Query Live Paylocity Data in Perplexity Desktop via CData Connect AI

Perplexity is an AI-powered research and answer engine that combines web search, structured data, and connected tools through a unified conversational interface. With Perplexity Desktop for macOS, you can bring external data sources directly into your workflow using MCP, enabling fast, context-aware insights powered by live data.

Integrating Perplexity Desktop with CData Connect AI via its built-in MCP connector allows the AI to query, explore, and reason over live Paylocity data without copying data out of its source system. The result is a research experience where you can ask questions about your governed enterprise data directly from Perplexity Desktop.

This article outlines how to configure Paylocity connectivity in Connect AI, generate the required access token, register Connect AI's MCP Server in Perplexity Desktop, and then use the chat interface to explore live Paylocity data.

Step 1: Configure Paylocity connectivity for Perplexity Desktop

Connectivity to Paylocity from Perplexity Desktop is made possible through CData Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with Paylocity data from Perplexity Desktop, start by creating and configuring a Paylocity connection in CData Connect AI.

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

2. Select Paylocity from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Paylocity.

   Set the following to establish a connection to Paylocity:

   • RSAPublicKey: Set this to the RSA Key associated with your Paylocity, if the RSA Encryption is enabled in the Paylocity account.

     This property is required for executing Insert and Update statements, and it is not required if the feature is disabled.

   • UseSandbox: Set to true if you are using sandbox account.
   • CustomFieldsCategory: Set this to the Customfields category. This is required when IncludeCustomFields is set to true. The default value for this property is PayrollAndHR.
   • Key: The AES symmetric key(base 64 encoded) encrypted with the Paylocity Public Key. It is the key used to encrypt the content.

     Paylocity will decrypt the AES key using RSA decryption.
     It is an optional property if the IV value not provided, The driver will generate a key internally.

   • IV: The AES IV (base 64 encoded) used when encrypting the content. It is an optional property if the Key value not provided, The driver will generate an IV internally.

   Connect Using OAuth Authentication

   You must use OAuth to authenticate with Paylocity. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Paylocity using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

   The Pay Entry API

   The Pay Entry API is completely separate from the rest of the Paylocity API. It uses a separate Client ID and Secret, and must be explicitly requested from Paylocity for access to be granted for an account. The Pay Entry API allows you to automatically submit payroll information for individual employees, and little else. Due to the extremely limited nature of what is offered by the Pay Entry API, we have elected not to give it a separate schema, but it may be enabled via the UsePayEntryAPI connection property.

   Please be aware that when setting UsePayEntryAPI to true, you may only use the CreatePayEntryImportBatch & MergePayEntryImportBatchgtable stored procedures, the InputTimeEntry table, and the OAuth stored procedures. Attempts to use other features of the product will result in an error. You must also store your OAuthAccessToken separately, which often means setting a different OAuthSettingsLocation when using this connection property.

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 Perplexity Desktop. 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. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use

Create an OAuth App in CData Connect AI

Perplexity Desktop uses OAuth 2.0 to authenticate users against the CData Connect AI MCP Server. This requires creating an OAuth App in your CData Connect AI account.

1. Click the Gear icon () in the top-right corner of Connect AI to open Settings
2. Navigate to OAuth Apps and click + Create App. The Create OAuth App dialog appears
3. Fill in the following fields:
   • Name — Enter a descriptive name (e.g.,

     PerplexityOAuth

     )
   • Authentication Flow — Select User-based (Authorization Code)
   • Callback URL — Enter the callback URL provided by Perplexity Desktop when adding the connector
   
4. Click Confirm. CData Connect AI generates a Client ID and Client Secret
5. Copy both values and store them securely. You will need them in Step 2

With the Paylocity connection configured and an OAuth App created, Perplexity Desktop can now connect to Paylocity data through Connect AI.

Step 2: Configure Connect AI in Perplexity Desktop

Next, register the CData Connect AI MCP Server as a custom remote connector in Perplexity Desktop. This feature requires a Perplexity Pro, Max, or Enterprise account and the macOS desktop app. Once configured, Perplexity's AI can call the tools exposed by CData Connect AI to access live Paylocity data.

1. Download the Perplexity Desktop application for macOS and sign in with your Pro, Max, or Enterprise account
2. Open Settings > Connectors. If the Perplexity Helper App is not installed, you will be prompted to download it. Install the Helper App, then restart Perplexity Desktop
3. After restarting, return to Settings > Connectors and click Add Custom Remote Connector
4. In the URL field, enter the CData Connect AI MCP endpoint:

   https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp

   
5. For the authentication method, select OAuth. Enter the Client ID and Client Secret from the OAuth App created in Step 1, and click Connect
6. You will be redirected to CData Connect AI to authorize the connection. Sign in and click Allow to grant Perplexity access
7. After successful authorization, you will be redirected back to Perplexity Desktop. The connector should now appear in the list with an active status

Step 3: Query your live Paylocity data from Perplexity Desktop

1. Open a new chat in Perplexity Desktop. Click the Sources toggle and enable your CData connector
2. Start asking questions about your Paylocity data. For example:

   "List all the tables available in my Paylocity data connection."

   
3. Try additional queries such as:
   • "Show the available schemas in Paylocity."
   • "Retrieve the top 10 records from the Account table."
   • "Summarize the high-priority open opportunities in Paylocity."

Perplexity Desktop is now fully integrated with the CData Connect AI MCP Server and can reason over live Paylocity data directly from the chat interface.

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