Integrating Kiro with Excel Online Data via CData CLI

Kiro is a coding agent from AWS that runs directly in the command line or an IDE, autonomously executing multi-step workflows through native MCP support and parallel agent execution. It understands your codebase through advanced code intelligence and context management and can integrate with external tools and data sources. Its support for agent steering files, custom agents, and agent skills makes it well-suited for tool-driven data workflows through CData CLI. By describing your data goals in plain language, Kiro handles driver configuration, license activation, connection creation, and query execution from a single prompt.

This article walks through how to connect Excel Online data to Kiro through CData CLI.

Prerequisites

1. Kiro installed (either Terminal CLI or Desktop):
   • Terminal CLI: Installation - CLI - Docs - Kiro
   • Desktop: Get started - IDE - Docs - Kiro
2. CData CLI installed
3. Access to Excel Online

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

Always use 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 Kiro.

Step 2: Set up the project directory

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

Kiro in Terminal CLI

Navigate to your desired directory in the terminal and start a session with the kiro-cli command.

Kiro Desktop App

Select the working directory within the desktop app.

Step 3: Establish the driver and connection

Describe what you want to accomplish with the CLI and Excel Online data.

I would like to build a command line app that connects to Excel Online and checks for updates from Test_xlsx_Sheet1. Make sure to include data from important columns like Id and Column1.

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: Kiro checks for an existing CData Excel Online driver, or searches and downloads a new one:

• cdatacli drivers list

• cdatacli drivers search --driver "Excel Online"

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

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

• cdatacli drivers activate "Excel Online" --name "<name>" --email "<email>" --trial

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

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

• cdatacli connection list

• cdatacli connection create --driver Excel Online --name my_excel online_connection --connectionstring "Prop1=value1;Prop2=value2;..."

4. Create a Excel Online 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 Excel Online" error is returned, no driver instructions exist and you can continue to use main driver skill)

  cdatacli drivers skill "Excel Online" > ~/skills/cdata-excel online/SKILL.md

Step 4: Query Excel Online data

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

1. cdatacli query sql --connection my_excel online_connection --sql "SELECT * FROM Test_xlsx_Sheet1"

Query Excel Online data directly from your terminal with CData CLI

Kiro and CData CLI together give your AI coding agent a direct path to live Excel Online 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.

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