Establishing a Connection

Configure a Connection Profile

From the CData ribbon, click Get Data and select From Azure Cosmos DB connection/s to launch the CData Query window. To setup a new connection, you will have to click the New Azure Cosmos DB Connection button. Here you can set the connection settings, test the connection, and save the connection profile.

Connecting to Azure Cosmos DB

Azure Cosmos DB supports connecting and authenticating by Account Key, through Azure AD, or through Azure Service Principal.

Account Key

Set the following to authenticate:

AccountEndpoint: The Cosmos DB account URL. Set this to the URI value found in the Settings > Keys blade of the Cosmos DB account.
AccountKey: A master key token or a resource token for connecting to Azure Cosmos DB. Set this to the PRIMARY KEY value found in the Settings > Keys blade of the Cosmos DB account.
TokenType: (optional). Set this to "master" (the default value) if you are using a Master Token, which is a full permissions token generated during account creation. Otherwise, set this property to "resource" if you are using a Resource Token, which is a custom permissions token generated when a database user is set up.

Entra ID (Azure AD)

Microsoft Entra ID is a multi-tenant, cloud-based identity and access management platform. It supports OAuth-based authentication flows that enable the driver to access Azure Cosmos DB endpoints securely.

Authentication to Entra ID via a web application always requires that you first create and register a custom OAuth application. This enables your application to define its own redirect URI, manage credential scope, and comply with organization-specific security policies.

For full instructions on how to create and register a custom OAuth application, see Creating an Entra ID (Azure AD) Application.

After setting AuthScheme to AzureAD, the steps to authenticate vary, depending on the environment. For details on how to connect from desktop applications, web-based workflows, or headless systems, see the following sections.

Desktop Applications

You can authenticate from a desktop application using either the driver's embedded OAuth application or a custom OAuth application registered in Microsoft Entra ID.

Option 1: Use the Embedded OAuth Application

This is a pre-registered application, included with the driver. It simplifies setup and eliminates the need to register your own credentials and is ideal for development environments, single-user tools, or any setup where quick and easy authentication is preferred.

Set the following connection properties:

AuthScheme: AzureAD
InitiateOAuth:
- GETANDREFRESH – Use for the initial login. Launches the login page and saves tokens.
- REFRESH – Use this setting when you have already obtained valid access and refresh tokens. Reuses stored tokens without prompting the user again.

When you connect, the driver opens the Microsoft Entra sign-in page in your default browser. After signing in and granting access, the driver retrieves the access and refresh tokens and saves them to the path specified by OAuthSettingsLocation.

Option 2: Use a Custom OAuth Application

If your organization requires more control, such as managing security policies, redirect URIs, or application branding, you can instead register a custom OAuth application in Microsoft Entra ID and provide its values during connection.

During registration, record the following values:

OAuthClientId: The client Id that was generated when you registered your custom OAuth application.
OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was that was generated when you registered your custom OAuth application.
CallbackURL: A redirect URI you defined during application registration.

For full instructions on how to register a custom OAuth application and configure redirect URIs, see Creating an Entra ID (Azure AD) Application.

Set the following connection properties:

AuthScheme: AzureAD
InitiateOAuth:
- GETANDREFRESH – Use for the initial login. Launches the login page and saves tokens.
- REFRESH – Use this setting when you have already obtained valid access and refresh tokens. Reuses stored tokens without prompting the user again.
OAuthClientId: The client Id that was generated when you registered your custom OAuth application.
OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was generated when you registered your custom OAuth application.
CallbackURL: A redirect URI you defined during application registration.

After authentication, tokens are saved to OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across sessions and are used to automatically refresh the access token when it expires, so you don't need to log in again on future connections.

Azure Service Principal

Note: Microsoft has rebranded Azure AD as Entra ID. In topics that require the user to interact with the Entra ID Admin site, we use the same names Microsoft does. However, there are still CData connection properties whose names or values reference "Azure AD".

Azure Service Principal is role-based application-based authentication. This means that authentication is done per application, rather than per user. All tasks taken on by the application are executed without a default user context, but based on the assigned roles. The application access to the resources is controlled through the assigned roles' permissions.

For information about how to set up Azure Service Principal authentication, see Creating a Service Principal App in Entra ID (Azure AD).

Connection Properties

The Connection properties describe the various options that can be used to establish a connection.

Managing Connections

After successfully authenticating to Azure Cosmos DB you will be able to customize the data you are importing. To learn more about this, see Managing Connections.

Excel Add-In for Azure Cosmos DB