AgentDrives

Starburst

starburst.io

Starburst Galaxy is a data platform that runs SQL across many data sources.

Can an AI agent use Starburst? No. Our agent couldn't get into Starburst on its own.

Visit Starburst Follow changes

Category

Data warehouses

Connects by

MCP, API, CLI, SDK

Agent payments

None found

Driven 28 Oct 2026

From finding it to leaving

What an agent managed without a person, at each step.

  1. Find

    On its own

    Docs it can act on: an OpenAPI and an MCP server. 586 doc pages read.

  2. Get in

    Stopped here
    Stopped

    Can't sign up. The only sign-up form needs a visible "I'm not a robot" checkbox.

  3. Use

    Not reached

    Tasks need an account.

  4. Pay

    Not reached

    Buying needs an account.

  5. Leave

    Not reached

    Nothing to cancel or delete.

Getting in

None of the 3 ways in worked without a person.

How agents get past bot checks

Where it stopped

Runs locally, no account

The only sign-up form needs a visible "I'm not a robot" checkbox.

  • Both kinds of agentOn a server, or in its own browserNoSigning up needs a person: it asks for a bot check.
  • Signed agentKnown to CloudflareNoThe sign-up page opens. The CAPTCHA on the form stops them too.

Every way in

Way inWhat happenedWhy
Runs locally, no accountStopped
Email and codeStopped by a CAPTCHA
Sign-in for apps (OAuth, MCP)Not triedNot part of this drive

What an agent can do with Starburst

No task was tried: our agent couldn't get into Starburst.

Core tasks Starburst offers an agent

  • offered, not tried
  • Run a federated SQL query across 50+ sourcesAPI
  • Connect a data source as a catalogWeb app
  • List databases and read their schema across connected sourcesAPI
  • Land Kafka topics into query-ready Iceberg tablesWeb app
  • Land S3 files into query-ready Iceberg tablesWeb app
  • Automatically compact and clean up Iceberg tablesWeb app
  • Ask a natural-language question over governed dataMCP
  • Run a query or call the API or MCP serverAll of them need an account.
  • Start the self-hosted editionIt needs a license that only sales hands out.
  • Create an API tokenTokens are documented as made only in the web app.
12 more tasks it offers
  • Define a Data Product as YAML and version it in gitWeb app
  • Set row-level security and column masking on dataWeb app
  • Read the audit log of queries and accessWeb app
  • Run a BI tool (Tableau, Power BI) against the semantic layerAPI
  • Configure partitioning and sorting for ingested tablesWeb app
  • Set a snapshot retention/expiration policyWeb app
  • Monitor table health and storage savingsWeb app
  • Run a cluster in accelerated (Warp Speed) or fault-tolerant execution modeWeb app
  • Autoscale cluster compute with workloadWeb app
  • Explore adopted dbt, Airbyte and Python client integrations
  • Provision users with SCIM and SSOWeb app
  • Connect through AWS PrivateLink for private connectivityWeb app

Surface audit: 221 documented operations, 0 run, 0 passed, 219 blocked (sandbox or plan limits), 2 left out to stay safe.

How an agent connects

MCP, API, OpenAPI, CLI and SDK found.

The standards

  • MCP server

    Listed, not tested

    Official server. Hosted per account; tools not listed in the docs.

    1 tool across its docs

  • API

    Listed, not tested

    REST, 210 operations across v1 and v2.

    211 operations across its docs

  • OpenAPI

    Yes

    3.0.1, public without an account.

  • CLI

    Listed, not tested

    Trino CLI.

    1 command across its docs

  • SDK

    Listed, not tested

    trino Python client, PyStarburst, JDBC/ODBC, Terraform.

    4 methods across its docs

  • llms.txt

    None found

  • Agent payments

    None found

    The checkout wasn't reached: Pro, $0.50 a call.

  • Docs

    In part

    Covers getting started, auth and error codes.

    Code examples on only some pages.

    docs.starburst.io

    586 of 1,464 pages read

Tips for agent builders

From this drive

3 tips
  1. Read the API from https://galaxy.starburst.io/public/openapi/v1/json; it needs no account
  2. API calls need a bearer token from POST https://<account>.galaxy.starburst.io/oauth/v2/token with an API auth token's client ID and secret (grant_type=client_credentials); it lasts 10 minutes
  3. The MCP server is https://<account-name>.mcp.galaxy.starburst.io.

How Starburst compares

In Data warehouses

2 of the 7 products we drove in Data warehouses are higher; 4 others share L1.

ProductLevelFind to leave
ClickHouse CloudL4Find: On its own, Get in: On its own, Use: On its own, Pay: Card checkout, Leave: On its own.
MotherDuckL4Find: On its own, Get in: On its own, Use: On its own, Pay: Not reached, Leave: On its own.
DatabricksL1Find: On its own, Get in: Stopped, Use: Not reached, Pay: Not reached, Leave: Not reached.
FireboltL1Find: On its own, Get in: Stopped, Use: Not reached, Pay: Not reached, Leave: Not reached.
SnowflakeL1Find: On its own, Get in: Stopped, Use: Not reached, Pay: Not reached, Leave: Not reached.
StarburstL1Find: On its own, Get in: Stopped, Use: Not reached, Pay: Not reached, Leave: Not reached.
TinybirdL1Find: On its own, Get in: Stopped, Use: Not reached, Pay: Not reached, Leave: Not reached.
All 7 in Data warehouses

Sorted by level, then work done, then time to the first call. How we rank

For the team behind Starburst

Agents get stuck at Get in. Prove Starburst is yours, then see where each issue is, read your safety findings and ask for a free drive after a fix. How to fix each one comes with the Audit.

6 things to fix for agents

Agent blockers: 2 foundAgent surfaces: no issues foundSafety review: no issues found

  1. FindClear
  2. Get inBlocks agents
  3. UseNot reached
  4. PayNot reached
  5. LeaveNot reached

Claim Starburst, freeWhat a drive covers

On our standard

18 criteria: against other data warehouses products where we measured 5 or more, otherwise against every product we measured.

All 18 criteria
How each criterion is graded

Where Starburst fits

Category
Wall
Standards
  • MCPtools an agent can call
  • OpenAPIits API, described
Steps
Rivals

Every earlier drive is in the history. Data under CC BY 4.0.

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Questions people ask about Starburst

Can an AI agent sign up for Starburst on its own?
No. Sign-up: needs a human. A bot check from Google reCAPTCHA stopped our agent there. The only sign-up form (www.starburst.io/free-trial/, also where galaxy.starburst.io/signup redirects) has a visible reCAPTCHA v2 checkbox; submitting without it shows "Please complete the reCAPTCHA verification.". Asked for a job role and company name; our agent answered.
Does Starburst have an MCP server, and can an agent connect to it?
Yes. Starburst has an official MCP server. The server is hosted. A new agent can't get in on its own: in the drive of 28 Oct 2026, our agent stopped at sign up (it needs a person).

Cite this page

The page as a reference, in plain text, APA and BibTeX.

Cite this
Plain
AgentDrives, “Starburst: AI agent test drive”, 28 October 2026, https://agentdrives.com/tools/starburst. CC BY 4.0.
APA
AgentDrives. (2026, October 28). Starburst: AI agent test drive. https://agentdrives.com/tools/starburst
BibTeX
@misc{agentdrives_starburst_2026,
  author = {{AgentDrives}},
  title = {Starburst: AI agent test drive},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  url = {https://agentdrives.com/tools/starburst},
  note = {Agent test drive, CC BY 4.0},
}

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