specification: API Commons Sandbox
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: CData
providerId: cdata
generated: '2026-09-05'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://www.cdata.com/developers/ai/developer-edition/,
  https://cloud.cdata.com/developer, https://www.cdata.com/ai/pricing/ and
  https://docs.cloud.cdata.com/en/Playground.md.
note: >-
  CData publishes no test-mode key prefix, no test fixtures, no time simulation and no
  sandbox tenant in the payments sense — there is nothing to fake, because every query runs
  against the customer's own live systems. What it publishes instead is a free, real,
  self-serve tier plus a hosted query surface, which is the closest thing this product
  category has to a sandbox. Recorded honestly as such rather than stretched into
  test-credential language CData does not use.
sandbox_available: true
mode: free-tier
free_tier:
  name: Connect AI Developer Edition
  url: https://www.cdata.com/developers/ai/developer-edition/
  signup: https://cloud.cdata.com/developer
  price: free
  credit_card_required: false
  limits:
    data_sources: 5
    users: 5
    tool_calls_per_month: 500
  includes:
  - Every Connect AI data source connector, reached through MCP
  - Query MCP server (https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp)
  - Management MCP server (https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp/mgmt) — a Developer Edition exclusive
  - Toolkits for source-specific tool extensions
  - Connect Gateway for on-premises and network-restricted sources
  - Playground for natural-language queries
  - 'Agent scaffold: npx @cdatasoftware/create-agent'
  time_to_first_query: '30 minutes (CData''s own figure on https://www.cdata.com/developers/)'
hosted_query_surface:
  name: Playground
  url: https://cloud.cdata.com/playground
  docs: https://docs.cloud.cdata.com/en/Playground.md
  description: >-
    A hosted natural-language query interface with pre-wired guided onboarding for common
    sources (Jira, GitHub, Slack). Formerly Data Copilot; renamed 2026-08-14. Lets a
    developer exercise the platform without writing an integration first.
test_credentials:
  test_key_prefix: null
  live_key_prefix: null
  note: >-
    No test-vs-live key distinction is published. Credentials are Personal Access Tokens
    (generated at Settings > Personal Access Tokens) or service-account Client Id/Secret
    pairs, and the same credential shape is used in Developer Edition and in production —
    the tier differs, the token format does not.
test_fixtures:
  available: false
  note: >-
    No test cards, test accounts, seeded datasets or hosted test tokens. Not applicable to
    the product: a Connect AI query returns whatever is in the customer's connected system.
time_simulation:
  available: false
trigger_tooling:
  available: false
  note: >-
    No fixture or event triggers. test_connection (Management MCP) is the nearest thing —
    it exercises a connection end-to-end without querying data.
free_driver_trials:
  note: >-
    Separately from Connect AI, CData offers free trials and free community licences for its
    self-hosted drivers (Free Community Licenses for .NET and Python, Free JDBC Driver
    Trials, and the CData CLI's free download path). These cover the driver product, not the
    APIs in this record.
  sources:
  - https://www.cdata.com/developers/
  - https://www.cdata.com/solutions/cli/
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: info@apievangelist.com