The CData MCP Server for Apache Phoenix defines each connection to Apache Phoenix as a named configuration that Claude can use when sending natural language queries.

You create and manage these configurations using the MCP Configuration Tool. The tool automatically handles formatting, storage, and registration with Claude Desktop.

Understanding Connection Configurations

Each connection configuration is stored in a .mcp file. This file includes the details needed to initialize the connector when Claude starts a session.

• On Windows, configuration files are stored in "~/AppData/Roaming/CData/Apache Phoenix Data Provider/".
• On macOS, configuration files are stored in "~/Library/Application Support/CData/Apache Phoenix Data Provider/".

The .mcp file is a text file that contains a list of connection properties and a timestamp. For example:

#Tue May 20 15:48:40 EDT 2025
AuthScheme=Basic
User=myUser
Password=myPassword
Security Token=myToken

The configuration tool handles these settings automatically. Each saved configuration enables Claude to launch a dedicated MCP Server instance with the correct connector and options. Manual file editing is not required.

Connecting to Apache Phoenix

The CData MCP Server for Apache Phoenix connects to Apache Phoenix via the Phoenix Query Server. Set the URL connection property to connect to Apache Phoenix.

The URL property will typically be the host name or IP address of the server hosting Apache Phoenix followed by the port, for example: http://localhost:8765.

Authenticating to Apache Phoenix

By default, no authentication will be used (plain). If authentication is configured for your server, you can configure one of the following authentication methods.

Basic

If your instance of Apache Phoenix has set up the basic authentication layer, set the following to authenticate:

• AuthScheme: Set this to Basic.
• User: Set this to the user of your Apache Phoenix instance.
• Password: Set this to the password of your Apache Phoenix instance.

Azure HDInsight

To authenticate to Azure HDInsight, set the following:

• AuthScheme: Set this to AzureHDInsight.
• User: Set this to the cluster username that you specified when creating the cluster on Azure HDInsight.
• Password: Set this to the cluster password that you specified when creating the cluster on Azure HDInsight.
• ClusterName: Set this to the name of the cluster containing your Azure HDInsight instance.

All calls are sent to a gateway which picks one of the nodes to handle the request. Accessing the specific nodes is possible if you are running within the internal virtual network of the cluster.

Kerberos

Set the AuthScheme to Negotiate. See Using Kerberos for details on how to authenticate with Kerberos.