LABSCO SUMMARY

Read-only by construction — this repository builds the safe version on purpose.

The three tools are discovery, discovery and SELECT; nothing here writes back to Workday. CData points at its own paid products for full read-write and for remote hosted access, so if what you want is a question-answering connection to live Workday data running on your own machine, this is exactly that and nothing more.

What it is

A local, read-only MCP server from CData that wraps the CData JDBC Driver for Workday, which exposes Workday as relational SQL models. The assistant lists the tables, reads their columns, and runs SELECT queries against live data.

What you get

get_tables — the tables available in the data source, returned as CSV with a header row
get_columns — the columns of one table, so a query is written against real column names rather than guesses
run_query — execute a SQL SELECT against live Workday data
Questions answered without you writing SQL: the tools are called for you and the results come back in the conversation
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

Java, plus Maven to build the jar. Download and license the CData JDBC Driver for Workday — java -jar cdata.jdbc.workday.jar --license, with TRIAL or your key — then build a connection string with its utility; OAuth sources authenticate in the browser. Write a .prp file holding Prefix, ServerName, ServerVersion, DriverPath, DriverClass and JdbcUrl, and launch the jar with that file as its argument. Transport is stdio, so the client has to run on the same machine.

Setup effort

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

See installation options

USE CASES

01

Answering an HR data question without a report request

The assistant finds the right table, reads its columns, and runs the SELECT — you never open a query tool.

02

Exploring what Workday actually exposes

List the tables the driver models and inspect the columns before deciding what is worth querying.

03

Limiting what an assistant can see

Declare the permitted tables in the properties file, so nothing outside that list is reachable.

04

Cross-referencing two Workday entities

Run several queries in one conversation and let the model line up the results.

3 tools

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

workday_get_tables

workday_get_columns

workday_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 from the .prp file, such as workday_get_tables. The tools only read — run_query executes SELECT statements. The Tables setting does not limit what the tools reach; your connection's access does. Writes need CData's separate MCP Server for Workday.

Where it runs

Both documented setups run 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/workday-mcp-server-by-cdata.git
cd workday-mcp-server-by-cdata
mvn clean install

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

License the driver: in the driver's lib folder run java -jar cdata.jdbc.workday.jar --license and enter your name, email, and "TRIAL" (or your license key)

Run java -jar cdata.jdbc.workday.jar to open the Connection String utility, configure and test the connection, then copy the connection string

Create workday.prp with:

FILE · workday.prp

Prefix=workday
ServerName=CDataWorkday
ServerVersion=1.0
DriverPath=<YOUR_DRIVER_PATH>
DriverClass=cdata.jdbc.workday.WorkdayDriver
JdbcUrl=<YOUR_JDBC_URL>
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 and restart the client

(optional, to run standalone) java -jar <YOUR_PATH_TO_CDATA_MCP_JAR_WITH> <YOUR_PATH_TO_WORKDAY>

MCP Clients

Claude Desktop — macOS, Linux, Windows

JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workday": {
      "command": "<YOUR_PATH_TO_JAVA>",
      "args": [
        "-jar",
        "<YOUR_PATH_TO_CDATA_MCP_JAR_WITH>",
        "<YOUR_PATH_TO_WORKDAY>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Workday by CData