Query Live Workday Data in Perplexity Desktop via CData Connect AI
Perplexity is an AI-powered research and answer engine that combines web search, structured data, and connected tools through a unified conversational interface. With Perplexity Desktop for macOS, you can bring external data sources directly into your workflow using MCP, enabling fast, context-aware insights powered by live data.
Integrating Perplexity Desktop with CData Connect AI via its built-in MCP connector allows the AI to query, explore, and reason over live Workday data without copying data out of its source system. The result is a research experience where you can ask questions about your governed enterprise data directly from Perplexity Desktop.
This article outlines how to configure Workday connectivity in Connect AI, generate the required access token, register Connect AI's MCP Server in Perplexity Desktop, and then use the chat interface to explore live 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 Perplexity Desktop
Connectivity to Workday from Perplexity Desktop is made possible through CData Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with Workday data from Perplexity Desktop, 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
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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 and update user-based permissions
Add a Personal Access Token
A Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI from Perplexity Desktop. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each integration to maintain granular access control.
- Click the gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open Settings
- On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT
- Give the PAT a descriptive 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
Create an OAuth App in CData Connect AI
Perplexity Desktop uses OAuth 2.0 to authenticate users against the CData Connect AI MCP Server. This requires creating an OAuth App in your CData Connect AI account.
- Click the Gear icon () in the top-right corner of Connect AI to open Settings
- Navigate to OAuth Apps and click + Create App. The Create OAuth App dialog appears
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Fill in the following fields:
- Name: Enter a descriptive name (e.g., PerplexityOAuth)
- Authentication Flow: Select User-based (Authorization Code)
- Callback URL: Enter the callback URL provided by Perplexity Desktop when adding the connector
- Click Confirm. CData Connect AI generates a Client ID and Client Secret
- Copy both values and store them securely. You will need them in Step 2
With the Workday connection configured and an OAuth App created, Perplexity Desktop can now connect to Workday data through Connect AI.
Step 2: Configure Connect AI in Perplexity Desktop
Next, register the CData Connect AI MCP Server as a custom remote connector in Perplexity Desktop. This feature requires a Perplexity Pro, Max, or Enterprise account and the macOS desktop app. Once configured, Perplexity's AI can call the tools exposed by CData Connect AI to access live Workday data.
- Download the Perplexity Desktop application for macOS and sign in with your Pro, Max, or Enterprise account
- Click Customize in the left sidebar and open the Connectors tab. Click + Custom connector in the top-right corner to open the Add custom connector dialog
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Enter a Name for the connector (e.g., CData Connect AI) and, optionally, a Description. In the MCP server URL field, enter the CData Connect AI MCP endpoint: https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp
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Expand Advanced and configure the following:
- Authentication: Select OAuth, then enter the Client ID and Client Secret from the OAuth App created in Step 1
- Transport: Select Streamable HTTP
- Network access: Select Public
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The new connector appears in the Connectors list. Click + on the connector to connect it. When redirected to CData Connect AI, sign in and click Allow to grant Perplexity access
Step 3: Query your live Workday data from Perplexity Desktop
- Click New Session and make sure the CData Connect AI connector is enabled for the session. The active connector appears above the prompt box
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Start asking questions about your Workday data. For example:
"Which data sources do you have access to via Connect AI?"
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Try additional queries such as:
- "List all the tables available in my Workday data connection."
- "Show the available schemas in Workday."
- "Retrieve the top 10 records from the Account table."
- "Summarize the high-priority open opportunities in Workday."
Perplexity Desktop is now fully integrated with the CData Connect AI MCP Server and can reason over live Workday data directly from the chat interface.
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