LABSCO SUMMARY

Three tools, read-only, grounded in the real schema.

Rather than modelling Exact Online's API surface, this leans entirely on the JDBC driver's relational view and gives the model just enough to explore it: tables, columns, and a SELECT. That ordering is what keeps answers honest — the query is written after the schema has been read, not before. Installing and licensing the driver is the work you have to do first.

What it is

A local MCP server wrapping the CData JDBC Driver for Exact Online, which exposes Exact Online as relational SQL models. A model gets the table list, the column list, and a read-only query tool, so it answers from live records instead of from memory. Communication is over stdio, so the client has to run on the same machine as the server.

What you get

The Exact Online tables the driver exposes, returned as CSV with a header row — exact_get_tables
The columns on any one table, so queries are built against real field names — exact_get_columns
A SQL SELECT executed against your live Exact Online data — exact_run_query
A Tables setting that only picks which tables also get a ready-made description (blank means none); it does not limit what the tools can list or query, so limit the connection or the account it signs in with

Requirements

An Exact Online account and a licensed CData JDBC Driver for Exact Online — a trial licence is accepted, applied with java -jar cdata.jdbc.exact.jar --license. Java to run the server, Maven to build it (mvn clean install produces CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar). A .prp connection file supplies DriverClass as cdata.jdbc.exact.ExactDriver, the driver jar path, a tool Prefix such as exact, and the JDBC connection string, which the driver's Connection String utility generates — OAuth sources send you through a browser sign-in at that point. MIT licensed.

Setup effort

Build from source — clone the repository, then point your client at the binary

See installation options

USE CASES

01

Asking a finance question against live records

Pose the question in plain language; the model reads the relevant table's columns, then runs a single SELECT for the answer.

02

Mapping what Exact Online exposes

Walk the table and column lists to see what the driver surfaces before committing to a reporting design.

3 tools

Listed in project docs. Your client may show a different list.

exact_get_tables

exact_get_columns

exact_run_query

BEFORE YOU INSTALL

What to know first

Tools you get

3 tools named in the project's documentation. Tool names take the Prefix in the .prp file, so the example config's names become exact_get_tables, exact_get_columns and exact_run_query. All three are read-only (run_query accepts only SELECT), despite a line promising writes.

Where it runs

The documented client runs the server on your machine.

INSTALLATION

Connect your client

Clone the repository, then point your client at the binary. This one is built from source rather than installed with a single command.

Server setup

TERMINAL

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

Download and install the CData JDBC Driver for Exact Online from https://www.cdata.com/drivers/exact/download/jdbc

License the driver: java -jar cdata.jdbc.exact.jar --license (enter name, email, and "TRIAL" or a license key)

Run java -jar cdata.jdbc.exact.jar with no arguments to open the Connection String utility, test the connection, copy the connection string

Write a .prp file (e.g. exact-online.prp) containing Prefix=exact, ServerName, ServerVersion, DriverPath, DriverClass=cdata.jdbc.exact.ExactDriver, JdbcUrl, Tables

Tables only picks which tables also get a ready-made description for your assistant, and empty means none; the server can still list and query every table your connection string reaches, so to keep data out of reach, limit that connection or the account it signs in with.

Add the mcpServers entry below to claude_desktop_config.json, pointing java at CDataMCP-jar-with-dependencies.jar and at the .prp file, then fully quit and reopen the client

MCP Clients

Claude Desktop — macOS/Linux

CLAUDE DESKTOP — MACOS/LINUX · JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exact-online": {
      "command": "<YOUR_PATH_TO_JAVA>",
      "args": [
        "-jar",
        "<YOUR_PATH_TO_CDATA_MCP_JAR_WITH>",
        "<YOUR_PATH_TO_EXACT_ONLINE>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Exact Online MCP Server by CData