Build Printful-Powered Applications in Claude Code with CData MCP Server

Claude Code is an AI-powered command line tool that enables agentic coding workflows. With support for MCP, Claude Code can connect to local tools and enterprise data sources directly from your terminal, enabling natural language interaction with live systems without switching context.

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.

The following steps cover installing the CData API Driver for MCP Server, configuring the connection to Printful, connecting the MCP Server add-on to Claude Code, and querying live Printful data from within the terminal.

Step 1: Download and install the CData API Driver for MCP Server

1. To begin, download the CData API Driver for MCP Server 👁 Downloading the CData MCP Server add-on installer
   
2. Find and double-click the installer to begin the installation
3. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation 👁 Completing the CData MCP Server add-on installation
   

When the installation is complete, you are ready to configure your MCP Server add-on by connecting to Printful.

Step 2: Configure the connection to Printful

1. After installation, open the CData API Driver for MCP Server configuration wizard 👁 The CData MCP Server add-on configuration wizard
   

   NOTE: If the wizard does not open automatically, search for "CData API Driver for MCP Server" in the Windows search bar and open the application.

   👁 Opening the CData MCP Server add-on configuration wizard (Google Sheets is shown).
   
2. In MCP Configuration > Configuration Name, either select an existing configuration or choose to create a new one 👁 Creating a new configuration
   
3. Name the configuration (e.g. "cdata_api") and click OK 👁 Naming the configuration
   

4. Enter the appropriate connection properties in the configuration wizard

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Printful Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Printful.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Printful (see below).

   Printful API Profile Settings

   In order to authenticate to Printful, you'll need to provide your API Key. To get your API Key, first go to 'Settings' then 'Stores'. Select the Store you would like to connect to, then click the 'Add API Access' button to generate an API Key. Set the API Key in the ProfileSettings property to connect.

   👁 Configuring the MCP Server add-on connection
   
5. Click Connect to authenticate with Printful
6. Then, click Save Configuration to save the MCP Server add-on 👁 Saving the MCP Server add-on configuration
   

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

Step 3: Connect the MCP Server add-on to Claude Code

1. Install the Claude Code CLI using the terminal
2. Open the Claude Code configuration file at ~/.config/claude-code/config.json (or the location shown after initialization)

Option 1: Manually add the MCP configuration

1. Open the mcp.json file in your preferred editor
2. Add the code shown below

{
"mcpServers" : {
 "cdata_api" : {
 "type" : "stdio",
 "command" : "C:\Program Files\CData\CData API Driver for MCP Server\jre\bin\java.exe",
 "args" : [ "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8", "-jar", "C:\Program Files\CData\CData API Driver for MCP Server/lib/cdata.mcp.api.jar", "cdata_api" ], 
 "env" : {}
 }
}
}

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

Option 2: Copy the MCP configuration from the CData API Driver for MCP Server UI

1. After saving and testing your connection in the configuration wizard, click Next
👁 Selecting 'Next'

2. Select Claude Code from the AI MCP Tool dropdown
👁 Choosing the required AI MCP tool

3. Click Copy JSON to copy the generated MCP configuration to your clipboard
👁 Copying the MCP configuration

4. Paste the copied JSON into the mcp.json file

Step 4: Verify connection in Claude Code

Claude Code provides tools to verify the connection is active before building.

1. Open a terminal and navigate to your project directory. Run the command claude mcp list
2. Check that your configuration name appears with a Connected status
👁 Checking the connection status

3. Start Claude Code by running claude
4. Inside the Claude Code session, type /mcp to view active servers 👁 Viewing active MCP servers
   

Step 5: Query live Printful data in Claude Code

With the connection verified, you can now use natural language prompts to query and work with live Printful data.

1. Prompt Claude Code to review the instructions for your MCP connection to ensure it has all the appropriate context when writing code 👁 Reviewing MCP connection instructions
   
2. Start building with natural language prompts! For example:

   For my project, data from the Orders is very important. Pull data from the most important columns like Id and Store.

Claude Code will use the MCP add-on to connect to Printful, retrieve the requested data, and provide results directly in your terminal

Build with MCP Server. Deploy with CData Drivers.

Download CData API Driver for MCP Server for free and give your AI tools schema-aware access to live Printful data during development. When you're ready to move to production, CData API 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.