> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nodaldata.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Nodal can access

> Nodal never needs your database. For the hosted MCP, we need only read-only GitHub — the context repo, and optionally your dbt repo.

<Note>
  **Nodal never needs access to your database — in the open-source repo or the hosted MCP server.**
</Note>

## We never touch your database

Nodal serves your **context layer** — the definitions and canonical queries your analyst curated —
not your data. When an agent needs to run SQL, it runs it through **your own read-only warehouse
connector** (see [self-service MCP setup](/open-source/self-service-mcp)). Nodal does not replicate,
proxy, or store a connection to your warehouse. The credentials to your data never leave your side.

## For the hosted MCP server, we need only read-only GitHub

To serve your context to your team, the hosted endpoint needs to read the files in your context
repo. That's it:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Context repo (required)" icon="github">
    A **read-only** GitHub token for your analytics-context repo — the Markdown + YAML the endpoint
    serves.
  </Card>

  <Card title="dbt repo (optional)" icon="diagram-project">
    If you choose, a **read-only** token for your dbt project's GitHub repo. dbt models and docs are
    a nicely structured source for lineage, so the agent can check *how* a metric is computed.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Both are **read-only** and both are **GitHub** — structured, reviewable, and easy to scope down. You
grant them once in the [Nodal admin](https://aiden.nodaldata.io) and can revoke them at any time.

## What that means in practice

| Nodal can read                                  | Nodal cannot access                |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Your analytics-context repo (read-only GitHub)  | Your database / warehouse          |
| Your dbt repo, if you opt in (read-only GitHub) | Any write access to your GitHub    |
| The questions your team asks the endpoint       | Data outside the repos you granted |

## Organization scoping

Every request to `https://analyst.nodaldata.io/mcp` is authenticated with OAuth 2.0 and scoped to
your organization, so a token only ever reaches your organization's context — never another
customer's.