Interact with Live SAP Ariba Source Data in Warp via CData Connect AI

Warp is an agentic development environment that combines a modern terminal with an AI agent. It supports large language model (LLM) interactions and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integrations, so the agent can reach live external data sources without leaving the terminal.

By integrating Warp with CData Connect AI through its built-in MCP Server, the Warp Agent gets governed, real-time access to live SAP Ariba Source data. You can explore SAP Ariba Source data, ask questions in plain language, and work with your records without writing custom integration code.

This article walks through configuring SAP Ariba Source connectivity in Connect AI, configuring the CData MCP Server in Warp, and interacting with live SAP Ariba Source data from the Warp Agent.

Step 1: Configure SAP Ariba Source connectivity for Warp

Connectivity to SAP Ariba Source from Warp is made possible through Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with SAP Ariba Source data from Warp, start by creating and configuring a SAP Ariba Source connection in Connect AI.

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

2. Select SAP Ariba Source from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP Ariba Source.

   In order to connect with SAP Ariba Source, set the following:

   • API: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Supplier, Sourcing Project Management, or Contract API based on your business role (possible values are SupplierDataAPIWithPaginationV4, SourcingProjectManagementAPIV2, or ContractAPIV1).
   • DataCenter: The data center where your account's data is hosted.
   • Realm: The name of the site you want to access.
   • Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

   If you are connecting to the Supplier Data API or the Contract API, additionally set the following:

   • User: Id of the user on whose behalf API calls are invoked.
   • PasswordAdapter: The password associated with the authenticating User.

   If you're connecting to the Supplier API, set ProjectId to the Id of the sourcing project you want to retrieve data from.

   Authenticating with OAuth

   After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

   • Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
   • Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

     For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

   Automatic OAuth

   After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

   APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

   When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

   1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
   2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
   3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.
   
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 Warp. 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 Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT
3. Give the PAT a descriptive name and click Create

4. Copy the token when displayed and store it securely. It will not be shown again

With the SAP Ariba Source connection configured and a PAT generated, Warp can now connect to SAP Ariba Source data through Connect AI.

Step 2: Configure Connect AI in Warp

Enable the Warp Agent, configure an LLM provider, and the Connect AI MCP endpoint in Warp so the agent can discover and call live data tools.

1. Download and install Warp, and then sign up or log in to your Warp account
2. Click the Tabs panel icon at the top left of the window, or press Ctrl + Shift + B
3. Click Settings, expand Agents, select Warp Agent, and toggle Warp Agent on

Configure an LLM provider

The Warp Agent needs an LLM provider to interpret your prompts and decide which MCP tools to call. Add an API key for your preferred provider.

1. On the same Warp Agent page, scroll down to the Custom Inference section
2. Enter the API key for the LLM provider of your choice (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google)

Add the Connect AI MCP Server

1. Under Agents, click MCP servers, and then click Add
2. In the Add New MCP Server editor, paste the following JSON configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "CData_Connect_AI": {
         "url": "https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp",
         "headers": {
           "Authorization": "Basic your_base64_encoded_email_PAT"
         }
       }
     }
   }

   Note: Combine your Connect AI email and PAT in the format email:PAT, Base64 encode the combined string, and prefix it with Basic. For example, given [email protected]:ABC123...XYZ, the header value becomes something like: Basic dXNlckBteWRvbWFpbjphSzkvbVB4Mi9Rcjd2TjQ...

   
3. Click Save to add the MCP server
4. Under My MCPs, confirm that CData_Connect_AI appears with the toggle enabled and the tools available

With the MCP server and an LLM provider configured, the Warp Agent is ready to interact with live SAP Ariba Source data through Connect AI.

Step 3: Interact with live SAP Ariba Source data from the Warp Agent

Use natural language prompts in the Warp Agent to explore live SAP Ariba Source data.

1. Click the icon in the left navigation bar and select Agent
2. Enter a prompt to interact with your data, for example:
   • List the sources available in my CData_Connect_AI mcp connection
   • Show me what I can explore in SAP Ariba Source
   • Fetch the five most recent records from SAP Ariba Source data
   
3. The agent calls the Connect AI MCP Server and returns live results from SAP Ariba Source data

Your Warp Agent now calls the Connect AI MCP Server to interact with live SAP Ariba Source data through remote MCP tools, all from the terminal.

Get CData Connect AI

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