Integrating Kiro CLI with SAP BusinessObjects BI Data via CData CLI

Justin Floyd
Justin Floyd
Product Business Analyst
CData CLI gives AI coding agents direct, command-line-native access to CData Drivers across hundreds of data sources, allowing agents to manage licenses, configure connections, run SQL queries, and explore schema metadata, all without leaving the terminal.

Kiro CLI is a terminal-based AI coding agent from AWS designed to take you from prompt to production directly in the command line. It understands your codebase through advanced code intelligence and context management and can autonomously execute multi-step workflows, running multiple agents in parallel, automating CI/CD pipelines, and integrating with external tools and data sources through native MCP support. Its support for agent steering files, custom agents, and agent skills makes it well-suited for structured, tool-driven workflows, making it a natural fit for connecting to external data sources through CData CLI. By describing your data goals in plain language, Kiro CLI can handle the full setup process, from driver configuration and license activation to connection creation and query execution, without manual intervention at each step.

This article details step-by-step directions for how to connect SAP BusinessObjects BI data to Kiro CLI through CData CLI.

Prerequisites

  1. Kiro CLI installed
  2. CData CLI installed
  3. Access to SAP BusinessObjects BI

Step 1: Download the skill (one-time setup)

Always use CData CLI with the official skill.

  1. The official CData CLI Skill on GitHub can be downloaded using npx skills through the terminal:

    npx skills add CDataSoftware/cli-skills

  2. Follow the prompts in the terminal to install for Kiro CLI.

Step 2: Set up the project directory

Create a project directory to contain all project files.

  1. Navigate to your desired directory in the terminal and start a session with the kiro-cli command.

Step 3: Establish the driver and connection

Describe what you want to accomplish in this session with the CLI and SAP BusinessObjects BI data.

I would like to build a command line app that connects to SAP BusinessObjects BI and checks for updates from MyCustomReport. Make sure to include data from important columns like StoreName and TotalRevenue.

This prompt automatically loads the skill and kicks off the following process. You can also manually prompt the agent for each step below.

  1. Driver setup: Kiro CLI checks for an existing CData SAP BusinessObjects BI driver, or searches and downloads a new one:
    • cdatacli drivers list
    • cdatacli drivers search SAP BusinessObjects BI
    • cdatacli drivers download --artifact-id <artifact-id>
  2. Activation: Activate the SAP BusinessObjects BI driver with a single command for a trial or full license:
    •  cdatacli drivers activate SAP BusinessObjects BI --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --trial
    • cdatacli drivers activate SAP BusinessObjects BI --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --key "<product-key>"
  3. Establish SAP BusinessObjects BI connection: Check for existing SAP BusinessObjects BI connections or create a new one:
    • cdatacli connection list
    • cdatacli drivers activate SAP BusinessObjects BI --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --trial
  4. Create a SAP BusinessObjects BI skill (if applicable): CData provides driver instructions for popular sources that can be used to create a source specific skill to guide the agent through best practices for the driver.
    • Run the following command and save the output to your skills directory, either at the project level or globally. (Note: If you receive a "No instructions available for SAP BusinessObjects BI" message, no driver instructions exist for this source. You can continue using the main driver skill.)
      cdatacli drivers skill SAP BusinessObjects BI > ~/skills/cdata-SAP BusinessObjects BI/SKILL.md

Step 4: Query SAP BusinessObjects BI data

With the CData driver fully configured, your agent can now execute queries and write code against live SAP BusinessObjects BI data:

  1. 
    cdatacli query sql --connection <my_SAP BusinessObjects BI_connection> --sql <SELECT * FROM table>

Query SAP BusinessObjects BI data directly from your terminal with CData CLI

Kiro CLI and CData CLI together give your AI coding agent a direct path to live SAP BusinessObjects BI data without custom middleware, scheduled syncs, or manual setup at each step. Describe your goal, and the agent handles driver configuration, connection setup, and query execution from start to finish in the terminal.

Download the free CData CLI and start a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for SAP BusinessObjects BI today.

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