Today SteadyCode published the Access-DevTool-MCP open-source project on GitHub. It lets developers use AI agents to interact with Microsoft Access, is written in C#, and includes a Claude skill. It lets developers modify forms and reports, modify and execute VBA code, and manage database objects programmatically.
It has a two-phase design to provide stability when interacting with Microsoft Access from AI client applications, like Claude Code or Desktop. One project uses COM Interop to interact with 32-bit Access. Another project is optimized for working with 64-bit AI agents, like Claude Code or Desktop. It handles application lifecycle (startup, shutdown, and error-handling) and uses a named pipe channel to communicate with the first project. This provides stability, for example, isolating an Access Interop crash from Claude, and lets the Interop project use a well-proven framework to use a single-threaded architecture to automate Access.
The project was created to accelerate modification of a customer’s 20-year-old Access application, which uses the 32-bit version of Access with a SQL Server database. It is intended for use by Access developers or users with permission to modify applications written with it. It is not intended for use by end-users.
Developers are advised to backup their Access project before using this tool to connect to it and make modifications. It’s important to disconnect from Access before attempting to use it interactively. Access may create a lock file that prevents an interactive user from saving changes until it’s closed.
Businesses considering using Access-DevTool-MCP server would do well to consider Jerry Nixon’s discussion of when to use the SQL MCP Server. Much of his advice applies here, too. Exploration is a good use case, but the features exposed here are not those of SQL MCP Server or the Data API builder but those provided by Microsoft.Office.Interop.Access or the Microsoft Access 15.0 Object Library.
It’s possible to use those from separate agents in concert with this DevTool when Access connects to a SQL Server database.