Query Live Xero Data in Perplexity Desktop via CData Connect AI

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Leverage the CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server to enable Perplexity Desktop to securely access and query live Xero data through a conversational interface.

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 Xero 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 Xero 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 Xero data.

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 Perplexity Desktop

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

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. Adding a connection in Connect AI
  2. Select Xero from the Add Connection panel
    3. Selecting data source
  3. Xero uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with Xero. Authenticating with OAuth (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update user-based permissions
    5. Updating 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.

  1. Click the gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open Settings
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT
  3. Give the PAT a descriptive name and click Create
    4. Creating a new PAT
  4. 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.

  1. Click the Gear icon () in the top-right corner of Connect AI to open Settings
  2. Navigate to OAuth Apps and click + Create App. The Create OAuth App dialog appears
  3. 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
    Creating a new OAuth App in CData Connect AI
  4. Click Confirm. CData Connect AI generates a Client ID and Client Secret
  5. Copy both values and store them securely. You will need them in Step 2 Copying the Client ID and Client Secret

With the Xero connection configured and an OAuth App created, Perplexity Desktop can now connect to Xero 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 Xero data.

  1. Download the Perplexity Desktop application for macOS and sign in with your Pro, Max, or Enterprise account
  2. Open Settings > Connectors. If the Perplexity Helper App is not installed, you will be prompted to download it. Install the Helper App, then restart Perplexity Desktop Opening Connectors in Perplexity Desktop Settings
  3. After restarting, return to Settings > Connectors and click Add Custom Remote Connector Adding a custom remote connector
  4. In the URL field, enter the CData Connect AI MCP endpoint: 
    https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp
    Entering the Connect AI MCP URL
  5. For the authentication method, select OAuth. Enter the Client ID and Client Secret from the OAuth App created in Step 1, and click Connect Entering OAuth credentials
  6. You will be redirected to CData Connect AI to authorize the connection. Sign in and click Allow to grant Perplexity access Authorizing Connect AI via OAuth
  7. After successful authorization, you will be redirected back to Perplexity Desktop. The connector should now appear in the list with an active status Connector successfully added

Step 3: Query your live Xero data from Perplexity Desktop

  1. Open a new chat in Perplexity Desktop. Click the Sources toggle and enable your CData connector Enabling the CData connector as a source
  2. Start asking questions about your Xero data. For example:

    "List all the tables available in my Xero data connection."

    Querying live data through CData Connect AI
  3. Try additional queries such as:
    • "Show the available schemas in Xero."
    • "Retrieve the top 10 records from the Account table."
    • "Summarize the high-priority open opportunities in Xero."

Perplexity Desktop is now fully integrated with the CData Connect AI MCP Server and can reason over live Xero data directly from the chat interface.

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