Query TaxJar Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

You can use CData Connect AI to query TaxJar data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for TaxJar in Connect AI and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect AI provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for TaxJar, allowing you to easily query live TaxJar data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to TaxJar, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return TaxJar data.

Configure TaxJar Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to TaxJar from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with TaxJar data from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a TaxJar connection.

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

2. Select "TaxJar" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to TaxJar.

   To authenticate to the TaxJar API, first obtain the API Key from the TaxJar UI.

   NOTE: the API is available only for Professional and Premium TaxJar plans.

   If you already have a Professional or Premium plan you can find the API Key by logging in the TaxJar UI and navigating to Account -> TaxJar API. After obtaining the API Key, you can set it in the APIKey connection property.

   Additional Notes

   • By default, the CData connector will retrieve data of the last 3 months in cases where the entity support date range filtering. You can set StartDate to specify the minimum creation date of the data retrieved.
   • If the API Key has been created for a sandbox API account please set UseSandbox to true, but not all endpoints will work as expected. For more information, refer to the TaxJar developer documentation.
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add TaxJar Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to TaxJar data from Node.js.

Query TaxJar from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to TaxJar with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

• server: tds.cdata.com
• port: 14333
• user: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
• password: the PAT for the above user
• database: The connection you configured for TaxJar (TaxJar1)

Connect to TaxJar data and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'TaxJar1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
    if(err){
        throw err ;
    }
    new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM Orders', (err, result) => {
        console.dir(result)
    })
        
});

sql.on('error', err => {
    console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})