Integrating GitHub Copilot CLI with Presto data via CData CLI

Justin Floyd
Product Business Analyst

CData CLI gives AI coding agents direct, command-line-native access to CData Drivers across hundreds of data sources, allowing agents to manage licenses, configure connections, run SQL queries, and explore schema metadata, all without leaving the terminal.

GitHub Copilot CLI is the terminal interface for GitHub Copilot, giving developers direct access to an AI agent without leaving the command line. It can autonomously complete multi-step tasks driven by natural language instructions, including reading and modifying files, running shell commands, managing pull requests on GitHub, and delegating work to specialized custom agents. Its support for agent skills and custom instructions makes it well-suited for structured, tool-driven workflows, making it a natural fit for connecting to external data sources through CData CLI.

By describing your data goals in plain language, GitHub Copilot CLI can handle the full setup process, from driver configuration and license activation to connection creation and query execution, without manual intervention at each step.

This article details step-by-step directions for how to connect Presto data to GitHub Copilot CLI through CData CLI.

Prerequisites

About Presto Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Trino and Presto SQL engines has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

Access data from Trino v345 and above (formerly PrestoSQL) and Presto v0.242 and above (formerly PrestoDB)
Read and write access all of the data underlying your Trino or Presto instances
Optimized query generation for maximum throughput.

Presto and Trino allow users to access a variety of underlying data sources through a single endpoint. When paired with CData connectivity, users get pure, SQL-92 access to their instances, allowing them to integrate business data with a data warehouse or easily access live data directly from their preferred tools, like Power BI and Tableau.

In many cases, CData's live connectivity surpasses the native import functionality available in tools. One customer was unable to effectively use Power BI due to the size of the datasets needed for reporting. When the company implemented the CData Power BI Connector for Presto they were able to generate reports in real-time using the DirectQuery connection mode.

Getting Started

Step 1: Download the skill (one-time setup)

Always use CData CLI with the official skill.

The official CData CLI Skill is available on GitHub and installs through npx skills in the terminal:
```
npx skills add CDataSoftware/cli-skills
```
Follow the prompts in the terminal to install for GitHub Copilot. 👁 Install for GitHub Copilot

Step 2: Set up the project directory

Create a project directory to contain all project files.

Navigate to the directory within the terminal and start a session with the copilot command: 👁 Start a session
👁 GitHub Copilot CLI UI

Step 3: Establish the driver and connection

Describe what you want to accomplish in this session with the CLI and Presto data.

I would like to build a command line app that connects to Presto data and checks for updates from Customer. Make sure to include data from important columns like FirstName and LastName.

This prompt automatically loads the skill and kicks off the following process. You can always manually prompt the agent for each of the following steps.

Driver setup: GitHub Copilot CLI checks for an existing CData Presto driver, or searches and downloads a new one:

```
cdatacli drivers list
```

cdatacli drivers search --driver "Presto"

cdatacli drivers download --artifact-id <artifact-id>

Activation: Activate the Presto driver with a single command for a trial or full license:

cdatacli drivers activate "Presto" --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --trial

cdatacli drivers activate "Presto" --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --key "<product-key>"

Establish the Presto connection: Check for existing Presto connections or create a new one:

```
cdatacli connection list
```

cdatacli connection create --driver Presto --name my_presto_connection --connectionstring "Prop1=value1;Prop2=value2;..."

Create a Presto skill (if applicable): CData provides driver instructions for popular sources. You can use these to generate a source-specific skill file that guides the agent through best practices for the driver.

Run the following command and save the output to your skills directory, either at the project level or globally. (Note: If you receive a "No instructions available for Presto" message, no driver instructions exist for this source. You can continue using the main driver skill.)
```
cdatacli drivers skill "Presto" > ~/skills/cdata-presto/SKILL.md
```

Step 4: Query Presto data

With the CData driver fully configured, your agent can now execute queries and write code against live Presto data:

cdatacli query sql --connection my_presto_connection --sql "SELECT * FROM Customer"

Query Presto data directly from your terminal with CData CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI and CData CLI together give your AI coding agent a direct path to live Presto data without custom middleware, scheduled syncs, or manual setup at each step. Describe your goal in plain language, and the agent handles driver configuration, connection setup, and query execution from start to finish in the terminal.

Download the free CData CLI and start a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Presto today.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Presto Driver to get started:

Download Now

Learn more:

👁 Presto Icon
Presto JDBC Driver

Rapidly create and deploy powerful Java applications that integrate with Presto.

URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/presto-jdbc-cli-github-copilot.rst