Build Okta-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 Okta, configuring the connection to Okta, connecting the Code Assist MCP add-on to GitHub Copilot, and querying live Okta data from within Visual Studio Code.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code is installed on your machine
• GitHub Copilot Chat extension is enabled in Visual Studio Code
• CData Code Assist MCP for Okta has been installed

Step 1: Download and install the CData Code Assist MCP for Okta

1. To begin, download the CData Code Assist MCP for Okta
2. Find and double-click the installer to begin the installation
3. 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 Okta.

Step 2: Configure the connection to Okta

1. After installation, open the CData Code Assist MCP for Okta configuration wizard

   NOTE: If the wizard does not open automatically, search for "CData Code Assist MCP for Okta" in the Windows search bar and open the application.

   
2. In MCP Configuration > Configuration Name, either select an existing configuration or choose to create a new one
3. Name the configuration (e.g. "cdata_okta") and click OK

4. Enter the appropriate connection properties in the configuration wizard

   To connect to Okta, set the Domain connection string property to your Okta domain.

   You will use OAuth to authenticate with Okta, so you need to create a custom OAuth application.

   Creating a Custom OAuth Application

   From your Okta account:

   1. Sign in to your Okta developer edition organization with your administrator account.
   2. In the Admin Console, go to Applications > Applications.
   3. Click Create App Integration.
   4. For the Sign-in method, select OIDC - OpenID Connect.
   5. For Application type, choose Web Application.
   6. Enter a name for your custom application.
   7. Set the Grant Type to Authorization Code. If you want the token to be automatically refreshed, also check Refresh Token.
   8. Set the callback URL:
      • For desktop applications and headless machines, use http://localhost:33333 or another port number of your choice. The URI you set here becomes the CallbackURL property.
      • For web applications, set the callback URL to a trusted redirect URL. This URL is the web location the user returns to with the token that verifies that your application has been granted access.
   9. In the Assignments section, either select Limit access to selected groups and add a group, or skip group assignment for now.
   10. Save the OAuth application.
   11. The application's Client Id and Client Secret are displayed on the application's General tab. Record these for future use. You will use the Client Id to set the OAuthClientId and the Client Secret to set the OAuthClientSecret.
   12. Check the Assignments tab to confirm that all users who must access the application are assigned to the application.
   13. On the Okta API Scopes tab, select the scopes you wish to grant to the OAuth application. These scopes determine the data that the app has permission to read, so a scope for a particular view must be granted for the driver to have permission to query that view. To confirm the scopes required for each view, see the view-specific pages in Data Model < Views in the Help documentation.
   
5. Click Connect to authenticate with Okta through OAuth
6. 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

1. Download and install Visual Studio Code and enable the GitHub Copilot Chat extension

Option 1: Manually add the MCP configuration

1. Open or create the mcp.json file:
   • For global configuration: %%APPDATA%%/Roaming/Code/User/mcp.json
   • For project-specific configuration: /.vscode/mcp.json
2. Add the JSON code shown below and save the file

{
  "servers": {
    "cdata_okta": {
      "command": "C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Okta\jre\bin\java.exe",
      "args": [
        "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8",
        "-jar",
        "C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Okta\lib\cdata.mcp.okta.jar",
        "cdata_okta"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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_okta").

Option 2: Copy the MCP configuration from the CData Code Assist MCP for Okta UI

1. After saving and testing your connection in the configuration wizard, click Next
2. Select Github Copilot from the AI MCP Tool dropdown
3. Follow the MCP Client Instructions to create the required configuration file
4. Copy the displayed JSON code and paste it into your configuration file

Step 4: Query live Okta data in GitHub Copilot

1. Launch Visual Studio Code and open the GitHub Copilot Chat interface. Select the tool icon to enable the configured Code Assist MCP add-on
2. Ask questions about your Okta data using natural language. For example:

   "List all tables available in my Okta data data connection."

   
3. Start building with natural language prompts:

   For my project, data from the Users is very important. Pull data from the most important columns like Id and ProfileFirstName.
   

GitHub Copilot is now fully integrated with CData Code Assist MCP for Okta and can use the MCP tools to explore schemas and execute live queries against Okta.

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 Okta data during development. When you're ready to move to production, CData Okta 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.