Access Live IBM Cloud Object Storage Data in Emergent via CData Connect AI

Emergent is an AI-powered development platform that lets users describe what they want to build and have an autonomous agent generate full-stack web applications in real time. Agents can connect to external tools and data sources through MCP to retrieve live data and power their outputs.

By integrating Emergent with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server, Emergent agents gain governed, real-time access to live IBM Cloud Object Storage data. This enables agents to query, analyze, and visualize IBM Cloud Object Storage data: either by calling MCP tools directly during a session, or by generating a full application wired to live data, all without manual data exports or custom integration code.

This article outlines the steps to configure IBM Cloud Object Storage connectivity in Connect AI, register the CData MCP Server in Emergent, and interact with live IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Emergent.

Step 1: Configure IBM Cloud Object Storage connectivity for Emergent

Connectivity to IBM Cloud Object Storage from Emergent is made possible through CData Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Emergent, start by creating and configuring a IBM Cloud Object Storage connection in CData Connect AI.

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

2. Select IBM Cloud Object Storage from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage.

   Register a New Instance of Cloud Object Storage

   If you do not already have Cloud Object Storage in your IBM Cloud account, follow the procedure below to install an instance of SQL Query in your account:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the page, choose a name for your instance and click Create. You will be redirected to the instance of Cloud Object Storage you just created.

   Connecting using OAuth Authentication

   There are certain connection properties you need to set before you can connect. You can obtain these as follows:

   API Key

   To connect with IBM Cloud Object Storage, you need an API Key. You can obtain this as follows:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the Platform API Keys page.
   3. On the middle-right corner click "Create an IBM Cloud API Key" to create a new API Key.
   4. In the pop-up window, specify the API Key name and click "Create". Note the API Key as you can never access it again from the dashboard.

   Cloud Object Storage CRN

   If you have multiple accounts, specify the CloudObjectStorageCRN explicitly. To find the appropriate value, you can:

   • Query the Services view. This will list your IBM Cloud Object Storage instances along with the CRN for each.
   • Locate the CRN directly in IBM Cloud. To do so, navigate to your IBM Cloud Dashboard. In the Resource List, Under Storage, select your Cloud Object Storage resource to get its CRN.

   Connecting to Data

   You can now set the following to connect to data:

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • ApiKey: Set this to your API key which was noted during setup.
   • CloudObjectStorageCRN (Optional): Set this to the cloud object storage CRN you want to work with. While the connector attempts to retrieve this automatically, specifying this explicitly is recommended if you have more than Cloud Object Storage account.

   When you connect, the connector completes the OAuth process.

   1. Extracts the access token and authenticates requests.
   2. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
   
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 Emergent. 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 IBM Cloud Object Storage connection configured and a PAT generated, Emergent can now connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage data through Connect AI.

Step 2: Configure Connect AI in Emergent

CData Connect AI can be integrated with Emergent in two ways depending on your account tier. Pro and Enterprise users can register the MCP Server directly in the Emergent UI, while free-tier users can describe the integration in natural language and have Emergent's agent build a connected application automatically.

Method 1: Direct MCP Configuration (Pro/Enterprise)

Pro and Enterprise users can register the CData Connect AI MCP Server directly in the Emergent UI. Once registered, agents in any project can call live IBM Cloud Object Storage data through MCP tools without additional setup.

1. Sign in to Emergent and create an account if you do not already have one
2. Click to start a new project. Enter a Project Name and click Create Project
3. In the project chat window, select your preferred model from the dropdown (e.g., Claude 4.5 Sonnet)
4. Click the Advanced Controls icon and then click Select MCP Tools to open the MCP configuration panel
5. In the Select MCPs to use dialog, click + New MCP Server to add a custom MCP server
6. In the Configure New MCP dialog, fill in the following:
   • MCP Name: cdata-mcp
   • Description: (optional) A brief description of the server
   • JSON Configuration: Paste the following, replacing base64-encode-email-pat with your Base64-encoded email:PAT string:

   {
       "mcpServers": {
           "cdata-mcp": {
               "args": [
                   "-y",
                   "mcp-client",
                   "connect",
                   "https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp"
               ],
               "command": "npx",
               "env": {
                   "MCP_HEADERS": "{\"Authorization\":\"Basic base64-encode-email-pat\"}"
               }
           }
       }
   }
           

   Note: Combine your Connect AI email and PAT in the format email:PAT, then Base64 encode the combined string. For example, given [email protected]:ABC123...XYZ, the value becomes something like: dXNlckBteWRvbWFpbjphSzkvbVB4Mi9Rcjd2TjQ...

   
7. Click Verify and Save to register the MCP server
8. Return to Select MCP Tools and confirm that cdata-mcp is listed and its toggle is enabled. If it is not enabled, toggle it on

With the CData MCP Server registered and enabled, Emergent agents can now query and act on live IBM Cloud Object Storage data through Connect AI in any project.

Query live IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Emergent

With the MCP server configured, start a conversation in the Emergent agent panel to interact with live IBM Cloud Object Storage data.

1. Return to the project chat and enter a prompt to explore your data, for example:
   • List all available catalogs in my cdata-mcp connection.
   • Show the schemas and tables available for IBM Cloud Object Storage.
   • Query the top 5 records from IBM Cloud Object Storage data.
2. The agent calls the CData Connect AI MCP Server and returns live results from IBM Cloud Object Storage data

Method 2: Build an application with natural language (Free)

Free-tier users can direct Emergent to build a full-stack application that connects to the CData Connect AI MCP Server through a natural language prompt. The agent will gather the required endpoint and credentials interactively, then generate a working application wired to live IBM Cloud Object Storage data.

1. Sign in to Emergent and open the chat window
2. Enter a prompt that describes the application you want to build. For example:

   I would like to build a small application that connects to a remote MCP HTTPS server.
   I already have the MCP endpoint URL and the required credentials.
   The application should:
     - Establish a connection to the remote MCP server
     - Authenticate using the provided credentials
     - Retrieve and list all available catalogs from the MCP
   
   Please make sure the credentials are stored securely in a .env file
   and not hardcoded in the application.
           

3. Emergent will prompt you to provide the MCP endpoint URL and authentication credentials. Supply the following values:
   • MCP Endpoint URL: https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp
   • Authorization: Basic base64(email:PAT)
4. The Emergent agent generates a full-stack application that connects to IBM Cloud Object Storage data through Connect AI and renders live results in the App Preview panel.

At this point, Emergent has built an application that communicates with the CData Connect AI MCP Server and retrieves live IBM Cloud Object Storage data, all from a single natural language prompt.

Get CData Connect AI

To access hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect AI today! Sign up for a free 14-day trial of CData Connect AI, and as always, our world-class Support Team is available to assist you with any questions you may have.