Integrating LangChain with Jira Data via CData Connect AI

Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Leverage the CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server to enable LangChain agents to securely access and act on Jira data within automated workflows.

LangChain is a framework used by developers, data engineers, and AI practitioners for building AI-powered applications and workflows by combining reasoning models (LLMs), tools, APIs, and data connectors. By integrating LangChain with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP Server, workflows can effortlessly access and interact with live Jira data in real time.

CData Connect AI offers a secure, low-code environment to connect Jira and other data sources, removing the need for complex ETL and enabling seamless automation across business applications with live data.

This article outlines how to configure Jira connectivity in CData Connect AI, register the MCP server with LangChain, and build a workflow that queries Jira data in real time.

Prerequisites

About Jira Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live Jira data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

  • Gain bi-directional access to their Jira objects like issues, projects, and workflows.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to perform functional actions like changing issues status, creating custom fields, download or uploading an attachment, modifying or retrieving time tracking settings, and more.
  • Authenticate securely using a variety of methods, including username and password, OAuth, personal access token, API token, Crowd or OKTA SSO, LDAP, and more.

Most users leverage CData solutions to integrate Jira data with their database or data warehouse, whether that's using CData Sync directly or relying on CData's compatibility with platforms like SSIS or Azure Data Factory. Others are looking to get analytics and reporting on live Jira data from preferred analytics tools like Tableau and Power BI.

Learn more about how customers are seamlessly connecting to their Jira data to solve business problems from our blog: Drivers in Focus: Collaboration Tools.


Getting Started


Step 1: Configure Jira Connectivity for LangChain

Before LangChain can access Jira, a Jira connection must be created in CData Connect AI. This connection is then exposed to LangChain through the remote MCP server.

  1. Log in to Connect AI click Sources, and then click + Add Connection
  2. From the available data sources, choose Jira
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Jira

    To connect to JIRA, provide the User and Password. Additionally, provide the Url; for example, https://yoursitename.atlassian.net.

  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Once authenticated, open the Permissions tab in the Jira connection and configure user-based permissions as required

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

LangChain authenticates to Connect AI using an account email and a Personal Access Token (PAT). Creating separate PATs for each integration is recommended to maintain access control granularity.

  1. In Connect AI, select the Gear icon in the top-right to open Settings
  2. Under Access Tokens, select Create PAT
  3. Provide a descriptive name for the token and select Create
  4. Copy the token and store it securely. The PAT will only be visible during creation

With the Jira connection configured and a PAT generated, LangChain is prepared to connect to Jira data through the CData MCP server.

Note: You can also generate a PAT from LangChain in the Integrations section of Connect AI. Simply click Connect --> Create PAT to generate it.

Step 2: Connect to the MCP server in LangChain

To connect LangChain with CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server and use OpenAI (ChatGPT) for reasoning, you need to configure your MCP server endpoint and authentication values in a config.py file. These values allow LangChain to call the MCP server tools, while OpenAI handles the natural language reasoning.

  1. Create a folder for LangChain MCP
  2. Create two Python files within the folder: config.py and langchain.py
  3. In config.py, create a class Config to define your MCP server authentication and URL. You need to provide your Base64-encoded CData Connect AI username and PAT (obtained in the prerequisites):
     
    class Config: 
    
          MCP_BASE_URL = "https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp"   #MCP Server URL 
          MCP_AUTH = "base64encoded(EMAIL:PAT)"   #Base64 encoded Connect AI Email:PAT 
    

    Note: You can create the base64 encoded version of MCP_AUTH using any Base64 encoding tool.

  4. In langchain.py, set up your MCP server and MCP client to call the tools and prompts:
     
    """ 
    Integrates a LangChain ReAct agent with CData Connect AI MCP server. 
    The script demonstrates fetching, filtering, and using tools with an LLM for agent-based reasoning. 
    """ 
    
    import asyncio 
    from langchain_mcp_adapters.client import MultiServerMCPClient 
    from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI 
    from langgraph.prebuilt import create_react_agent 
    from config import Config 
    
    async def main(): 
    
    # Initialize MCP client with one or more server URLs
    mcp_client = MultiServerMCPClient( 
      connections={ 
        "default": { # you can name this anything 
        "transport": "streamable_http", 
        "url": Config.MCP_BASE_URL, 
        "headers": {"Authorization": f"Basic {Config.MCP_AUTH}"}, 
        } 
      } 
    ) 
    
    # Load remote MCP tools exposed by the server 
    all_mcp_tools = await mcp_client.get_tools() 
    print("Discovered MCP tools:", [tool.name for tool in all_mcp_tools]) 
    
    # Create and run the ReAct style agent 
    llm = ChatOpenAI( 
      model="gpt-4o",  
      temperature=0.2, 
      api_key="YOUR_OPEN_API_KEY" #Use your OpenAI API Key here, this can be found here: https://platform.openai.com/ 
    ) 
    
    agent = create_react_agent(llm, all_mcp_tools) 
    
    user_prompt = "How many tables are available in JIRA1?" #Change prompts as per need 
    print(f"
    User prompt: {user_prompt}") 
    
    # Send a prompt asking the agent to use the MCP tools 
    response = await agent.ainvoke( 
      { "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": (user_prompt),}]} 
    ) 
    
    # Print out the agent's final response 
    final_msg = response["messages"][-1].content 
    print("Agent final response:", final_msg) 
    
    if __name__ == "__main__": 
    
    asyncio.run(main()) 
    

Step 3: Install the LangChain and LangGraph packages

Since this workflow uses LangChain together with CData Connect AI MCP and integrates OpenAI for reasoning, you need to install the required Python packages.

Run the following command in your project terminal:

 
pip install langchain-mcp-adapters langchain-openai langgraph 

Step 4: Prompt Jira using LangChain (via the MCP server)

  1. When the installation finishes, run python langchain.py to execute the script
  2. The script connects to the MCP server and discovers the CData Connect AI MCP tools available for querying your connected data
  3. Supply a prompt (e.g., "How many tables are available in Jira?")
  4. Accordingly, the agent responds with the results

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