Connect to Dataverse with model context protocol in non-Microsoft clients

Connect to Microsoft Dataverse using a non-Microsoft model context protocol (MCP) client. This example describes how to connect using Claude.

Prerequisites

These are the prerequisites for using a Dataverse MCP server with Claude.

• Enable the Dataverse MCP server for the environment through PPAC settings. More information: Configure and manage the Dataverse MCP server for an environment
• A Dataverse connection for the MCP configuration.
• Install the Dataverse MCP server local proxy.
• The tenant ID of your Dataverse environment.

Create a Dataverse connection for the MCP configuration

1. Go to Power Automate. If necessary, change to the correct environment by selecting it from the top right.

2. Select Connections on the left navigation pane, and then select + New connection on the command bar.

3. Type Dataverse in the search box, and then select the Microsoft Dataverse connector.

4. Complete the instructions on your screen.

   Make a note of the user name in the connection Name, this should be the same name that you used to create the environment earlier.

5. Select the connection to open it. Paste this URL when you're prompted. https://make.preprod.powerautomate.com/environments/fb6637eb-601d-e9d2-b7f0-1613fca29e7e/connections?apiName=shared_commondataserviceforapps&connectionName=64244f45b6f045299463becb30bcd9b8

Install the Dataverse MCP server local proxy

These steps install the Dataverse MCP server local proxy that is used by the MCP client, such as Claude desktop or VS Code GitHub Copilot.

1. Install the .NET SDK 8.0 either from download or with this PowerShell command.

   winget install Microsoft.DotNet.SDK.8

2. In a Windows terminal window, run this command to install the Microsoft PowerPlatform.Dataverse.MCP local proxy.

   dotnet tool install --global --add-source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.MCP

Get the tenant ID of your Dataverse environment

When you configure the Dataverse MCP server for either Claude Desktop or VS Code GitHub, you need to provide the TenantID value.

Here’s one way to get tenant ID details:

1. Go to Power Apps.
2. Select Settings (gear icon) on the top right, and then select Session details.
3. Copy the value of the Tenant ID from the Power Apps session details to the Windows clipboard. Make a note of this GUID because it's used in the configuration steps later.

Configure and use the Dataverse MCP server in Claude

Claude AI is a large language model (LLM) and chatbot developed by Anthropic. It excels at natural language processing and is multimodal, meaning it can process text, audio, and visual inputs. Claude can answer questions, summarize documents, generate text, and even create diagrams, animations, and code.

Download Claude desktop

If you haven't already done so, download and install Claude desktop.

After you have Claude desktop installed, you can find and launch Claude from your desktop.

Configure Dataverse MCP server in Claude desktop

1. Open Claude desktop and go to File > Settings.

2. If you haven't configured any MCP servers for Claude desktop previously, you observe a Settings dialog. Select Edit Config.

3. The Claude desktop files displays. Open the claude_desktop_config.json file with your favorite JSON editor.

4. Replace <connection URL> and <Tenant Id> with your connection URL and tenant ID and paste the JSON snippet into the appropriate section of the file. More information: Create a Dataverse connection for the MCP configuration and Get the tenant ID of your Dataverse environment

   Use a <friendly name> for your Dataverse MCP server that you can easily remember, for example: MyDataverseMCPServer.

{
     "mcpServers": {
    "<friendly name>": {
      "command": "Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.MCP",
      "args": [
        "--ConnectionUrl",
        "<URL for Dataverse connection>",
        "--MCPServerName",
        "DataverseMCPServer",
        "--TenantId",
        "<Tenant Id GUID>",
        "--EnableHttpLogging",
        "true",
        "--EnableMsalLogging",
        "false",
        "--Debug",
        "false",
        "--BackendProtocol",
        "HTTP"
         ]
       }
     }
   }

5. Save this file and go back to Claude desktop.

Verify and interact with the connection in Claude desktop

1. Restart Claude desktop and ensure that the changes take effect. Select File > Exit.
2. Open Claude desktop now that the Dataverse MCP server configuration is completed from the previous step. You need to use your credentials to sign in to your Dataverse environment.
3. Verify that you can view the Dataverse MCP server and the tools by selecting Search and tools. You should be able to observe your friendly name of Dataverse MCP server, MyDataverseMCPServer for example.
4. Selecting the MCP server (MyDataverseMCPServer) allows you to view the list of tools, supported by that MCP server.

Interact with Dataverse MCP server in Claude desktop

If you have data in the Dataverse environment, you can start testing your setup by asking list tables in Dataverse, describe table account, or how many accounts do I have, and so on. More information: Add and remove sample data

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