Integrate Devin with Live SQL Server Data Using CData Connect AI

Devin is an AI software engineer from Cognition that plans, writes, and tests code in autonomous sessions. It supports the model context protocol (MCP) through its built-in MCP marketplace, allowing you to install remote MCP servers and give Devin access to external tools and live data sources.

By integrating Devin with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP Server, Devin gains governed, real-time access to live SQL Server data. You can list catalogs, explore schemas, and query records from SQL Server data using natural language prompts, with all data access running securely against authorized sources.

This article explains how to configure SQL Server connectivity in Connect AI, install the CData Connect AI MCP Server from the Devin MCP marketplace, and verify the integration by querying live SQL Server data from a Devin session.

Step 1: Configure SQL Server connectivity for Devin

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

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

2. Select SQL Server from the Add Connection panel

3. 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
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update user-based permissions

With the SQL Server connection configured, Devin can now connect to SQL Server data through Connect AI.

Step 2: Install the Connect AI MCP Server in Devin

Next, install the CData Connect AI MCP Server from the Devin MCP servers list so your sessions can discover and call live data tools through Connect AI.

Note: Installing MCP servers in Devin requires the Manage MCP Servers permission. If you don't have this permission, use the Suggest option or contact your organization admin.

1. Log into Devin and navigate to Settings and Connections, then select the MCP servers tab
2. Search for CData Connect AI in the marketplace and select the verified listing

3. Click Install and enable. When prompted, complete the OAuth flow to authenticate with your Connect AI account
4. Once installed, confirm the Enable in sessions toggle is on and click Test tools. Devin validates the connection and lists the available Connect AI tools, such as getCatalogs, getSchemas, getTables, and queryData

With the MCP server installed and enabled, the Connect AI tools are available to every Devin session in your workspace.

Step 3: Query live SQL Server data from Devin

With the integration complete, start a Devin session and interact with live SQL Server data through natural language prompts.

1. From the Devin home page, start a new session
2. In the session prompt, ask Devin to work with your Connect AI data, for example:
   • Can you list the connections in CData Connect AI
   • Show the available schemas and tables for SQL Server
   • Query the top 5 records from a table in SQL Server
3. Devin calls the Connect AI MCP Server and returns live results from SQL Server data directly in the session. You can follow the tool calls, inputs, and outputs in the Progress panel

At this point, Devin communicates with the Connect AI MCP Server and retrieves live SQL Server data through remote MCP tools directly from your sessions, whether you're exploring data, building features against it, or automating engineering tasks.

Get started with CData Connect AI

To access hundreds of SaaS, big data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect AI today. Download a free 14-day trial of CData Connect AI, and our Support Team is available to help with any questions you have.