Integrating GitHub Copilot CLI with Workday 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 Workday data to GitHub Copilot CLI through CData CLI.

Prerequisites

About Workday Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:

Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.

Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.

For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.

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 Workday data.

I would like to build a command line app that connects to Workday data and checks for updates from Workers. Make sure to include data from important columns like Worker_Reference_WID and Legal_Name_Last_Name.

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 Workday driver, or searches and downloads a new one:

```
cdatacli drivers list
```

cdatacli drivers search --driver "Workday"

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

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

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

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

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

```
cdatacli connection list
```

cdatacli connection create --driver Workday --name my_workday_connection --connectionstring "Prop1=value1;Prop2=value2;..."

Create a Workday 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 Workday" message, no driver instructions exist for this source. You can continue using the main driver skill.)
```
cdatacli drivers skill "Workday" > ~/skills/cdata-workday/SKILL.md
```

Step 4: Query Workday data

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

cdatacli query sql --connection my_workday_connection --sql "SELECT * FROM Workers"

Query Workday 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 Workday 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 Workday today.

Ready to get started?

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

Download Now

Learn more:

👁 Workday Icon
Workday JDBC Driver

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

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