workday -by-cdata

This MCP server provides a read-only interface to Workday data via the MCP protocol. It wraps the CData JDBC Driver for Workday and exposes a lightweight set of tools that let an AI client query live Workday data without writing SQL directly. The server runs locally on your machine and communicates through standard input/output, so you typically run it together with an MCP client such as Claude Desktop or another MCP-enabled client. Tools exposed include workday_get_tables to list available data tables, workday_get_columns to describe columns in a table, and workday_run_query to execute SQL SELECT statements against the underlying Workday data model. You can script JSON-RPC requests to these tools or simply use an MCP client to issue natural language questions and have the client translate them into tool invocations.

Prerequisites:

• Java Development Kit (JDK) installed and available on your PATH
• Maven (for building the server JAR from source)
• Access to the CData JDBC Driver for Workday (download and license as described below)

Installation steps:

1. Build the MCP server JAR from source:

git clone https://github.com/cdatasoftware/workday-mcp-server-by-cdata.git
cd workday-mcp-server-by-cdata
mvn clean install

This will produce a JAR named something like CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar in the target directory.

2. Download and install the CData JDBC Driver for Workday from: https://www.cdata.com/drivers/workday/download/jdbc

3. License the CData JDBC Driver (example steps):

• Locate the driver installation directory’s lib folder (paths vary by OS).
• Run: java -jar cdata.jdbc.workday.jar --license
• Enter your name, email, and a license key or TRIAL as required.

4. Create a .prp file for your JDBC connection (example workday.prp):

Prefix=workday
ServerName=CDataWorkday
ServerVersion=1.0
DriverPath=/path/to/cdata.jdbc.workday.jar
DriverClass=cdata.jdbc.workday.WorkdayDriver
JdbcUrl=jdbc:workday:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
Tables=

5. Run the MCP server with the prepared prp file:

java -jar CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar /PATH/TO/workday.prp

This starts the MCP server in stdio mode, suitable for local development and testing with an MCP client.

Tips and notes:

• The server operates in stdio mode, so it should be run on the same machine as the MCP client.
• If you can’t see the server in Claude Desktop, fully quit and restart the client to refresh the MCP server list.
• If the client cannot retrieve data, re-check the JDBC connection string in workday.prp and re-run the server.
• Ensure your environment variables (JAVA_HOME) are set if Java isn’t on your PATH.
• This is a read-only MCP server; operations requiring writes or actions are not exposed by default.
• License steps for the CData JDBC driver are required for the Workday data source to function.