Tableau MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Tableau Cloud that provides dashboard access, data querying, and export capabilities through Cursor IDE.

Features

• 🔍 Discovery & Search - Find workbooks, views, and data sources
• 📊 Data Access - Query view data with filters as CSV or JSON
• 📤 Export - Export dashboards as PDF, PNG, or PowerPoint
• 🔄 Data Refresh - Trigger extract refreshes for data sources

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.x or later
• Google Cloud Platform account with:
  • Cloud Run enabled
  • Secret Manager enabled
  • Cloud Storage bucket for exports
• Tableau Cloud/Server with:
  • Personal Access Token (PAT) credentials
  • API access enabled

Quick Start

1. Clone and Install

cd tableau-mcp
npm install

2. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file (or set environment variables):

# Tableau Configuration
TABLEAU_SERVER_URL=https://prod-apnortheast-a.online.tableau.com
TABLEAU_SITE_ID=your-site-content-url
TABLEAU_PAT_NAME=your-pat-name
TABLEAU_PAT_SECRET=your-pat-secret

# MCP Server
MCP_API_KEY=your-secure-api-key

# Google Cloud
GCS_EXPORT_BUCKET=tableau-mcp-exports
GCP_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id

3. Run Locally

npm start

The server starts on http://localhost:8080:

• Health check: GET /health
• SSE endpoint: GET /sse and POST /sse

4. Configure Cursor

Add to your .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tableau": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://tableau-mcp-400124661305.australia-southeast1.run.app/sse",
        "--header",
        "X-API-Key: <your-api-key>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace <your-api-key> with your actual API key from Secret Manager (tableau-mcp-api-key).

Available Tools

Utility Tools

Tool	Description
tableau_get_instructions	Get guidance on using Tableau MCP tools
tableau_search	Search content across Tableau

Dashboard Tools

Tool	Description
tableau_list_workbooks	List all accessible workbooks
tableau_get_workbook	Get workbook details
tableau_list_views	List views in a workbook
tableau_get_filters	Get available filters for a view
tableau_apply_filter	Store filters for query/export

Data Tools

Tool	Description
tableau_query_view	Export view data as CSV/JSON
tableau_list_datasources	List published data sources
tableau_refresh_datasource	Trigger extract refresh

Export Tools

Tool	Description
tableau_export_pdf	Export view as PDF
tableau_export_image	Export view as PNG
tableau_export_pptx	Export view as PowerPoint

Usage Examples

Find and Export a Dashboard

1. Search for dashboards:
   tableau_search({ query: "sales" })

2. List views in a workbook:
   tableau_list_views({ workbookId: "abc123" })

3. Export as PDF:
   tableau_export_pdf({ viewId: "xyz789" })

Query Filtered Data

1. Get available filters:
   tableau_get_filters({ viewId: "xyz789" })

2. Query with filters:
   tableau_query_view({
     viewId: "xyz789",
     format: "json",
     filters: { "Region": "West" }
   })

Deployment

Cloud Run Deployment

1. Create GCS Bucket

   gsutil mb -l australia-southeast1 gs://tableau-mcp-exports
   

2. Create Secrets in Secret Manager

   echo -n "your-pat-name" | gcloud secrets create tableau-pat-name --data-file=-
   echo -n "your-pat-secret" | gcloud secrets create tableau-pat-secret --data-file=-
   echo -n "your-api-key" | gcloud secrets create tableau-mcp-api-key --data-file=-
   

3. Grant Service Account Permissions

   # Secret Manager access
   gcloud secrets add-iam-policy-binding tableau-pat-secret \
     --member="serviceAccount:YOUR_SA@PROJECT.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
     --role="roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor"
   
   # GCS access
   gsutil iam ch serviceAccount:YOUR_SA@PROJECT.iam.gserviceaccount.com:objectCreator,objectViewer \
     gs://tableau-mcp-exports
   

4. Configure Cloud Build Trigger

   • Source: Your GitHub repository
   • Event: Push to main branch
   • Configuration: cloudbuild.yaml
   • Substitution variables:
     • _TABLEAU_SERVER_URL: Your Tableau Cloud URL
     • _TABLEAU_SITE_ID: Your site content URL
     • _GCS_EXPORT_BUCKET: Your export bucket name

5. Deploy Push to main branch to trigger automatic deployment.

Manual Deployment

gcloud run deploy tableau-mcp \
  --source . \
  --region australia-southeast1 \
  --memory 1Gi \
  --timeout 300s \
  --min-instances 1 \
  --allow-unauthenticated

Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
TABLEAU_SERVER_URL	✅	Tableau Cloud/Server URL
TABLEAU_SITE_ID	✅	Site content URL
TABLEAU_PAT_NAME	✅	Personal Access Token name
TABLEAU_PAT_SECRET	✅	Personal Access Token secret
MCP_API_KEY	✅	API key for MCP authentication
GCS_EXPORT_BUCKET	✅	GCS bucket for exports
GCP_PROJECT_ID	✅	Google Cloud project ID
PORT	❌	Server port (default: 8080)
TABLEAU_API_VERSION	❌	API version (default: 3.21)

Cloud Run Settings

Setting	Value
Region	australia-southeast1
Memory	1Gi
CPU	1
Timeout	300s
Min instances	1
Max instances	10
Concurrency	80

Limitations

• Filters: Cannot apply filters to live dashboard views - only at query/export time
• PPTX Export: Generated from PNG images, not native Tableau export
• Data Query: Maximum 100,000 rows per request
• Export URLs: Valid for 1 hour only
• Rate Limits: Throttled to 10 requests/second to Tableau API

Project Structure

tableau-mcp/
├── mcp-http-server.js      # Main Express HTTP server
├── mcp-handler.js          # MCP protocol handler
├── mcp_tools.json          # Tool definitions
├── config.js               # Configuration management
├── package.json            # Dependencies
├── Dockerfile              # Container configuration
├── cloudbuild.yaml         # CI/CD configuration
├── lib/
│   ├── tableau-client.js   # Tableau REST API client
│   ├── gcs-client.js       # GCS upload/signing
│   └── logger.js           # Structured logging
├── 00-utility-tools/tools/
│   ├── get-instructions.js
│   └── search.js
├── 01-dashboard-tools/tools/
│   ├── list-workbooks.js
│   ├── get-workbook.js
│   ├── list-views.js
│   ├── get-filters.js
│   └── apply-filter.js
├── 02-data-tools/tools/
│   ├── query-view-data.js
│   ├── list-datasources.js
│   └── refresh-datasource.js
└── 03-export-tools/tools/
    ├── export-pdf.js
    ├── export-image.js
    └── export-pptx.js

Troubleshooting

Authentication Errors

• Verify PAT credentials are correct
• Check that PAT has not expired
• Ensure site ID matches the site content URL (not the site name)

Export Failures

• Check GCS bucket exists and is accessible
• Verify service account has objectCreator and objectViewer roles
• Large exports may timeout - try smaller views or increase Cloud Run timeout

Rate Limiting

• The server throttles to 10 requests/second
• Batch operations may be slower due to throttling
• Consider increasing throttle limit for Tableau Server (not Cloud)

License

MIT

Author

Agile Market Intelligence