Use ChatGPT to Talk to Your HCL Domino Data via CData Connect AI

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Leverage the CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server to enable ChatGPT to securely answer questions and take actions on your HCL Domino data for you.

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, launched in November 2022. Based on large language models (LLMs), it enables users to refine and steer conversations through natural language processing. ChatGPT's developer mode, available to Plus and Pro subscribers, provides full Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for connecting to external data sources and tools.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for connecting to HCL Domino data. The CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server enables secure communication between ChatGPT and HCL Domino. This allows you to ask questions and take actions on your HCL Domino data using ChatGPT, all without the need for data replication to a natively supported database. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to HCL Domino. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested HCL Domino data.

Step 1: Configure HCL Domino Connectivity for ChatGPT

Connectivity to HCL Domino from ChatGPT is made possible through CData Connect AI Remote MCP. To interact with HCL Domino data from ChatGPT, we start by creating and configuring a HCL Domino connection in CData Connect AI.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
  2. Select "HCL Domino" from the Add Connection panel
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to HCL Domino.

    Connecting to Domino

    To connect to Domino data, set the following properties:

    • URL: The host name or IP of the server hosting the Domino database. Include the port of the server hosting the Domino database. For example: http://sampleserver:1234/
    • DatabaseScope: The name of a scope in the Domino Web UI. The driver exposes forms and views for the schema governed by the specified scope. In the Domino Admin UI, select the Scopes menu in the sidebar. Set this property to the name of an existing scope.

    Authenticating with Domino

    Domino supports authenticating via login credentials or an Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) OAuth application:

    Login Credentials

    To authenticate with login credentials, set the following properties:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to "OAuthPassword"
    • User: The username of the authenticating Domino user
    • Password: The password associated with the authenticating Domino user

    The driver uses the login credentials to automatically perform an OAuth token exchange.

    EntraID (formerly AzureAD)

    This authentication method uses Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) as an IdP to obtain a JWT token. You need to create a custom OAuth application in Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) and configure it as an IdP. To do so, follow the instructions in the Help documentation. Then set the following properties:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to "EntraID (formerly AzureAD)"
    • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
    • OAuthClientId: The Client ID obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
    • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:33333
    • AzureTenant: The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. Supply either a value in the form companyname.microsoft.com or the tenant ID.

      The tenant ID is the same as the directory ID shown in the Azure Portal's Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) > Properties page.

  4. Click Save & Test

With the connection configured, we are ready to connect to HCL Domino data from ChatGPT.

Step 2: Connect ChatGPT to CData Connect AI

Follow these steps to add a CData Connect AI connector in ChatGPT:

  1. Sign in to ChatGPT with a Plus or Pro subscription.
  2. Navigate to Settings > Connectors.
  3. Under the "Advanced settings" section, toggle on Developer mode.
  4. Once developer mode is enabled, return to the Connectors page and click Create.
  5. Enter a name for the connector (such as Connect AI MCP).
  6. In the Remote MCP server URL field, enter:
    https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp
  7. Set Authentication to "OAuth."
  8. Check I trust this application and click Create
  9. You will be redirected to CData Connect AI's OAuth authorization page. Sign in with your Connect AI credentials.
  10. Review the permissions requested and click Authorize to grant ChatGPT access to your Connect AI resources.
  11. After successful authorization, you will be redirected back to ChatGPT.
  12. The Connect AI MCP Server will now appear in your available connectors list where you can manage the connector and enable/disable actions (tools).

Step 3: Explore Live HCL Domino Data with ChatGPT

  1. Start a new conversation in ChatGPT.
  2. In the tool picker, enable "Developer Mode."
  3. Enable your Connect AI MCP Sever.
  4. You can now start exploring your data with natural language prompts. ChatGPT will use the Connect AI MCP server to query your live HCL Domino data. Example prompts:
    • "Show me all customers from the last 30 days"
    • "What are my top performing products?"
    • "Analyze sales trends for this quarter"
    • "List all active projects and their current status"
    Refer to CData's prompt library for more prompt ideas.
  5. ChatGPT will translate your natural language queries into SQL and execute them against your HCL Domino data through the Connect AI MCP server.

IMPORTANT: ChatGPT's developer mode provides full read/write MCP access. Be cautious when allowing write operations to your HCL Domino data. Always review and confirm any data modifications before allowing them to proceed.

NOTE: Developer mode is in beta and only available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers. Refer to OpenAI's documentation for the latest setup information.

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