Model Context Protocol (MCP) finally gives AI models a way to access the business data needed to make them really useful at work. CData MCP Servers have the depth and performance to make sure AI has access to all of the answers.
Try them now for free →
Query Clio Data from Node.js
The API Server exposes Web services that allow connectivity to your data. Use the OData endpoint of the CData API Server to execute CRUD queries to Clio data from Node.js.
The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Clio, exposes Clio data (or data from any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers) as an OData endpoint, which can be queried from Node.js using simple HTTP requests. This article shows how to use the API Server to request JSON-formatted Clio data in Node.js.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Clio OData services:
Deploy
The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.
The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.
Connect to Clio
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Clio, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Clio by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Clio Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Clio.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Clio (see below).
Clio API Profile Settings
Clio uses OAuth-based authentication.
First, register an OAuth application with Clio. You can do so by logging to your Developer Account and clicking the Add button. Enter details and select the scope of your application here - these details will be shown to Clio users when they're asked to authorize your application. Your Oauth application will be assigned a client id (key) and a client secret (secret). Additionally set the Region in ProfileSettings connection property.
After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:
- AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in you app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in you app settings.
- CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that is specified in your app settings.
- Region: Set this in ProfileSettings to your Clio geographic region. Defaults to app.clio.com.
You can then choose the Clio entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.
Authorize API Server Users
After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; all IP addresses except the local machine are restricted by default. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.
Consume Clio OData Feeds from Node.js
OData feeds are easy to work with in Node.js. You can use the HTTP client in Node.js to request JSON-formatted data from the API Server's OData endpoint. After making the request, you can construct the body of the response and call the JSON.parse() function to parse it into records.
The code below will make an authenticated request for Bills data. The example URL below applies a simple filter that searches for records with a value of awaiting_payment in the State column.
var http = require('http');
http.get({
protocol: "http:",
hostname: "MyServer.com",
port: MyPort,
path: "/api.rsc/Bills?$filter=" + encodeURIComponent("State eq 'awaiting_payment'"),
auth: 'MyUser:MyAuthtoken'
},
function(res) {
var body = '';
res.on('data', function(chunk) {
body += chunk;
});
res.on('end', function() {
console.log(body);
var jsonData = JSON.parse(body);
});
}).on('error', function(e) {
console.log("Error: ", e);
});
