Integrating Cursor with BigQuery Data via CData CLI

Cursor is an AI editor and coding agent Anysphere built to plan, write, and review code using agents that understand your entire codebase. You can access it through a desktop app or a CLI, which brings these agentic capabilities natively to the terminal, allowing developers to run agents in any terminal, script, or editor without switching context. Its support for integrations and custom agent rules makes Cursor well-suited for structured, multi-step workflows, making it a natural fit for connecting to external data sources through tools like CData CLI. By describing your data goals in plain language, Cursor's agent handles the full setup process from driver configuration to query execution without manual intervention at each step.

This article walks through how to connect BigQuery to Cursor through CData CLI.

Prerequisites

1. Cursor CLI installed
2. Cursor Desktop installed
3. CData CLI installed
4. Access to BigQuery

Getting Started

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Step 1: Download the skill (one-time setup)

Always use the CData CLI with the official Skill.

1. The official CData CLI Skill on GitHub can be downloaded using npx skills through the terminal:

   npx skills add CDataSoftware/cli-skills

2. Follow the prompts in the terminal to install for Cursor.

Step 2: Set up the project directory

Create a project directory to contain all project files. Below are examples for using Cursor in either the Terminal or Desktop app.

Cursor in Terminal CLI

Navigate to your desired directory in the terminal and start a session with the agent command.

Cursor Desktop App

Select the working directory within the desktop app.

Step 3: Establish the driver and connection

Describe what you want to accomplish in this session with the CLI and BigQuery data.

I would like to build a command line app that connects to BigQuery and checks for updates from Orders. Make sure to include data from important columns like OrderName and Freight.

This prompt automatically loads the Skill and kicks off the following process. You can also manually prompt the agent for each of the following steps.

1. Driver setup: Cursor checks for an existing CData BigQuery driver, or searches and downloads a new one:

• cdatacli drivers list

• cdatacli drivers search --driver "BigQuery"

• cdatacli drivers download --artifact-id <artifact-id>

2. Activation: Activate the BigQuery driver with a single command for a trial or full license:

• cdatacli drivers activate "BigQuery" --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --trial

• cdatacli drivers activate "BigQuery" --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --key "<product-key>"

3. Establish the connection: Check for existing BigQuery connections or create a new one:

• cdatacli connection list

• cdatacli connection create --driver BigQuery --name my_bigquery_connection --connectionstring "Prop1=value1;Prop2=value2;..."

4. Create a BigQuery skill (if applicable): CData provides driver instructions for popular sources that can be used to create a source-specific skill to guide the agent through best practices for the driver.
• Run the following command to generate a skill file and save the output to your skills directory. You can choose to save the skill either at the project level or globally. (Note: If "No instructions available for BigQuery" error is returned, no driver instructions exist and you can continue to use main driver skill)

  cdatacli drivers skill "BigQuery" > ~/skills/cdata-bigquery/SKILL.md

Step 4: Query BigQuery data

With the CData driver configured, your agent can execute queries and write code against live BigQuery data:

1. cdatacli query sql --connection my_bigquery_connection --sql "SELECT * FROM Orders"

Query BigQuery data directly from your terminal with CData

Cursor and CData CLI together give your AI coding agent a direct path to live BigQuery data without custom middleware, scheduled syncs, or manual setup at each step. Describe your goal, and the agent handles driver configuration, connection setup, and query execution from start to finish in the terminal.

Download the free CData CLI and start a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for BigQuery today.