Prerequisites
Before you can configure and use GitHub Copilot with Connect AI, you must do the following:- Connect a data source to your Connect AI account. See Sources for more information.
- Install and enable GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code (or any IDE supporting GitHub Copilot).
- Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) on the Settings page. Copy this down, as it acts as your password during authentication.
-
Base64-encode your Connect AI credentials in the following format:
Base64("email:PAT").
Connect GitHub Copilot to the Connect AI MCP
1
Create a folder named
.vscode in your project repository. Within this folder, create a file named mcp.json and add the following configuration. Replace YOUR_BASE64_ENCODED_EMAIL:PAT with the Base64-encoded value of email:PAT that you created in the prerequisites.2
Click Start within your IDE to start the MCP server. If the MCP server starts without error, it displays Running.

3
Toggle Chat in the title bar to display the Chat pane on the right.

4
Click Add Context in the bottom of the Chat pane. In the search bar, select Tools. Then search for CData. Add cdata-mcp All Tools.

Chat with GitHub Copilot
You can now chat with GitHub Copilot and issue contextual prompts. As a test, you can provide the MCP server with a simple prompt, such as a list of tables for a particular connection. GitHub Copilot uses the Connect AI tools such asgetCatalogs, getSchemas, and getTables to retrieve data from the connected data source.
