Integrate Live AlloyDB Data in the Windsurf IDE via CData Connect AI

Windsurf is an AI-native IDE built around Cascade, an autonomous coding agent that understands project context and executes multi-step tasks directly inside the editor. Cascade supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing the agent to discover and call external tools and data sources without leaving the development environment.

By integrating Windsurf with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP server, the Cascade agent gains governed, real-time access to live AlloyDB data. This enables developers to list catalogs, inspect schemas, and query records from AlloyDB data within the IDE using natural language prompts.

This article explains how to configure AlloyDB connectivity in Connect AI, generate the required personal access token, configure the Connect AI MCP Server in Windsurf, and verify the integration by querying live AlloyDB data from the Cascade chat.

Step 1: Configure AlloyDB connectivity for Windsurf

Connectivity to AlloyDB from Windsurf is made possible through Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with AlloyDB data from Windsurf, start by creating and configuring a AlloyDB connection in Connect AI.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select AlloyDB from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to AlloyDB.

   The following connection properties are usually required in order to connect to AlloyDB.

   • Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the AlloyDB database.
   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.
   • Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.

   You can also optionally set the following:

   • Database: The database to connect to when connecting to the AlloyDB Server. If this is not set, the user's default database will be used.
   • Port: The port of the server hosting the AlloyDB database. This property is set to 5432 by default.

   Authenticating with Standard Authentication

   Standard authentication (using the user/password combination supplied earlier) is the default form of authentication.

   No further action is required to leverage Standard Authentication to connect.

   Authenticating with pg_hba.conf Auth Schemes

   There are additional methods of authentication available which must be enabled in the pg_hba.conf file on the AlloyDB server.

   Find instructions about authentication setup on the AlloyDB Server here.

   Authenticating with MD5 Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to md5.

   Authenticating with SASL Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to scram-sha-256.

   Authenticating with Kerberos

   The authentication with Kerberos is initiated by AlloyDB Server when the ∏ is trying to connect to it. You should set up Kerberos on the AlloyDB Server to activate this authentication method. Once you have Kerberos authentication set up on the AlloyDB Server, see the Kerberos section of the help documentation for details on how to authenticate with Kerberos.

4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update user-based permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

A Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI from Windsurf. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each integration to maintain granular access control.

1. Click the gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open Settings
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT
3. Give the PAT a descriptive name and click Create

4. Copy the token when displayed and store it securely. It will not be shown again

With the AlloyDB connection configured and a PAT generated, Windsurf can now connect to AlloyDB data.

Step 2: Configure Connect AI MCP in Windsurf

Next, configure the Connect AI Remote MCP Server in Windsurf so that the Cascade agent can discover and call live data tools through Connect AI.

1. Download and install the Windsurf IDE
2. Open Windsurf, click your profile icon in the top right, and select Windsurf Settings
3. Under the Cascade section, locate MCP Servers and click Open MCP Registry
4. In the MCP Marketplace, click Add custom MCP in the top right
5. This opens the mcp_config.json file. Paste the following JSON:

   {
       "mcpServers": {
           "cdata-mcp": {
               "serverUrl": "https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp",
               "headers": {
                   "Authorization": "Basic your_base64_encoded_email_PAT",
                   "Content-Type": "application/json"
               }
           }
       }
   }
   		

   Note: Windsurf will use Basic authentication with Connect AI. Combine your Connect AI user email and the PAT you created earlier in the format email:PAT, base64 encode the combined string, and prefix it with Basic. For example, given [email protected]:ABC123...XYZ789, the Authorization header value becomes something like: Basic dXNlckBkb21haW4uY29tOkFCQzEyMy4uLlhZWjc4OQ==

   
6. Save the mcp_config.json file and return to the MCP Registry
7. Under Installed, confirm that cdata-mcp is listed and marked as Enabled

With the MCP server registered and enabled, Windsurf is ready to query live AlloyDB data through Connect AI.

Step 3: Query live AlloyDB data from Windsurf

With the integration complete, use the Cascade chat panel in Windsurf to interact with live AlloyDB data through natural language prompts.

1. On the top bar of Windsurf, switch from Editor to Agent to open a new Cascade chat
2. At the bottom of the chat panel, confirm that the cdata-mcp server is listed and the toggle is enabled
3. Start interacting with the agent by entering prompts like:
   • List all catalogs in my cdata-mcp connection
   • Show the available schemas and tables for AlloyDB
   • Query the top 5 records from a table in AlloyDB data
4. The Cascade agent calls the Connect AI MCP Server and returns live results from AlloyDB data

At this point, your Windsurf IDE communicates with the Connect AI MCP Server and retrieves live AlloyDB data through remote MCP directly from the editor.

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