Build Odoo-Powered Applications in GitHub Copilot with CData Code Assist MCP
GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that integrates directly into Visual Studio Code and other IDEs. With support for MCP, GitHub Copilot can connect to local tools and enterprise data sources, enabling natural language interaction with live systems during development.
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting LLM clients to external services through structured tool interfaces. MCP servers expose capabilities such as schema discovery and live querying, allowing AI agents to retrieve and reason over real-time data safely and consistently.
In this article, we guide you through installing the CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo, configuring the connection to Odoo, connecting the Code Assist MCP add-on to GitHub Copilot, and querying live Odoo data from within Visual Studio Code.
About Odoo Data Integration
Accessing and integrating live data from Odoo has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:
- Access live data from both Odoo API 8.0+ and Odoo.sh Cloud ERP.
-
Extend the native Odoo features with intelligent handling of many-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many data properties. CData's connectivity solutions also intelligently handle complex data properties within Odoo. In addition to columns with simple values like text and dates, there are also columns that contain multiple values on each row. The driver decodes these kinds of values differently, depending upon the type of column the value comes from:
- Many-to-one columns are references to a single row within another model. Within CData solutions, many-to-one columns are represented as integers, whose value is the ID to which they refer in the other model.
- Many-to-many columns are references to many rows within another model. Within CData solutions, many-to-many columns are represented as text containing a comma-separated list of integers. Each value in that list is the ID of a row that is being referenced.
- One-to-many columns are references to many rows within another model - they are similar to many-to-many columns (comma-separated lists of integers), except that each row in the referenced model must belong to only one in the main model.
- Use SQL stored procedures to call server-side RFCs within Odoo.
Users frequently integrate Odoo with analytics tools such as Power BI and Qlik Sense, and leverage our tools to replicate Odoo data to databases or data warehouses.
Getting Started
Prerequisites
- Visual Studio Code is installed on your machine
- GitHub Copilot Chat extension is enabled in Visual Studio Code
- CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo has been installed
Step 1: Download and install the CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo
- To begin, download the CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo
- Find and double-click the installer to begin the installation
- Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation
When the installation is complete, you are ready to configure your Code Assist MCP add-on by connecting to Odoo.
Step 2: Configure the connection to Odoo
- After installation, open the CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo configuration wizard
NOTE: If the wizard does not open automatically, search for "CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo" in the Windows search bar and open the application.
- In MCP Configuration > Configuration Name, either select an existing configuration or choose
to create a new one
- Name the configuration (e.g. "cdata_odoo") and click OK
-
Enter the appropriate connection properties in the configuration wizard
To connect, set the Url to a valid Odoo site, User and Password to the connection details of the user you are connecting with, and Database to the Odoo database.
- Click Connect to authenticate with Odoo
- Click Save & Test to finalize the connection
This process creates a .mcp configuration file that GitHub Copilot will reference when launching the Code Assist MCP add-on. Now with your Code Assist MCP add-on configured, you are ready to connect it to GitHub Copilot.
Step 3: Connect the Code Assist MCP add-on to GitHub Copilot
- Download and install Visual Studio Code and enable the GitHub Copilot Chat extension
- Open or create the mcp.json file:
- For global configuration: %%APPDATA%%/Roaming/Code/User/mcp.json
- For project-specific configuration:
/.vscode/mcp.json
- Add the JSON code shown below and save the file
- After saving and testing your connection in the configuration wizard, click Next
- Select Github Copilot from the AI MCP Tool dropdown
- Follow the MCP Client Instructions to create the required configuration file
- Copy the displayed JSON code and paste it into your configuration file
Option 1: Manually add the MCP configuration
{
"servers": {
"cdata_odoo": {
"command": "C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo\jre\bin\java.exe",
"args": [
"-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8",
"-jar",
"C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo\lib\cdata.mcp.odoo.jar",
"cdata_odoo"
]
}
}
}
NOTE: The command value should point to your Java 17+ java.exe executable, and the JAR path should point to the installed CData Code Assist MCP add-on .jar file. The final argument must match the MCP configuration name you saved in the CData configuration wizard (e.g. "cdata_odoo").
Option 2: Copy the MCP configuration from the CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo UI
Step 4: Query live Odoo data in GitHub Copilot
- Launch Visual Studio Code and open the GitHub Copilot Chat interface. Select the tool icon to enable the configured Code Assist MCP add-on
- Ask questions about your Odoo data using natural language. For example:
"List all tables available in my Odoo data data connection."
- Start building with natural language prompts:
For my project, data from the res_users is very important. Pull data from the most important columns like name and email.
GitHub Copilot is now fully integrated with CData Code Assist MCP for Odoo and can use the MCP tools to explore schemas and execute live queries against Odoo.
Build with Code Assist MCP. Deploy with CData Drivers.
Download Code Assist MCP for free and give your AI tools schema-aware access to live Odoo data during development. When you're ready to move to production, CData Odoo Drivers deliver the same SQL-based access with enterprise-grade performance, security, and reliability.
Visit the CData Community to share insights, ask questions, and explore what's possible with MCP-powered AI workflows.