Use Microsoft Copilot Studio to talk to your HCL Domino Data via CData Connect AI

Microsoft Copilot Studio is a no-code/low-code platform for creating AI Agents that can automate tasks, answer questions, and assist with various business processes. When combined with CData Connect AI Remote MCP, you can leverage Copilot Studio to interact with your HCL Domino data in real-time. This article outlines the process of connecting to HCL Domino using Connect AI Remote MCP and creating a connection in Copilot Studio to interact with your HCL Domino data.

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 Microsoft Copilot Studio and HCL Domino. This allows you to ask questions and take actions on your HCL Domino data using Microsoft Copilot Studio, 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.

In this article, we show how to build a agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio to conversational explore (or Vibe Query) your data. The connectivity principals apply to any Copilot agent. With Connect AI you can build workflows and agents with access to live HCL Domino data, plus hundreds of other sources.

Step 1: Configure HCL Domino Connectivity for Microsoft Copilot Studio

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

1. Log into Connect AI, click Connections and 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.

   Click Save & Test
4. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add HCL Domino Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, we are ready to connect to HCL Domino data from Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Step 2: Connect Microsoft Copilot Studio to CData Connect AI

Follow these steps to add a CData Connect AI MCP connection in Microsoft Copilot Studio:

1. Under Tools, click Add tool, then click + New Tool.
2. In the Add Tool window, search for and click CData Connect AI.
3. In the Connect to CData Connect AI window, click Create to authenticate your connection CData Connect AI using OAuth authentication.
4. Click Add and configure to add the CData Connect AI Tool to your agent.

Optional: Give the AI Agent context

This step establishes the AI Agent's role and provides context for the conversation through the Instructions property in the Agent. By providing instructions that explicitly informs the agent about its role as an MCP Server expert and lists the available tools, you can enhance the agent's understanding and response accuracy. For example, you can set the System Message to:

You are an expert at using the MCP Client tool connected which is the CData Connect AI MCP Server. Always search thoroughly and use the most relevant MCP Client tool for each query. Below are the available tools and a description of each:
queryData: Execute SQL queries against connected data sources and retrieve results. When you use the queryData tool, ensure you use the following format for the table name: catalog.schema.tableName
getCatalogs: Retrieve a list of available connections from CData Connect AI. The connection names should be used as catalog names in other tools and in any queries to CData Connect AI. Use the `getSchemas` tool to get a list of available schemas for a specific catalog.
getSchemas: Retrieve a list of available database schemas from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog. Use the `getTables` tool to get a list of available tables for a specific catalog and schema.
getTables: Retrieve a list of available database tables from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog and schema. Use the `getColumns` tool to get a list of available columns for a specific table.
getColumns: Retrieve a list of available database columns from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog, schema, and table.
getProcedures: Retrieve a list of stored procedures from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog and schema
getProcedureParameters: Retrieve a list of stored procedure parameters from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog, schema, and procedure.
executeProcedure: Execute stored procedures with parameters against connected data sources
  

Step 3: Explore Live HCL Domino Data with Microsoft Copilot Studio

With the Agent created in Microsoft Copilot Studio and the MCP tool connected, you can now interact with your HCL Domino data using Microsoft Copilot Studio. The MCP tool allows you to send queries and receive responses from the HCL Domino data source in real-time.

Open the chat window in your Microsoft Copilot Studio Agent to begin interacting with your HCL Domino data. You can ask questions, retrieve data, and perform actions on your HCL Domino data using the MCP tool:

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