Remote MCP Server - CData Sync Documentation

CData Sync includes a built-in MCP server that lets you connect AI clients (such as Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, or any MCP-compatible client) directly to a running Sync instance. You can then interact with Sync in natural language to ask about jobs, connections, transformations, pipelines, logs, and overall system health. The MCP server exposes 10 read-only diagnostic tools that AI clients can use to inspect and monitor your Sync instance. You do not need to configure anything in the UI. These tools are available through the MCP server endpoint, through which external AI clients can connect.

The MCP server provides Sync data to an AI client, and AI-generated responses can be incomplete or inaccurate. Treat the diagnoses, summaries, and suggestions that you receive as a starting point rather than a definitive answer, and verify anything important against Sync directly before acting on it.

Connecting an AI Client

To connect an AI client to Sync, configure your client with the MCP server endpoint and your auth token. The syntax for the MCP server endpoint is https://<BaseURL>:<Port>/mcp.rsc. Authentication uses the x-cdata-authtoken header with a valid user auth token. To generate an auth token, see Authentication. The following sections provide configuration instructions for Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot CLI, and OpenAI Codex.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop communicates with MCP servers over standard input and output (stdio). Because Sync’s MCP server endpoint is HTTP-based, Claude Desktop cannot connect to it directly. The mcp-remote npm package bridges this gap by running as a local stdio process that Claude Desktop talks to and that forwards requests to CData Sync‘s HTTP endpoint.

The mcp-remote package requires Node.js. If you do not have Node.js installed, download it from nodejs.org before proceeding.

In Claude Desktop, add the following JSON snippet to the configuration file (Settings > Developer > Edit Config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sync-mcp": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "mcp-remote",
        "https://<BaseURL>:<Port>/mcp.rsc",
        "--transport", "http-only",
        "--header", "x-cdata-authtoken:<Your-Auth-Token>"]
    }
  }
}

Replace <BaseURL> and <Port>with your Sync server details, and replace <Your-Auth-Token> with the auth token that you generated.

If you use macOS or Linux, replace "command": "cmd" with "command": "npx" and remove "/c" and "npx" from the "args" array.

After you save the configuration, quit and reopen Claude Desktop. Then, enable the sync-mcp server in the Tools menu of a new chat.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Unlike Claude Desktop, the GitHub Copilot command-line interface (CLI) connects to remote MCP servers directly over HTTP, so it does not need an mcp-remote bridge. The location of Copilot CLI’s MCP configuration file depends on your operating system:

Operating System	Configuration File Location
Windows	`C:\Users\<Username>\.copilot\mcp-config.json`
macOS / Linux	`~/.copilot/mcp-config.json`

Edit the file and add the following JSON code:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sync-mcp": {
      "url": "https://<BaseURL>:<Port>/mcp.rsc",
      "type": "http",
      "headers": {
        "x-cdata-authtoken": "<Your-Auth-Token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace <BaseURL> and <Port> with your Sync server details, and replace <Your-Auth-Token> with the auth token that you generated. After you save the configuration, start a new Copilot CLI session so it loads the sync-mcp server.

OpenAI Codex

Like the Copilot CLI, OpenAI Codex supports remote HTTP MCP servers directly. The location of Codex’s configuration file depends on your operating system:

Operating System	Configuration File Location
Windows	`C:\Users\<Username>\.codex\config.toml`
macOS / Linux	`~/.codex/config.toml`

This configuration is shared across the Codex CLI, the Codex integrated development environment (IDE) extension, and Codex Desktop. Edit the file and add the following TOML code:

[mcp_servers.sync-mcp]
url = "https://<BaseURL>:<Port>/mcp.rsc"
http_headers = { "x-cdata-authtoken" = "<Your-Auth-Token>" }

Replace <BaseURL> and <Port> with your Sync server details, and replace <Your-Auth-Token> with the auth token that you generated. After you save the configuration, restart Codex (or start a new session) so it loads the sync-mcp server.

Available Tools

The MCP server exposes 10 read-only diagnostic tools for the tasks that you might ask an AI agent to perform:

Tool	Action
`find_workspaces`	List accessible workspaces or inspect one workspace in detail, including summaries of its connections, jobs, transformations, and pipelines.
`find_connections`	Browse connections in a workspace or drill into one connection’s full configuration and runtime status; secret fields are masked.
`find_jobs`	List replication jobs in a workspace or inspect one job with its ordered task list and current run status.
`find_transformations`	List transformations in a workspace or inspect one transformation’s configuration, trigger settings, and task list.
`find_pipelines`	List pipelines in a workspace or inspect one pipeline’s steps, events, and referenced jobs, transformations, and events; script content is redacted.
`find_connection_logs`	List log-file summaries for a connection or download one log file in chunks.
`find_job_logs`	List run history for a job or retrieve one run in detail, including task results and log groups; supports chunked log-file download.
`find_transformation_logs`	List run history for a transformation or retrieve one run with per-task results; supports chunked log-file download.
`find_pipeline_logs`	List run history for a pipeline or retrieve one run in detail with per-step results; supports chunked log-file download.
`check_health`	Return a consolidated health snapshot of the Sync application and all resources visible to the caller.

Example Prompts

You interact with Sync through your AI client in natural language (read-only). The following list includes some example prompts:

“List all connections in my default workspace.”
“Show me the run history for the Salesforce replication job.”
“What jobs failed in the last 24 hours?”
“Check the health of my Sync instance.”
“Show me the details of the marketing pipeline’s last run.”
“What transformations are currently running?”
“Download the connection log for my SQL Server connection.”

Security Notes

The MCP server respects Sync‘s existing authentication and authorization. Users only see data that they have permission to access.
Always connect over HTTPS. The x-cdata-authtoken is sent in a request header on every call. Over plain HTTP, it is transmitted in plaintext and is visible in transit.
Sensitive values such as passwords, tokens, and connection strings are masked in tool responses. Script content in pipeline events is also redacted.
The server is read-only in this release. You cannot perform any operational actions such as running jobs, modifying connections, or changing the Sync configuration.

​Connecting an AI Client

​Claude Desktop

​GitHub Copilot CLI

​OpenAI Codex

​Available Tools

​Example Prompts

​Security Notes

Connecting an AI Client

Claude Desktop

GitHub Copilot CLI

OpenAI Codex

Available Tools

Example Prompts

Security Notes