Integrate Cline with Live Xero Data via CData Connect AI

Yazhini G
Technical Marketing Engineer

Leverage the CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server to enable Cline to securely access and query live Xero data from within your IDE.

Cline is an autonomous AI coding agent that runs inside modern IDEs such as VS Code and Cursor. It enables developers to build agent-driven workflows that can reason through tasks, execute actions, and interact with external systems directly from the editor using a structured execution model.

By integrating Cline with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server, the agent gains the ability to query, analyze, and act on live Xero data in real time. This integration bridges Cline's in-IDE agent framework with the governed enterprise connectivity of CData Connect AI, ensuring all data access runs securely against authorized sources without manual data movement.

This article outlines the steps to configure Xero connectivity in Connect AI, generate the required personal access token, register the Connect AI MCP Server in Cline, and verify that the agent can successfully interact with live Xero data from within the IDE.

About Xero Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Xero has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

Connect to Xero Accounts and both US and Australian Payroll APIs.
Read, write, update, and delete Xero objects like Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts and more.
Use SQL stored procedures for actions like adding items to a cart, submitting orders, and downloading attachments.
Work with accounting, payroll, file, fixed asset, and project data.

Customers regularly integrate their Xero data with preferred tools, like Tableau, Qlik Sense, or Excel, and integrate Xero data into their database or data warehouse.

Getting Started

Step 1: Configure Xero connectivity for Cline

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

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

Select Xero from the Add Connection panel

Xero uses OAuth to authenticate. Click Sign in to authenticate with Xero
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 Cline. 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

Copy the token when displayed and store it securely. It will not be shown again

With the Xero connection configured and a PAT generated, Cline can now connect to Xero data through the CData Connect Ai.

Step 2: Install and set up Cline

Cline is distributed as an IDE extension and can be installed in environments such as VS Code or Cursor. In this example, Cursor is used, but the steps are identical for supported IDEs.

Open Cursor and install the Cline extension from the Extensions Marketplace
Complete the initial Cline setup flow, including model selection and permission prompts
After setup is complete, the Cline agent panel opens automatically inside the IDE

Step 3: Add the Connect AI Remote MCP Server

Once Cline is running, add the CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server so the agent can access live Xero data through Connect AI.

In the Cline panel, click MCP Servers
Open Remote Servers and click Edit Configuration
This opens a JSON configuration file. Paste the configuration below
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp": {
      "url": "https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp",
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Basic your_email:your_PAT"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}
```
Note: Cline will use Basic authentication with Connect AI. Combine your Connect AI user email and the PAT you created earlier. For example, [email protected]:ABC123...XYZ789 and add the value for the Authorization header like, Basic [email protected]:ABC123...XYZ789.
Save the file and return to the MCP Servers screen to confirm the server is listed and enabled

Step 4: Query live data from Cline

With the MCP server registered, Cline can now interact with live data sources exposed by Connect AI.

Click the icon in the Cline panel to start a New Task/Chat
At the bottom of the chat window, confirm that the configured MCP server is selected
Start interacting with the agent by entering prompts such as:
- List connections
- Show schemas for a catalog
- Query recent records from Xero data

Cline is now fully configured to access and query live Xero data through the CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server, enabling real-time, data-driven workflows directly from your IDE.

Get CData Connect AI

To access 300+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources through secure, AI-ready interfaces, try CData Connect AI today.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about CData Connect AI or sign up for free trial access:

Free Trial