How to Access Live Jira Service Management Data in Visual Studio Code via Cline

Cline is an autonomous coding agent right in your IDE, capable of creating/editing files, running commands, using the browser, and more with your permission every step of the way. When paired with the CData MCP Server for Jira Service Management, you get live access to CRM data within your IDE, enabling you to build, test, and validate data-driven features using real-time schema and records without ever leaving your development environment.

This article outlines how to run the CData MCP Server for Jira Service Management on WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and connect to it from the Cline extension in Visual Studio Code on Windows.

Background

CData MCP Servers are typically designed for clients like Claude Desktop. However, when attempting to use the server via the Cline extension in Windows VS Code, the following error occurred:

MCP error -32000: Connection closed

This issue is suspected to be caused by I/O handling problems in the stdio transport implementation on the Windows version of the Cline extension.

• Related GitHub Issue: https://github.com/cline/cline/issues/3464
• Additionally, environment variables such as PATH may not be inherited correctly when launching processes like Java or Node.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code installed on Windows
• Cline extension installed and configured in VS Code
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) installed with a working Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu)
• Java 21+ JRE installed in WSL
• CData MCP Server for Jira Service Management installed on Windows

Step 1: Authenticate with Jira Service Management (on Windows)

Before running the MCP Server in WSL, you must complete authentication flow in a Windows environment. This ensures all necessary credentials are generated and stored properly. Find and run the "CData MCP Server for Jira Service Management" or execute the MCP Server JAR file to open the configuration wizard.

java -jar "C:\Program Files\CData\CData MCP Server for Jira Service Management 2024\lib\cdata.mcp.jiraservicedesk.jar"

Connecting to Jira Service Management

You can establish a connection to any Jira Service Desk Cloud account or Server instance.

Connecting with a Cloud Account

To connect to a Cloud account, you'll first need to retrieve an APIToken. To generate one, log in to your Atlassian account and navigate to API tokens > Create API token. The generated token will be displayed.

Supply the following to connect to data:

• User: Set this to the username of the authenticating user.
• APIToken: Set this to the API token found previously.

Connecting with a Service Account

To authenticate with a service account, supply the following connection properties:

• User: Set this to the username of the authenticating user.
• Password: Set this to the password of the authenticating user.
• URL: Set this to the URL associated with your JIRA Service Desk endpoint. For example, https://yoursitename.atlassian.net.

Note: Password has been deprecated for connecting to a Cloud Account and is now used only to connect to a Server Instance.

Accessing Custom Fields

By default, the connector only surfaces system fields. To access the custom fields for Issues, set IncludeCustomFields.

Configuring the CData MCP Server

Name your MCP Server (e.g. cdatajiraservicedesk), enter the required connection properties, and click "Connect."

Upon successful connection, the following directory and files will be created:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\CData\jiraservicedesk Provider\
 |-- cdatajiraservicedesk.mcp
 |-- (other supporting config files)

Step 2: Copy the MCP Server Configuration into WSL

Next, copy the entire configuration folder from Windows into your WSL environment.

mkdir -p ~/.config/CData/
cp -r /mnt/c/Users/<username>/AppData/Roaming/CData/"jiraservicedesk Provider" ~/.config/CData/

Ensure the destination path matches exactly: ~/.config/CData/jiraservicedesk Provider/.

Step 3: Install the MCP Server on WSL

Install Java and place the MCP Server JAR in the desired location within WSL:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openjdk-21-jre-headless
sudo mkdir -p /opt/cdata/mcp_jiraservicedesk/lib
sudo cp /mnt/c/Program\ Files/CData/CData\ MCP\ Server\ for\ Jira Service Management\ 2024/lib/cdata.mcp.jiraservicedesk.jar /opt/cdata/mcp_jiraservicedesk/lib/

Step 4: Configure Cline

Now, configure the Cline extension to launch the MCP Server inside WSL using the wsl command.

Create or update cline_mcp_settings.json with the following content:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cdatajiraservicedesk": {
      "autoApprove": ["*"],
      "disabled": false,
      "timeout": 60,
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "wsl",
      "args": [
        "-d",
        "Ubuntu", // Replace with your installed WSL distro name
        "--",
        "/usr/bin/java",
        "-jar",
        "/opt/cdata/mcp_jiraservicedesk/lib/cdata.mcp.jiraservicedesk.jar",
        "cdatajiraservicedesk"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS": "-Xmx2g"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace Ubuntu with your actual WSL distribution name (e.g., Ubuntu-22.04). Run wsl -l in PowerShell or CMD to confirm.

Step 5: Interact with Live Data in Cline

From within Visual Studio Code, you can now run MCP commands through the Cline extension.

cdatajiraservicedesk_get_tables
cdatajiraservicedesk_get_columns Requests

If configured correctly, these commands will return a list of available Jira Service Management objects and metadata, allowing you to interact with your CRM schema in real time.

Try natural language prompts like:

• "Generate a React form to create a new Jira Service Management Lead."
• "Write a Python function to pull Opportunities closed this quarter."

Connect your AI to your data today!

CData MCP Servers make it easier than ever for LLMs to work with live enterprise data. To explore the technology hands-on, download a free, 30-day trial or visit the CData Community to share insights, ask questions, and help shape the future of enterprise-ready AI.