Build Amazon Athena-Powered Applications in Gemini Code Assist with CData Code Assist MCP

Gemini Code Assist is an AI-powered coding companion that integrates intelligent code generation into everyday development workflows. With support for MCP, Gemini Code Assist can connect to live enterprise data sources directly from Visual Studio Code, enabling natural language interaction with structured data without switching context or manually writing data access code.

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting LLM clients to external services through structured tool interfaces. MCP servers expose capabilities such as schema discovery and live querying, allowing AI agents to retrieve and reason over real-time data safely and consistently.

This guide walks through installing the CData Code Assist MCP for Amazon Athena, configuring the connection to Amazon Athena, connecting the Code Assist MCP add-on to Gemini Code Assist, and querying live Amazon Athena data from within the editor.

Getting Started

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Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure the following requirements are met:

1. Visual Studio Code is installed on the machine
2. Gemini Code Assist extension is enabled in Visual Studio Code
3. CData Code Assist MCP for Amazon Athena has been installed
4. Access to Amazon Athena

Note: Gemini Code Assist must already be set up and functional in Visual Studio Code before configuring MCP servers. MCP servers are accessed when Gemini Code Assist is running in Agent mode.

Step 1: Download and install the CData Code Assist MCP for Amazon Athena

1. To begin, download the CData Code Assist MCP for Amazon Athena
2. Find and double-click the installer to begin the installation
3. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation

When the installation is complete, the Code Assist MCP add-on is ready for configuration by connecting to Amazon Athena.

Step 2: Configure the connection to Amazon Athena

1. After installation, open the CData Code Assist MCP for Amazon Athena configuration wizard

   NOTE: If the wizard does not open automatically, search for "CData Code Assist MCP for Amazon Athena" in the Windows search bar and open the application.

   
2. In MCP Configuration > Configuration Name, either select an existing configuration or choose to create a new one
3. Name the configuration (e.g. "cdata_amazonathena") and click OK

4. Enter the appropriate connection properties in the configuration wizard

   Authenticating to Amazon Athena

   To authorize Amazon Athena requests, provide the credentials for an administrator account or for an IAM user with custom permissions: Set AccessKey to the access key Id. Set SecretKey to the secret access key.

   Note: Though you can connect as the AWS account administrator, it is recommended to use IAM user credentials to access AWS services.

   Obtaining the Access Key

   To obtain the credentials for an IAM user, follow the steps below:

   1. Sign into the IAM console.
   2. In the navigation pane, select Users.
   3. To create or manage the access keys for a user, select the user and then select the Security Credentials tab.

   To obtain the credentials for your AWS root account, follow the steps below:

   1. Sign into the AWS Management console with the credentials for your root account.
   2. Select your account name or number and select My Security Credentials in the menu that is displayed.
   3. Click Continue to Security Credentials and expand the Access Keys section to manage or create root account access keys.

   Authenticating from an EC2 Instance

   If you are using the CData Data Provider for Amazon Athena 2018 from an EC2 Instance and have an IAM Role assigned to the instance, you can use the IAM Role to authenticate. To do so, set UseEC2Roles to true and leave AccessKey and SecretKey empty. The CData Data Provider for Amazon Athena 2018 will automatically obtain your IAM Role credentials and authenticate with them.

   Authenticating as an AWS Role

   In many situations it may be preferable to use an IAM role for authentication instead of the direct security credentials of an AWS root user. An AWS role may be used instead by specifying the RoleARN. This will cause the CData Data Provider for Amazon Athena 2018 to attempt to retrieve credentials for the specified role. If you are connecting to AWS (instead of already being connected such as on an EC2 instance), you must additionally specify the AccessKey and SecretKey of an IAM user to assume the role for. Roles may not be used when specifying the AccessKey and SecretKey of an AWS root user.

   Authenticating with MFA

   For users and roles that require Multi-factor Authentication, specify the MFASerialNumber and MFAToken connection properties. This will cause the CData Data Provider for Amazon Athena 2018 to submit the MFA credentials in a request to retrieve temporary authentication credentials. Note that the duration of the temporary credentials may be controlled via the TemporaryTokenDuration (default 3600 seconds).

   Connecting to Amazon Athena

   In addition to the AccessKey and SecretKey properties, specify Database, S3StagingDirectory and Region. Set Region to the region where your Amazon Athena data is hosted. Set S3StagingDirectory to a folder in S3 where you would like to store the results of queries.

   If Database is not set in the connection, the data provider connects to the default database set in Amazon Athena.

   
5. Click Connect to authenticate with Amazon Athena
6. Then, click Save Configuration to save the Code Assist MCP add-on

This process creates a .mcp configuration file that Gemini Code Assist will reference when launching the Code Assist MCP add-on. With the Code Assist MCP add-on configured, it is ready to connect to Gemini Code Assist.

Step 3: Connect the Code Assist MCP add-on to Gemini Code Assist

1. Ensure Visual Studio Code is installed and the Gemini Code Assist extension is enabled
2. From the configuration wizard, click Next after saving and testing the connection
3. Select Gemini Code Assist from the AI MCP Tool dropdown
4. Click Copy JSON to copy the generated MCP configuration to the clipboard
5. Paste the copied JSON into the appropriate configuration file based on the desired scope:
   • User-level: Configuration applies across all projects for the current user
   • Workspace-level: Configuration applies only to the current workspace or project

   NOTE: The configuration includes the path to Java 17+ executable and the CData Code Assist MCP add-on JAR file. The final argument must match the MCP configuration name saved in the wizard (e.g. "cdata_amazonathena").

6. Save the configuration file and restart Visual Studio Code if necessary

Step 4: Query live Amazon Athena data in Gemini Code Assist

1. Open Visual Studio Code and select Gemini Code Assist in the activity bar
2. Enter /mcp in the chat prompt to verify the connection status. The Amazon Athena Code Assist MCP add-on should appear with a green connection indicator
3. Ask questions about Amazon Athena data using natural language. For example:

   "Provide the list of all tables available in my Amazon Athena data connection."

   
4. Generate code that works with live Amazon Athena data. For example:

   "Write a function to retrieve records from the Customers table where Name matches a given value."

   

Gemini Code Assist is now fully integrated with the CData Code Assist MCP add-on and can use the MCP tools exposed to explore schemas, execute live queries against Amazon Athena, and generate data-aware code.

Build with Code Assist MCP. Deploy with CData Drivers.

Download Code Assist MCP for free and give your AI tools schema-aware access to live Amazon Athena data during development. When you're ready to move to production, CData Amazon Athena Drivers deliver the same SQL-based access with enterprise-grade performance, security, and reliability.

Visit the CData Community to share insights, ask questions, and explore what's possible with MCP-powered AI workflows.