Build Workday-Powered Applications in GitHub Copilot with CData Code Assist MCP

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that integrates directly into Visual Studio Code and other IDEs. With support for MCP, GitHub Copilot can connect to local tools and enterprise data sources, enabling natural language interaction with live systems during development.

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting LLM clients to external services through structured tool interfaces. MCP servers expose capabilities such as schema discovery and live querying, allowing AI agents to retrieve and reason over real-time data safely and consistently.

In this article, we guide you through installing the CData Code Assist MCP for Workday, configuring the connection to Workday, connecting the Code Assist MCP add-on to GitHub Copilot, and querying live Workday data from within Visual Studio Code.

Getting Started

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Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code is installed on your machine
• GitHub Copilot Chat extension is enabled in Visual Studio Code
• CData Code Assist MCP for Workday has been installed

Step 1: Download and install the CData Code Assist MCP for Workday

1. To begin, download the CData Code Assist MCP for Workday
2. Find and double-click the installer to begin the installation
3. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation

When the installation is complete, you are ready to configure your Code Assist MCP add-on by connecting to Workday.

Step 2: Configure the connection to Workday

1. After installation, open the CData Code Assist MCP for Workday configuration wizard

   NOTE: If the wizard does not open automatically, search for "CData Code Assist MCP for Workday" in the Windows search bar and open the application.

   
2. In MCP Configuration > Configuration Name, either select an existing configuration or choose to create a new one
3. Name the configuration (e.g. "cdata_workday") and click OK

4. Enter the appropriate connection properties in the configuration wizard

   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.
   For example, in the REST API endpoint https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com/ccx/api/v1/mycompany, the BaseURL is https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com and the Tenant is mycompany.

   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.

   
5. Click Connect to authenticate with Workday through OAuth
6. Click Save & Test to finalize the connection

This process creates a .mcp configuration file that GitHub Copilot will reference when launching the Code Assist MCP add-on. Now with your Code Assist MCP add-on configured, you are ready to connect it to GitHub Copilot.

Step 3: Connect the Code Assist MCP add-on to GitHub Copilot

1. Download and install Visual Studio Code and enable the GitHub Copilot Chat extension

Option 1: Manually add the MCP configuration

1. Open or create the mcp.json file:
   • For global configuration: %%APPDATA%%/Roaming/Code/User/mcp.json
   • For project-specific configuration: /.vscode/mcp.json
2. Add the JSON code shown below and save the file

{
  "servers": {
    "cdata_workday": {
      "command": "C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Workday\jre\bin\java.exe",
      "args": [
        "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8",
        "-jar",
        "C:\Program Files\CData\CData Code Assist MCP for Workday\lib\cdata.mcp.workday.jar",
        "cdata_workday"
      ]
    }
  }
}

NOTE: The command value should point to your Java 17+ java.exe executable, and the JAR path should point to the installed CData Code Assist MCP add-on .jar file. The final argument must match the MCP configuration name you saved in the CData configuration wizard (e.g. "cdata_workday").

Option 2: Copy the MCP configuration from the CData Code Assist MCP for Workday UI

1. After saving and testing your connection in the configuration wizard, click Next
2. Select Github Copilot from the AI MCP Tool dropdown
3. Follow the MCP Client Instructions to create the required configuration file
4. Copy the displayed JSON code and paste it into your configuration file

Step 4: Query live Workday data in GitHub Copilot

1. Launch Visual Studio Code and open the GitHub Copilot Chat interface. Select the tool icon to enable the configured Code Assist MCP add-on
2. Ask questions about your Workday data using natural language. For example:

   "List all tables available in my Workday data data connection."

   
3. Start building with natural language prompts:

   For my project, data from the Workers is very important. Pull data from the most important columns like Worker_Reference_WID and Legal_Name_Last_Name.
   

GitHub Copilot is now fully integrated with CData Code Assist MCP for Workday and can use the MCP tools to explore schemas and execute live queries against Workday.

Build with Code Assist MCP. Deploy with CData Drivers.

Download Code Assist MCP for free and give your AI tools schema-aware access to live Workday data during development. When you're ready to move to production, CData Workday Drivers deliver the same SQL-based access with enterprise-grade performance, security, and reliability.

Visit the CData Community to share insights, ask questions, and explore what's possible with MCP-powered AI workflows.