Integrate Open WebUI with Live HubDB Data via CData Connect AI

Open WebUI is an open-source, self-hosted AI chat platform that brings together hosted LLM APIs and locally served models under a single, customizable interface. It supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) through its tool server framework, allowing you to configure external tools and data sources so that chats can reach beyond the model's training data and interact with live systems.

By integrating Open WebUI with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP Server, Open WebUI gains governed, real-time access to live HubDB data. This enables users to list catalogs, explore schemas, and query records from HubDB data using natural language prompts, with all data access running securely against authorized sources.

This article explains how to configure HubDB connectivity in Connect AI, generate the required personal access token, install Open WebUI, register the Connect AI MCP Server, configure an LLM provider, and verify the integration by querying live HubDB data from the Open WebUI chat interface.

Step 1: Configure HubDB connectivity for Open WebUI

Connectivity to HubDB from Open WebUI is made possible through Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with HubDB data from Open WebUI, start by creating and configuring a HubDB connection in Connect AI.

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

2. Select HubDB from the Add Connection panel

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

   There are two authentication methods available for connecting to HubDB data source: OAuth Authentication with a public HubSpot application and authentication with a Private application token.

   Using a Custom OAuth App

   AuthScheme must be set to "OAuth" in all OAuth flows. Be sure to review the Help documentation for the required connection properties for you specific authentication needs (desktop applications, web applications, and headless machines).

   Follow the steps below to register an application and obtain the OAuth client credentials:

   1. Log into your HubSpot app developer account.
      • Note that it must be an app developer account. Standard HubSpot accounts cannot create public apps.
   2. On the developer account home page, click the Apps tab.
   3. Click Create app.
   4. On the App info tab, enter and optionally modify values that are displayed to users when they connect. These values include the public application name, application logo, and a description of the application.
   5. On the Auth tab, supply a callback URL in the "Redirect URLs" box.
      • If you're creating a desktop application, set this to a locally accessible URL like http://localhost:33333.
      • If you are creating a Web application, set this to a trusted URL where you want users to be redirected to when they authorize your application.
   6. Click Create App. HubSpot then generates the application, along with its associated credentials.
   7. On the Auth tab, note the Client ID and Client secret. You will use these later to configure the driver.

   8. Under Scopes, select any scopes you need for your application's intended functionality.

      A minimum of the following scopes is required to access tables:

      • hubdb
      • oauth
      • crm.objects.owners.read
   9. Click Save changes.
   10. Install the application into a production portal with access to the features that are required by the integration.
       • Under "Install URL (OAuth)", click Copy full URL to copy the installation URL for your application.
       • Navigate to the copied link in your browser. Select a standard account in which to install the application.
       • Click Connect app. You can close the resulting tab.

   Using a Private App

   To connect using a HubSpot private application token, set the AuthScheme property to "PrivateApp."

   You can generate a private application token by following the steps below:

   1. In your HubDB account, click the settings icon (the gear) in the main navigation bar.
   2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Integrations > Private Apps.
   3. Click Create private app.
   4. On the Basic Info tab, configure the details of your application (name, logo, and description).
   5. On the Scopes tab, select Read or Write for each scope you want your private application to be able to access.
   6. A minimum of hubdb and crm.objects.owners.read is required to access tables.
   7. After you are done configuring your application, click Create app in the top right.
   8. Review the info about your application's access token, click Continue creating, and then Show token.
   9. Click Copy to copy the private application token.

   To connect, set PrivateAppToken to the private application token you retrieved.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update user-based permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

A Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI from Open WebUI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each integration to maintain granular access control.

1. Click the gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open Settings
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT
3. Give the PAT a descriptive name and click Create

4. Copy the token when displayed and store it securely. It will not be shown again

With the HubDB connection configured and a PAT generated, Open WebUI can now connect to HubDB data through Connect AI.

Step 2: Install Open WebUI and configure Connect AI MCP

Next, install Open WebUI locally and configure the Connect AI Remote MCP Server as a tool server so that the chat interface can discover and call live data tools through Connect AI.

1. Install Open WebUI by following the official Quick Start guide
2. Once the installation is complete, start Open WebUI and open it in your browser to access the chat interface
3. Click your profile icon in the top right and select Admin Panel
4. In the top navigation bar of the Admin Panel, click Settings
5. Select Integrations from the left menu, then click the icon next to Manage Tool Servers to add a new connection
6. In the Add Connection panel, configure the server with the following values:
   • Type: MCP Streamable HTTP
   • Name: CData MCP, or any name of your choice
   • ID: cdata-mcp
   • URL: https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp
   • Auth: None
7. Expand the Advanced section and paste the following JSON into the Headers field:

   {
       "Authorization": "Basic your_base64_encoded_email_PAT",
       "Content-Type": "application/json"
   }
   		

   Note: Open WebUI will use Basic authentication with Connect AI. Combine your Connect AI user email and the PAT you created earlier in the format email:PAT, base64 encode the combined string, and prefix it with Basic. For example, given [email protected]:ABC123...XYZ789, the Authorization header value becomes something like: Basic dXNlckBkb21haW4uY29tOkFCQzEyMy4uLlhZWjc4OQ==

   
8. Click Save to register the tool server

Enable the MCP server and configure an LLM provider

Open WebUI requires at least one LLM provider to power the chat. Enable the MCP server from the chat input and configure an API key for your preferred provider so the model can interpret prompts and call MCP tools through Connect AI.

1. Return to the chat interface, click the Integrations icon at the bottom of the chat input, select Tools, and toggle CData MCP on to expose the tools to the chat
2. At the top of the chat, click the model selector and choose your preferred LLM provider and model. Add your provider API key when prompted so the model can be used in the chat

With the MCP server and an LLM provider configured, Open WebUI is ready to query live HubDB data through Connect AI.

Step 3: Query live HubDB data from Open WebUI

With the integration complete, use the Open WebUI chat input to interact with live HubDB data through natural language prompts handled by the configured LLM.

1. With the CData MCP server enabled and a model selected, type a prompt in the chat input, for example:
   • List all catalogs in my cdata mcp
   • Show the available schemas and tables for HubDB
   • Query the top 5 records from a table in HubDB data
2. Open WebUI calls the Connect AI MCP Server and returns live results from HubDB data

At this point, your Open WebUI instance communicates with the Connect AI MCP Server and retrieves live HubDB data through remote MCP tools directly from the chat interface.

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