README - Overview by rajyraman

Overview

The objective of this repo is to enable querying of Dataverse environment using SQL. You can use popular AI tools such as GitHub Copilot or Claude Desktop to query Dataverse, provided you add this MCP Server in the configuration.

A big thank you to Mark Carrington for creating Sql4Cds, without whom this project would not exist. 🙏

Prerequisites 🔍

VSCode March (minimum March 2025 version) or Claude Desktop
Azure CLI installed and authenticated on your local machine, if you are not using the DevContainer option. While interactive browser authentication is possible using Azure Identity framework, using Azure CLI to manage the authentication is little easier.
Docker, if you want to run Dev Containers or the MCP Server inside DevContainer.
dotnet 9.0 SDK if you want to install the dotnet tool.

Model Context Protocol (MCP) 📋

This is how Anthropic, the creators of MCP specification, defines Model Context Protocol

MCP is an open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context to LLMs. Think of MCP like a USB-C port for AI applications. Just as USB-C provides a standardized way to connect your devices to various peripherals and accessories, MCP provides a standardized way to connect AI models to different data sources and tools.

Installation 🚀

If the button above does not work, paste the below URL to the address bar.

vscode:mcp/install?%7B%0A%20%20%20%20%22name%22%3A%20%22dataverse-mcp-dotnet-tool%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%22type%22%3A%20%22stdio%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%22command%22%3A%20%22mcp-dataverse%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%22env%22%3A%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%22DATAVERSE_ENVIRONMENT_URL%22%3A%20%22https%3A%2F%2Fxyz.crm.dynamics.com%22%0A%20%20%20%20%7D%0A%7D

If the button above does not work, paste the below URL to the address bar.

vscode:mcp/install?%7B%0A%20%20%20%20%22name%22%3A%20%22dataverse-mcp-docker%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%22type%22%3A%20%22stdio%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%22command%22%3A%20%22docker%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%22args%22%3A%20%5B%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%22run%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%22--env-file%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%22%24%7BworkspaceFolder%7D%2F.env%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%22-i%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%22--rm%22%2C%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%22rajyraman%2Fmcp-stdio-dataverse%22%0A%20%20%20%20%5D%0A%7D

You can click the buttons above to get the MCP Server config settings. You have two options to use this MCP Server:

Docker Container
dotnet tool

Below is the recommendation based on the where you plan to use this MCP

In	Client	Recommendation
Windows	GitHub Copilot	dotnet tool. Use Docker/Podman as fallback, if you have auth issues.
Windows	Claude Desktop	dotnet tool
MacOS	Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot	dotnet tool
Linux	Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot	dotnet tool
GitHub Codespaces	GitHub Copilot	dotnet tool

Since this MCP server is built with MCP C# SDK, it is distributed via nuget as a dotnet tool. dotnet 9.0 SDK can be installed in all major OSes.

You can install the Dataverse MCP Server as a global dotnet tool using the command below.

dotnet tool install -g Mcp.Dataverse.Stdio

Configuration

Below is a sample .env file that you can use if you choose to run the MCP Server inside a container. Create the .env on the workspace folder (same level as the README.md).

AZURE_CLIENT_ID=aba9829f-6288-44d7-9168-53eca9a1f4a5
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=abcd
AZURE_TENANT_ID=2caa17e6-884b-473b-80c5-c05d8859a2fa
DATAVERSE_ENVIRONMENT_URL=https://abc.crm6.dynamics.com
DOCKER_CONTAINER=true

If you are using this MCP Server on a new folder (not in the cloned repo), make sure that you are have setup. If you already have a different copilot-instructions.md file, you can also create this as a custom prompt under .github/prompts folder e.g. and use it in the chat.

Sample MCP Config

{
    "servers": {
        "dataverse-mcp-dotnet-tool": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "mcp-dataverse",
            "env": {
                "DATAVERSE_ENVIRONMENT_URL": "https://abc.crm6.dynamics.com"
            }
        }
    }
}

Configuration for GitHub Codespaces

When you create you Codespace make sure you select the inside the folder. You should also change the so that the DATAVERSE_ENVIRONMENT_URL environment variable is pointing to the right environment URL.

codespace-step-1