Integrate RSS Feeds into Power Automate Desktop using CData Connect
CData Connect enables you to access live RSS feeds in workflow automation tools like Power Automate. This article shows how to integrate RSS feeds into a simple workflow, saving RSS feeds into a CSV file.
CData Connect provides a live interface for RSS, allowing you to integrate with live RSS feeds in Power Automate — without replicating the data. Connect uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to RSS, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return RSS feeds.
Configure RSS Connectivity for Power Automate
Connectivity to RSS from Power Automate is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with RSS feeds from Power Automate, we start by creating and configuring a RSS connection.
- Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
- Select "RSS" from the Add Connection panel
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to RSS.
You can connect to RSS and Atom feeds, as well as feeds with custom extensions. To connect to a feed, set the URL property. You can also access secure feeds. A variety of authentication mechanisms are supported. See the help documentation for details.
- Click Save & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add RSS Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
Add a Personal Access Token
When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.
- Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
- On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
- The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to RSS feeds from Power Automate Desktop.
Integrate RSS Feeds into Power Automate Workflows
After configuring CData Connect with RSS, you are ready to integrate RSS feeds into your Power Automate workflows. Open Microsoft Power Automate, add a new flow, and name the flow.
In the flow editor, you can add the options to connect to RSS, query RSS using SQL, and write the query results to a CSV document.
Add an Open SQL Connection Action
Add an "Open SQL connection" action (Action -> Database) and click the option to build the Connection string. In the Data Link Properties wizard:
- On the Provider tab: select Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server
- On the Connection tab:
- Select or enter a server name: set to tds.cdata.com,14333
- Enter information to lag onto the server: select "Use a specific username and password"
- Set User name to your CData Connect AI user name (e.g. [email protected])
- Set Password to your PAT
- Select the database: use the database configured above (e.g. RSS1)
- Click "Test Connection" to ensure the connection is configured properly
- Click "OK"
After building the connection string in the Data Link Properties wizard, save the action.
Add an Execute SQL Statement Action
Add an "Execute SQL statement" action (Action -> Database) and configure the properties.
- Get connection by: SQL connection variable
- SQL connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
- SQL statement: SELECT * FROM Latest News
After configuring the properties, save the action.
Add a Write to CSV File Action
Add a "Write to CSV file" action (Action -> File) and configure the properties.
- Variable to write to: %QueryResult% (the variable from the "Execute SQL statement" action above)
- File path: set to a file on disk
- Configure Advanced settings as needed.
After configuring the properties, save the action.
Add a Close SQL Connection Action
Add a "Close SQL connection" action (Action -> Database) and configure the properties.
- SQL Connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
After configuring the properties, save the action.
Save & Run the Flow
Once you have configured all the options for the flow, click the disk icon to save the flow. Click the play icon to run the flow.
Now you have a workflow to save RSS feeds into a CSV file.
With CData Connect AI, you get live connectivity to RSS feeds within your Microsoft Power Automate workflows.
SQL Access to RSS Feeds from Cloud Applications
Now you have a direct connection to live RSS feeds from Power Automate tasks. You can create more connections and workflows to drive business — all without replicating RSS feeds.
To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect AI.
Related Power Automate Articles
This article explains how to use CData Connect AI with Power Automate Desktop. Check out our other articles for more ways to work with Power Automate (Desktop & Online):