Integrating GitHub Copilot CLI with Microsoft Dataverse data via CData CLI

Justin Floyd
Product Business Analyst

CData CLI gives AI coding agents direct, command-line-native access to CData Drivers across hundreds of data sources, allowing agents to manage licenses, configure connections, run SQL queries, and explore schema metadata, all without leaving the terminal.

GitHub Copilot CLI is the terminal interface for GitHub Copilot, giving developers direct access to an AI agent without leaving the command line. It can autonomously complete multi-step tasks driven by natural language instructions, including reading and modifying files, running shell commands, managing pull requests on GitHub, and delegating work to specialized custom agents. Its support for agent skills and custom instructions makes it well-suited for structured, tool-driven workflows, making it a natural fit for connecting to external data sources through CData CLI.

By describing your data goals in plain language, GitHub Copilot CLI can handle the full setup process, from driver configuration and license activation to connection creation and query execution, without manual intervention at each step.

This article details step-by-step directions for how to connect Microsoft Dataverse data to GitHub Copilot CLI through CData CLI.

Prerequisites

GitHub Copilot CLI installed
CData CLI installed
Access to Microsoft Dataverse

About Microsoft Dataverse Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Microsoft Dataverse (formerly the Common Data Service). Customers use CData connectivity to:

Access both Dataverse Entities and Dataverse system tables to work with exactly the data they need.
Authenticate securely with Microsoft Dataverse in a variety of ways, including Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
Use SQL stored procedures to manage Microsoft Dataverse entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.

CData customers use our Dataverse connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources)or analyze live Dataverse data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).

Getting Started

Step 1: Download the skill (one-time setup)

Always use CData CLI with the official skill.

The official CData CLI Skill is available on GitHub and installs through npx skills in the terminal:
```
npx skills add CDataSoftware/cli-skills
```
Follow the prompts in the terminal to install for GitHub Copilot.

Step 2: Set up the project directory

Create a project directory to contain all project files.

Navigate to the directory within the terminal and start a session with the copilot command:

Step 3: Establish the driver and connection

Describe what you want to accomplish in this session with the CLI and Microsoft Dataverse data.

I would like to build a command line app that connects to Microsoft Dataverse data and checks for updates from Accounts. Make sure to include data from important columns like AccountId and Name.

This prompt automatically loads the skill and kicks off the following process. You can always manually prompt the agent for each of the following steps.

Driver setup: GitHub Copilot CLI checks for an existing CData Microsoft Dataverse driver, or searches and downloads a new one:

```
cdatacli drivers list
```

cdatacli drivers search Microsoft Dataverse

cdatacli drivers download --artifact-id

Activation: Activate the Microsoft Dataverse driver with a single command for a trial or full license:

cdatacli drivers activate Microsoft Dataverse --name "" --email "" --trial

cdatacli drivers activate Microsoft Dataverse --name "" --email "" --key ""

Establish the Microsoft Dataverse connection: Check for existing Microsoft Dataverse connections or create a new one:

```
cdatacli connection list
```

cdatacli connection create --driver Microsoft Dataverse --name  --connectionstring

Create a Microsoft Dataverse skill (if applicable): CData provides driver instructions for popular sources. You can use these to generate a source-specific skill file that guides the agent through best practices for the driver.

Run the following command and save the output to your skills directory, either at the project level or globally. (Note: If you receive a "No instructions available for Microsoft Dataverse" message, no driver instructions exist for this source. You can continue using the main driver skill.)
```
cdatacli drivers skill Microsoft Dataverse > ~/skills/cdata-Microsoft Dataverse/SKILL.md
```

Step 4: Query Microsoft Dataverse data

With the CData driver fully configured, your agent can now execute queries and write code against live Microsoft Dataverse data:

cdatacli query sql --connection  --sql

Query Microsoft Dataverse data directly from your terminal with CData CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI and CData CLI together give your AI coding agent a direct path to live Microsoft Dataverse data without custom middleware, scheduled syncs, or manual setup at each step. Describe your goal in plain language, and the agent handles driver configuration, connection setup, and query execution from start to finish in the terminal.

Download the free CData CLI and start a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Dataverse today.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Microsoft Dataverse Driver to get started:

Download Now

Learn more:

Microsoft Dataverse JDBC Driver

Rapidly create and deploy powerful Java applications that integrate with Microsoft Dataverse.

CData is the data layer that makes AI work in production—live connectivity and replication across hundreds of the most critical enterprise sources, semantic context, and built-in governance. Powering AI for Databricks, Microsoft, Google, Palantir, and 10,000+ customers worldwide.