Use ChatGPT to Talk to Your SQL Server Data via CData Connect AI
ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, launched in November 2022. Based on large language models (LLMs), it enables users to refine and steer conversations through natural language processing. ChatGPT's developer mode, available to Plus and Pro subscribers, provides full Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for connecting to external data sources and tools.
CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for connecting to SQL Server data. The CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server enables secure communication between ChatGPT and SQL Server. This allows you to ask questions and take actions on your SQL Server data using ChatGPT, 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 SQL Server. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested SQL Server data.
Step 1: Configure SQL Server Connectivity for ChatGPT
Connectivity to SQL Server from ChatGPT is made possible through CData Connect AI Remote MCP. To interact with SQL Server data from ChatGPT, we start by creating and configuring a SQL Server connection in CData Connect AI.
- Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
- Select "SQL Server" from the Add Connection panel
-
Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SQL Server.
Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server
Connect to Microsoft SQL Server using the following properties:
- Server: The name of the server running SQL Server.
- User: The username provided for authentication with SQL Server.
- Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
- Database: The name of the SQL Server database.
Connecting to Azure SQL Server and Azure Data Warehouse
You can authenticate to Azure SQL Server or Azure Data Warehouse by setting the following connection properties:
- Server: The server running Azure. You can find this by logging into the Azure portal and navigating to "SQL databases" (or "SQL data warehouses") -> "Select your database" -> "Overview" -> "Server name."
- User: The name of the user authenticating to Azure.
- Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
- Database: The name of the database, as seen in the Azure portal on the SQL databases (or SQL warehouses) page.
SSH Connectivity for SQL Server
You can use SSH (Secure Shell) to authenticate with SQL Server, whether the instance is hosted on-premises or in supported cloud environments. SSH authentication ensures that access is encrypted (as compared to direct network connections).
SSH Connections to SQL Server in Password Auth Mode
To connect to SQL Server via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:
- User: SQL Server User name
- Password: SQL Server Password
- Database: SQL Server database name
- Server: SQL Server Server name
- Port: SQL Server port number like 3306
- UserSSH: "true"
- SSHAuthMode: "Password"
- SSHPort: SSH Port number
- SSHServer: SSH Server name
- SSHUser: SSH User name
- SSHPassword: SSH Password
SSH Connections to SQL Server in Public Key Auth Mode
To connect to SQL Server via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:
- User: SQL Server User name
- Password: SQL Server Password
- Database: SQL Server database name
- Server: SQL Server Server name
- Port: SQL Server port number like 3306
- UserSSH: "true"
- SSHAuthMode: "Public_Key"
- SSHPort: SSH Port number
- SSHServer: SSH Server name
- SSHUser: SSH User name
- SSHClientCret: the path for the public key certificate file
- Click Save & Test
With the connection configured, we are ready to connect to SQL Server data from ChatGPT.
Step 2: Connect ChatGPT to CData Connect AI
Follow these steps to add a CData Connect AI connector in ChatGPT:
- Sign in to ChatGPT with a Plus or Pro subscription.
- Navigate to Settings > Connectors.
- Under the "Advanced settings" section, toggle on Developer mode.
- Once developer mode is enabled, return to the Connectors page and click Create.
- Enter a name for the connector (such as Connect AI MCP).
- In the Remote MCP server URL field, enter:
https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp
- Set Authentication to "OAuth."
- Check I trust this application and click Create
- You will be redirected to CData Connect AI's OAuth authorization page. Sign in with your Connect AI credentials.
- Review the permissions requested and click Authorize to grant ChatGPT access to your Connect AI resources.
- After successful authorization, you will be redirected back to ChatGPT.
- The Connect AI MCP Server will now appear in your available connectors list where you can manage the connector and enable/disable actions (tools).
Step 3: Explore Live SQL Server Data with ChatGPT
- Start a new conversation in ChatGPT.
- In the tool picker, enable "Developer Mode."
- Enable your Connect AI MCP Sever.
- You can now start exploring your data with natural language prompts. ChatGPT will use the Connect AI MCP server to query your live SQL Server data. Example prompts:
- "Show me all customers from the last 30 days"
- "What are my top performing products?"
- "Analyze sales trends for this quarter"
- "List all active projects and their current status"
- ChatGPT will translate your natural language queries into SQL and execute them against your SQL Server data through the Connect AI MCP server.
IMPORTANT: ChatGPT's developer mode provides full read/write MCP access. Be cautious when allowing write operations to your SQL Server data. Always review and confirm any data modifications before allowing them to proceed.
NOTE: Developer mode is in beta and only available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers. Refer to OpenAI's documentation for the latest setup information.
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!
