted Metabase version 0.49 or later, on any plan including the free open-source edition - A Metabase address the internet can reach over HTTPS. A Metabase only on a private network or VPN cannot be connected - An admin account in Metabase: only admins can create API keys ## Get your credentials ### 1. Open Metabase Admin Sign in to Metabase as an admin. Click the grid icon in the upper right and select Admin, then go to the Settings tab. Screen: https://YOUR-METABASE/admin/settings (replace YOUR-METABASE with your Metabase metabase) ### 2. Find API keys In the left menu, open Authentication and click API keys. On some older versions it is further down the Authentication page: scroll to API Keys and click Manage. Screen: https://YOUR-METABASE/admin/settings/authentication/api-keys (replace YOUR-METABASE with your Metabase metabase) ### 3. Create the key Click Create an API key. Under Key name type `PopMCP`. Under Group this key should belong to, choose Administrators if you want every tool, including people, settings and permissions. Any other group works too: the key can then reach only the questions, dashboards and data that group has access to. Click Create. Screen: https://YOUR-METABASE/admin/settings/authentication/api-keys (replace YOUR-METABASE with your Metabase metabase) ### 4. Copy the key Metabase shows the new key, which starts with `mb_`, and will not show it again. Copy the whole key. If you lose it, you can edit the key in the same list and regenerate it, which stops the old one. Screen: https://YOUR-METABASE/admin/settings/authentication/api-keys (replace YOUR-METABASE with your Metabase metabase) ### 5. Paste the values into PopMCP and connect In PopMCP open Metabase. Under Metabase address paste the address you sign in at, like `https://yourcompany.metabaseapp.com`, or with its subdirectory if it has one. Paste the key under API key and click Connect Metabase. PopMCP checks that the address is a Metabase and that the key works, then names the connection after your site. Screen: https://app.popmcp.com/marketplace ## Fields PopMCP asks for - Metabase address (siteUrl) [required]: The address you sign in at. It needs to be on the internet with HTTPS. - API key (apiKey) [required]: Metabase shows it once, when you create it. Stored encrypted. ## Verify PopMCP checks that the address answers as Metabase, then that Metabase accepts the key, and marks the connection Verified under your site name, noting whether the key is in the Administrators group. Asking the AI for an overview of your Metabase returns its version, the databases the key can see and what is at the top of Our analytics. ## Troubleshooting ### "... does not answer like Metabase ..." Cause: The address is not your Metabase, or something other than Metabase answers there, such as a sign-in proxy. Fix: Paste the address you sign in to Metabase at, without anything after it. If a proxy or single sign-on gateway sits in front of Metabase, it has to let `/api` through. ### "Metabase at ... did not accept this API key ..." Cause: The key was cut off when copied, or it was deleted or regenerated. Fix: Make a new key under Admin, Settings, Authentication, API keys and paste all of it, starting with `mb_`. ### "... is a private address ..." or "We could not reach ..." Cause: Your Metabase is only on a private network or VPN, or is not on HTTPS. Fix: PopMCP has to reach Metabase over the internet with HTTPS. Put Metabase behind a public HTTPS address, or use Metabase Cloud. ### A tool answers 403 Cause: The key's group does not have access to that thing, or the tool is for admins only. Fix: In Metabase, give the group access under Admin, Permissions, or edit the key and pick the Administrators group. ### A tool answers 402 or 404 Cause: 402 means a paid Metabase feature. 404 means a wrong id, or a tool newer than your version of Metabase. Fix: The AI can find the right id with search and read your version from the connection profile. Upgrading Metabase adds the newer tools. ### SQL is refused on a read-only connection Cause: It is not a single statement that only reads, or it has a word like DELETE or UPDATE in it, sometimes as a column name. Fix: Put a column with such a name in double quotes. To run other statements, turn on write actions for the connection in PopMCP. ### A query times out or returns too much Cause: Queries run on your own database, and PopMCP waits about 100 seconds and reads up to 10 MB. Fix: Ask for filters, aggregates or fewer columns. Metabase itself stops at 2,000 raw rows or 10,000 aggregated rows unless an admin changed that. --- Source: https://www.docs.popmcp.com/docs/integrations/metabase/