Integrating Gumloop with Workday Data via CData Connect AI
Gumloop is a visual automation platform designed to create AI-powered workflows by combining triggers, AI nodes, APIs, and data connectors. By integrating Gumloop with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server, workflows can seamlessly access and interact with live Workday data.
The platform provides a low-code environment, making it easier to orchestrate complex processes without heavy development effort. Its flexibility allows integration across multiple business applications, enabling end-to-end automation with live data.
This article outlines the steps required to configure Workday connectivity in Connect AI, register the MCP server in Gumloop, and build a workflow that queries Workday data.
About Workday Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
- Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
- Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.
Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.
For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.
Getting Started
Step 1: Configure Workday Connectivity for Gumloop
Connectivity to Workday from Gumloop is made possible through CData Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with Workday data from Gumloop, we start by creating and configuring a Workday connection in CData Connect AI.
- Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
- Select "Workday" from the Add Connection panel
-
Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Workday.
To connect to Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.
Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant
To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.
The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:
- https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
- mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.
Using ConnectionType to Select the API
The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.
API ConnectionType Value WQL WQL Reports as a Service Reports REST REST SOAP SOAP
Authentication
Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.
- WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
- SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.
See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.
- Click Save & Test
-
Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Workday Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
Add a Personal Access Token
A Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI from Gumloop. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.
- Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
- On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
-
Give the PAT a name and click Create.
- The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the Workday connection configured and a PAT generated, Gumloop is prepared to connect to Workday data through the CData MCP server.
Step 2: Connect to the MCP server in Gumloop
The MCP server endpoint and authentication values from Connect AI must be added to Gumloop credentials.
- Sign in to Gumloop and create an account
- Visit the Gumloop Credentials page to configure MCP server
- Click on Add Credentials and search and select MCP Server
- Provide the following details:
- URL: https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp
- Label: A descriptive name such as Workday-mcp-server
- Access Token / API Key: leave blank
- Additional Header: Authorization: Basic YOUR EMAIL:YOUR PAT
- Save the credentials
The MCP server is now available to build workflows in Gumloop.
Step 3: Build a workflow and explore live Workday data with Gumloop
- Visit Gumloop Personal workspace and click on the Create Flow
- Select the icon or press Ctrl + B to add a node or a subflow
- Search for Ask AI and select it
- Click Show More Options and enable the Connect MCP Server? option
- From the MCP Servers dropdown, choose the saved MCP credential
- Add a Prompt and Choose an AI Model according to your requirements
- After configuring the required details, Click Run to run the pipeline
With the workflow run completed, Gumloop demonstrates successful retrieval of Workday data through the CData Connect AI MCP server, with the MCP Client node providing the ability to ask questions, retrieve records, and perform actions on the data.
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!
