Use Microsoft Copilot Studio to talk to your Sage 200 Data via CData Connect AI

Microsoft Copilot Studio is a no-code/low-code platform for creating AI Agents that can automate tasks, answer questions, and assist with various business processes. When combined with CData Connect AI Remote MCP, you can leverage Copilot Studio to interact with your Sage 200 data in real-time. This article outlines the process of connecting to Sage 200 using Connect AI Remote MCP and creating a connection in Copilot Studio to interact with your Sage 200 data.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for connecting to Sage 200 data. The CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server enables secure communication between Microsoft Copilot Studio and Sage 200. This allows you to ask questions and take actions on your Sage 200 data using Microsoft Copilot Studio, all without the need for data replication to a natively supported database. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Sage 200. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested Sage 200 data.

In this article, we show how to build a agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio to conversational explore (or Vibe Query) your data. The connectivity principals apply to any Copilot agent. With Connect AI you can build workflows and agents with access to live Sage 200 data, plus hundreds of other sources.

Step 1: Configure Sage 200 Connectivity for Microsoft Copilot Studio

Connectivity to Sage 200 from Microsoft Copilot Studio is made possible through CData Connect AI Remote MCP. To interact with Sage 200 data from Microsoft Copilot Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Sage 200 connection in CData Connect AI.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Sage 200" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Sage 200.
   • Schema: Determines which Sage 200 edition you are connecting to. Specify either StandardUK or ProfessionalUK.
   • Subscription Key: Provides access to the APIs that are used to establish a connection. You will first need to log into the Sage 200 API website and subscribe to the API edition that matches your account. You can do so here: https://developer.columbus.sage.com/docs/services/api/uk. Afterwards, the subscription key may be found in your profile after logging into Sage 200.
   Click Save & Test
4. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Sage 200 Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, we are ready to connect to Sage 200 data from Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Step 2: Connect Microsoft Copilot Studio to CData Connect AI

Follow these steps to add a CData Connect AI MCP connection in Microsoft Copilot Studio:

1. Under Tools, click Add tool, then click + New Tool.
2. In the Add Tool window, search for and click CData Connect AI.
3. In the Connect to CData Connect AI window, click Create to authenticate your connection CData Connect AI using OAuth authentication.
4. Click Add and configure to add the CData Connect AI Tool to your agent.

Optional: Give the AI Agent context

This step establishes the AI Agent's role and provides context for the conversation through the Instructions property in the Agent. By providing instructions that explicitly informs the agent about its role as an MCP Server expert and lists the available tools, you can enhance the agent's understanding and response accuracy. For example, you can set the System Message to:

You are an expert at using the MCP Client tool connected which is the CData Connect AI MCP Server. Always search thoroughly and use the most relevant MCP Client tool for each query. Below are the available tools and a description of each:
queryData: Execute SQL queries against connected data sources and retrieve results. When you use the queryData tool, ensure you use the following format for the table name: catalog.schema.tableName
getCatalogs: Retrieve a list of available connections from CData Connect AI. The connection names should be used as catalog names in other tools and in any queries to CData Connect AI. Use the `getSchemas` tool to get a list of available schemas for a specific catalog.
getSchemas: Retrieve a list of available database schemas from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog. Use the `getTables` tool to get a list of available tables for a specific catalog and schema.
getTables: Retrieve a list of available database tables from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog and schema. Use the `getColumns` tool to get a list of available columns for a specific table.
getColumns: Retrieve a list of available database columns from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog, schema, and table.
getProcedures: Retrieve a list of stored procedures from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog and schema
getProcedureParameters: Retrieve a list of stored procedure parameters from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog, schema, and procedure.
executeProcedure: Execute stored procedures with parameters against connected data sources
  

Step 3: Explore Live Sage 200 Data with Microsoft Copilot Studio

With the Agent created in Microsoft Copilot Studio and the MCP tool connected, you can now interact with your Sage 200 data using Microsoft Copilot Studio. The MCP tool allows you to send queries and receive responses from the Sage 200 data source in real-time.

Open the chat window in your Microsoft Copilot Studio Agent to begin interacting with your Sage 200 data. You can ask questions, retrieve data, and perform actions on your Sage 200 data using the MCP tool:

Get CData Connect AI

To get live data access to 300+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect AI today!