https://icodealot.com Technical blog about code and software engineering en-us Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:31:25 -0500 https://icodealot.com/posts/automate-sql-report-deployments-like-a-pro/ In this post I will show you how to automate the creation and deployment of Database Tools SQL reports in the cloud like a CI/CD pro. You will learn how you can use Terraform to manage changes to these OCI resources. Justin Biard Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0500 https://icodealot.com/posts/automate-sql-report-deployments-like-a-pro/ https://icodealot.com/posts/build-relational-guardrails-for-agents-with-sql-reports/ In this post we will look at one approach to bringing constraints to AI agents that interact with a database running in the cloud. We will take on the role of an MCP server administrator or developer and look at recommended practices for creating SQL reports that give agents precise APIs to run. Justin Biard Sat, 27 Jun 2026 08:15:00 -0500 https://icodealot.com/posts/build-relational-guardrails-for-agents-with-sql-reports/ https://icodealot.com/posts/creating-your-first-custom-sql-tools-for-mcp/ In this post we look at creating your first custom SQL tools with the OCI Database Tools MCP server. This tutorial assumes you already have an MCP server and that you are ready to create your first custom tool. Justin Biard Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:00:00 -0500 https://icodealot.com/posts/creating-your-first-custom-sql-tools-for-mcp/ https://icodealot.com/posts/build-tools-that-speak-to-data-in-oci/ This post will help you use the OCI Database Tools Runtime Python SDK to build tools that can speak to databases in OCI by executing SQL statements using connections and converting the result-set to a Pandas DataFrame object. Justin Biard Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:22:48 -0500 https://icodealot.com/posts/build-tools-that-speak-to-data-in-oci/ https://icodealot.com/posts/make-sql-restful-with-oci-database-tools-runtime/ In 2026 the Database Tools service introduced a new data plane called Database Tools Runtime supported by all the standard OCI interfaces such as the OCI CLI, SDK, and Terraform provider. This is an introduction to the new data plane with some examples of executing statements against databases in the cloud. Justin Biard Sat, 06 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/make-sql-restful-with-oci-database-tools-runtime/ https://icodealot.com/posts/how-to-customize-tools-using-roles-in-database-tools-mcp-servers/ The Database Tools MCP server supports role-based access control for tools which allows for users or groups to be granted access to only specific MCP tools. In this example we will look at one way to configure tools with IDCS application roles and what the end-user might see once configured. Justin Biard Wed, 27 May 2026 18:34:52 -0500 https://icodealot.com/posts/how-to-customize-tools-using-roles-in-database-tools-mcp-servers/ https://icodealot.com/posts/give-oracle-database-access-to-oci-with-database-tools-identity/ You can use a Database Tools identity in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to give Oracle Databases access to OCI resources through something called a "resource principal". There are a few configuration requirements and the use case is interesting in general, so let's check it out! Justin Biard Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/give-oracle-database-access-to-oci-with-database-tools-identity/ https://icodealot.com/posts/tracing-interface-calls-by-decorating-objects-with-a-proxy-object-in-java/ You take an instance of some type and decorate it with additional responsibilities at runtime. The decorator acts like a proxy for the instance, forwarding or augmenting requests sent to methods along the way. Justin Biard Sun, 25 May 2025 17:30:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/tracing-interface-calls-by-decorating-objects-with-a-proxy-object-in-java/ https://icodealot.com/posts/oracle-jdbc-config-provider-for-oci-database-tools-service/ With Oracle's Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver starting with 23ai it is now possible to provide the configuration of a connection to Oracle Database using the opaque identifier of a Database Tools connection. Justin Biard Sun, 25 May 2025 13:30:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/oracle-jdbc-config-provider-for-oci-database-tools-service/ https://icodealot.com/posts/so-you-need-an-mcp-tool-now-what/ tl/dr: Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a light-weight protocol that attempts to address a specific problem of how to allow 3rd parties (you, me, or anyone) to provide relevant prompts or context to a large language model (LLM) and to allow AI clients to complete well-defined tasks. Justin Biard Sun, 06 Apr 2025 02:00:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/so-you-need-an-mcp-tool-now-what/ https://icodealot.com/posts/use-oci-terraform-providers-to-create-secrets-in-a-vault/ In the past few posts I looked at using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services related to creating database connections in the cloud. Here I want to show how you can build on that by creating secrets in a vault using the OCI provider. Justin Biard Sat, 01 Mar 2025 17:55:46 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/use-oci-terraform-providers-to-create-secrets-in-a-vault/ https://icodealot.com/posts/create-database-tools-connection-with-terraform/ In this post we will look at setting up a Database Tools connection resource in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) using the OCI Terraform provider. Database Tools connections in OCI are first-class resources just like other cloud primitives such as virtual cloud networks (VCN), compute instances, or databases. Justin Biard Fri, 31 Jan 2025 02:30:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/create-database-tools-connection-with-terraform/ https://icodealot.com/posts/dbtools-connections-with-adb-access-control-list/ TL/DR: To use OCI Database Tools (DBTools) Connections to connect to ADB with a public IP and access control list (ACL), DBTools requires the use of a DBTools Private Endpoint (PE). Justin Biard Wed, 12 Jun 2024 01:00:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/dbtools-connections-with-adb-access-control-list/ https://icodealot.com/posts/database-tools-connections/ TL/DR: if you are an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) customer running Oracle Database or MySQL in OCI, use Database Tools (DBTools) private endpoints and connections to simplify database access in the cloud. Justin Biard Sun, 09 Jun 2024 14:00:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/database-tools-connections/ https://icodealot.com/posts/modern-switch-in-java/ Whether we are learning to program in an object-oriented language (such as Java) or one where code executes logically from top to bottom, decisions need to be made about what happens next. We can call this branching. Justin Biard Wed, 27 Apr 2022 20:27:37 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/modern-switch-in-java/ https://icodealot.com/posts/hello-world-server-in-go/ Howdy! I'm diving back into Go (golang) for selfish reasons and, in my own time, learning about how Go modules help deal with Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Before getting into HTTP in Go, I started with plain old Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) sockets. Justin Biard Fri, 13 Aug 2021 18:31:44 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/hello-world-server-in-go/ https://icodealot.com/posts/export-basic-shapes-as-svg-from-photoshop/ For simple tasks, like mocking up SVG icons to embed inline on a web page, I don't always want to break out Illustrator, setup a canvas and fiddle with curves. If I am already in Photoshop switching applications takes time and mental energy. Justin Biard Thu, 03 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/export-basic-shapes-as-svg-from-photoshop/ https://icodealot.com/posts/technical-debt-and-contextually-correct-examples/ The past few years have been a period of significant recovery. One in which I have invested in my family and myself. When I started writing "way back when," I figured, "Just write about the stuff you find interesting and see what sticks." Justin Biard Tue, 01 Dec 2020 22:19:41 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/technical-debt-and-contextually-correct-examples/ https://icodealot.com/posts/update-knockout-js-viewmodels-from-nashorn/ Learn about updating Knockout.js models from Nashorn / JavaFX which is a challenge because the Model and Controller code are not running within the browser. Justin Biard Sat, 16 Sep 2017 02:24:28 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/update-knockout-js-viewmodels-from-nashorn/ https://icodealot.com/posts/preview-of-charting-in-sqlcl-via-oracle-jet/ This is an example of connecting SQLcl and Oracle JET using the Nashorn scripting engine. Oracle JET application templates are deployed behind the scenes and data is loaded interactively from SQLcl sessions. Justin Biard Wed, 13 Sep 2017 22:57:36 +0000 https://icodealot.com/posts/preview-of-charting-in-sqlcl-via-oracle-jet/