How to integrate Metabase with Harvest Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect AI, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live Harvest data. This article describes how to connect to Harvest and build a simple visualization using Harvest data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Harvest, allowing you to easily integrate with live Harvest data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Harvest, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Harvest data.

Configure Harvest Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to Harvest from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Harvest data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a Harvest connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Harvest" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Harvest.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Harvest Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Harvest.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Harvest (see below).

   Harvest API Profile Settings

   To authenticate to Harvest, you can use either Token authentication or the OAuth standard. Use Basic authentication to connect to your own data. Use OAuth to allow other users to connect to their data.

   Using Token Authentication

   To use Token Authentication, set the APIKey to your Harvest Personal Access Token in the ProfileSettings connection property. In addition to APIKey, set your AccountId in ProfileSettings to connect.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   First, register an OAuth2 application with Harvest. The application can be created from the "Developers" section of Harvest ID.

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • ProfileSettings: Set your AccountId in ProfileSettings.
   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client ID that you specified in your app settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret that you specified in your app settings.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that you specified in your app settings.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage how the driver obtains and refreshes the OAuthAccessToken.
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Harvest Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the 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 and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Harvest data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect AI from Metabase

After creating the connection in Connect AI, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect AI.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect AI and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "Harvest (Connect AI)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. API1)
   • Username: A Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected])
   • Password: The PAT previously created
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)
   

Execute Harvest Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect AI, you can query Harvest and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the Harvest data
2. Write a SQL query based on the Harvest connection in CData Connect AI, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Id, ClientName FROM Invoices WHERE State = 'open'

   
3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from Harvest data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live Harvest data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to Harvest (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Harvest data in Metabase today.