Build Cvent-Powered Applications in GitHub Copilot with CData Code Assist MCP

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that integrates directly into Visual Studio Code and other IDEs. With support for MCP, GitHub Copilot can connect to local tools and enterprise data sources, enabling natural language interaction with live systems during development.

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.

In this article, we guide you through installing the CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent, configuring the connection to Cvent, connecting the Code Assist MCP add-on to GitHub Copilot, and querying live Cvent data from within Visual Studio Code.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code is installed on your machine
• GitHub Copilot Chat extension is enabled in Visual Studio Code
• CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent has been installed

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

1. To begin, download the CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent
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, you are ready to configure your Code Assist MCP add-on by connecting to Cvent.

Step 2: Configure the connection to Cvent

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

   NOTE: If the wizard does not open automatically, search for "CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent" 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_cvent") and click OK

4. Enter the appropriate connection properties in the configuration wizard

   Before you can authenticate to Cvent, you must create a workspace and an OAuth application.

   Creating a Workspace

   To create a workspace:

   1. Sign into Cvent and navigate to App Switcher (the blue button in the upper right corner of the page) >> Admin.
   2. In the Admin menu, navigate to Integrations >> REST API.
   3. A new tab launches for Developer Management. Click on Manage API Access in the new tab.
   4. Create a Workspace and name it. Select the scopes you would like your developers to have access to. Scopes control what data domains the developer can access.
      • Choose All to allow developers to choose any scope, and any future scopes added to the REST API.
      • Choose Custom to limit the scopes developers can choose for their OAuth apps to selected scopes. To access all tables exposed by the driver, you need to set the following scopes:

        event/attendees:read	event/attendees:write	event/contacts:read
        event/contacts:write	event/custom-fields:read	event/custom-fields:write
        event/events:read	event/events:write	event/sessions:delete
        event/sessions:read	event/sessions:write	event/speakers:delete
        event/speakers:read	event/speakers:write	budget/budget-items:read
        budget/budget-items:write	exhibitor/exhibitors:read	exhibitor/exhibitors:write
        survey/surveys:read	survey/surveys:write

   Creating an OAuth Application

   After you have set up a Workspace and invited them, developers can sign up and create a custom OAuth app. See the Creating a Custom OAuth Application section in the Help documentation for more information.

   Connecting to Cvent

   After creating an OAuth application, set the following connection properties to connect to Cvent:

   • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthClientId: The Client ID associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.
   
5. Click Connect to authenticate with Cvent through OAuth
6. Click Save & Test to finalize the connection

This process creates a .mcp configuration file that GitHub Copilot will reference when launching the Code Assist MCP add-on. Now with your Code Assist MCP add-on configured, you are ready to connect it to GitHub Copilot.

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

1. Download and install Visual Studio Code and enable the GitHub Copilot Chat extension

Option 1: Manually add the MCP configuration

1. Open or create the mcp.json file:
   • For global configuration: %%APPDATA%%/Roaming/Code/User/mcp.json
   • For project-specific configuration: /.vscode/mcp.json
2. Add the JSON code shown below and save the file

{
  "servers": {
    "cdata_cvent": {
      "command": "C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent\jre\bin\java.exe",
      "args": [
        "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8",
        "-jar",
        "C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent\lib\cdata.mcp.cvent.jar",
        "cdata_cvent"
      ]
    }
  }
}

NOTE: The command value should point to your Java 17+ java.exe executable, and the JAR path should point to the installed CData Code Assist MCP add-on .jar file. The final argument must match the MCP configuration name you saved in the CData configuration wizard (e.g. "cdata_cvent").

Option 2: Copy the MCP configuration from the CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent UI

1. After saving and testing your connection in the configuration wizard, click Next
2. Select Github Copilot from the AI MCP Tool dropdown
3. Follow the MCP Client Instructions to create the required configuration file
4. Copy the displayed JSON code and paste it into your configuration file

Step 4: Query live Cvent data in GitHub Copilot

1. Launch Visual Studio Code and open the GitHub Copilot Chat interface. Select the tool icon to enable the configured Code Assist MCP add-on
2. Ask questions about your Cvent data using natural language. For example:

   "List all tables available in my Cvent data data connection."

   
3. Start building with natural language prompts:

   For my project, data from the Events is very important. Pull data from the most important columns like Id and Title.
   

GitHub Copilot is now fully integrated with CData Code Assist MCP for Cvent and can use the MCP tools to explore schemas and execute live queries against Cvent.

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 Cvent data during development. When you're ready to move to production, CData Cvent Drivers deliver the same SQL-based access with enterprise-grade performance, security, and reliability.

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