How to Query Live Okta Data in Claude Desktop

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an emerging, open-source standard for connecting LLMs with external services and data sources. Through MCP Servers, AI clients can perform actions like opening Jira tickets, posting Slack messages, committing GitHub branches and more. With CData MCP Servers, these capabilities expand exponentially.

In this article, we guide the reader through installing the CData MCP Server for Okta, configuring the connection to Okta, and asking questions of the data in Claude Desktop.

Prerequisites

You need to download Claude Desktop (download) and create an account before continuing.

Overview

Here's a quick overview of the steps:

1. Download and install the CData MCP Server for Okta
2. Configure the connection to Okta
3. Ask questions about the data in Claude Desktop

Step 1: Download and install the CData MCP Server

1. To begin, navigate to https://www.cdata.com/solutions/mcp/connectors and download the CData MCP Server for Okta.
2. Find and double-click the installer to begin the installation.
3. Follow the prompts to complete the installation.

When the installation is complete, you are ready to configure your MCP Server by connecting to Okta.

Step 2: Configure the connection to Okta

1. After installation, the CData MCP Server configuration wizard should open automatically.

   NOTE: If the wizard does not open automatically, search for "CData MCP Server" in the Windows search bar and double-click the application.

2. Click the dropdown menu in MCP Configuration > Configuration Name and select ""
3. Name the configuration (e.g. "cdataokta") and click "OK."

   NOTE: This name is used as the name for the MCP server and as the prefix for all of the MCP Server's tools.

   

4. Connecting to Okta

   To connect to Okta, set the Domain connection string property to your Okta domain.

   You will use OAuth to authenticate with Okta, so you need to create a custom OAuth application.

   Creating a Custom OAuth Application

   From your Okta account:

   1. Sign in to your Okta developer edition organization with your administrator account.
   2. In the Admin Console, go to Applications > Applications.
   3. Click Create App Integration.
   4. For the Sign-in method, select OIDC - OpenID Connect.
   5. For Application type, choose Web Application.
   6. Enter a name for your custom application.
   7. Set the Grant Type to Authorization Code. If you want the token to be automatically refreshed, also check Refresh Token.
   8. Set the callback URL:
      • For desktop applications and headless machines, use http://localhost:33333 or another port number of your choice. The URI you set here becomes the CallbackURL property.
      • For web applications, set the callback URL to a trusted redirect URL. This URL is the web location the user returns to with the token that verifies that your application has been granted access.
   9. In the Assignments section, either select Limit access to selected groups and add a group, or skip group assignment for now.
   10. Save the OAuth application.
   11. The application's Client Id and Client Secret are displayed on the application's General tab. Record these for future use. You will use the Client Id to set the OAuthClientId and the Client Secret to set the OAuthClientSecret.
   12. Check the Assignments tab to confirm that all users who must access the application are assigned to the application.
   13. On the Okta API Scopes tab, select the scopes you wish to grant to the OAuth application. These scopes determine the data that the app has permission to read, so a scope for a particular view must be granted for the driver to have permission to query that view. To confirm the scopes required for each view, see the view-specific pages in Data Model < Views in the Help documentation.

   Enter the appropriate connection properties in the configuration wizard.

   
5. Click "Connect" to authenticate with Okta through OAuth.

   NOTE: The configuration wizard should open your browser and ask you to sign into Google. If your browser does not open, close the configuration wizard and re-open the application using "Run as Administrator" (see below).

   
6. Finally, click "Save Configuration" to save the MCP server.

   NOTE: This saves the configuration details to a separate file and updates the Claude Desktop configuration file (claude_desktop_config.json) to start the CData MCP Server when the Claude Desktop client starts.

With the CData MCP Server configured, you are ready to start asking questions of your live data from Claude.

Step 3: Ask AI for answers from live Okta data

Now that we have installed the CData MCP Server and configured a connection, we are ready to start with Okta data in Claude Desktop.

1. Open Claude Desktop. It may take a moment for the MCP Servers to start, but you will see the list of servers and tools available in the Claude interface (look for the settings icon below the prompt bar).

   You can individually enable and disable specific tools by clicking on the server name.

2. Now that you have connected, you can ask Claude questions about the Okta data. For example: "Can you give me a quantitative analysis about my closed-won opportunities by industry?"

   NOTE: Claude may need to explore the Okta data to make sense of it before it can begin answering questions of the data. The tabular model presented by CData alongside the database tools available simplify the data exploration and analysis for an LLM.

   

Connect your AI to your data today!

CData MCP Servers make it easier than ever for LLMs to work with live enterprise data. To explore the technology hands-on, download a free MCP Server or visit the CData Community to share insights, ask questions, and help shape the future of enterprise-ready AI.