Query Freshdesk Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

You can use CData Connect Cloud to query Freshdesk data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Freshdesk in Connect Cloud and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Freshdesk, allowing you to easily query live Freshdesk data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Freshdesk, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Freshdesk data.

Configure Freshdesk Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to Freshdesk from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Freshdesk data from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a Freshdesk connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Freshdesk" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Freshdesk.

   FreshDesk makes use of basic authentication. To connect to data, set the following connection properties:

   • Domain: Set this to the domain associated with your FreshDesk account. For example, in your URL: https://my_domain.freshdesk.com.
   • APIKey: Set this to the API key associated with your FreshDesk account. To retrieve your API key, Log into your support Portal -> Click on profile picture in the top right corner -> profile settings page. The API key will be available below the change password section to the right.
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Freshdesk Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Freshdesk data from Node.js.

Query Freshdesk from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Freshdesk with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

• server: tds.cdata.com
• port: 14333
• user: a Connect Cloud user (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
• password: the PAT for the above user
• database: The connection you configured for Freshdesk (FreshDesk1)

Connect to Freshdesk data and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: 'user@mydomain.com', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'FreshDesk1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
    if(err){
        throw err ;
    }
    new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM Tickets', (err, result) => {
        console.dir(result)
    })
        
});

sql.on('error', err => {
    console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})