Tableau MCP

What tableau-mcp does

tableau-mcp provides MCP primitives for applications that need to work with Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server. AI clients can use it to ask questions about published data, inspect Tableau content, and retrieve views. The repository also supports a separate Tableau Desktop authoring server, but that component is distinct from the web server distributed through npm.

Typical interactions include querying a datasource for ranked results, locating a workbook based on usage or metadata, and requesting a particular view from a project. Retrieved view content can be presented to the user by the connected client.

How it works

For Tableau Cloud, the hosted deployment is available at https://mcp.tableau.com. It uses OAuth 2.1, allowing each user to authenticate with their own Tableau Cloud identity. Existing per-user Tableau permissions are applied during access.

The local and self-hosted web server is distributed as @tableau/mcp-server. An MCP client starts it with npx, or it can be deployed through other supported self-hosted approaches, including Docker, source builds, and Heroku. The server can target either Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server through its configuration.

The service can also be packaged as a Node.js Single Executable Application. That option produces a standalone web executable, so Node.js is not required on the machine running the packaged binary.

Setup and configuration

For a local npm setup, install Node.js 22.7.5 or newer and add the server to the MCP client's configuration. The basic stdio configuration uses the latest npm package tag:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tableau": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@tableau/mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "SERVER": "https://my-tableau-server.com",
        "SITE_NAME": "my_site",
        "PAT_NAME": "my_pat",
        "PAT_VALUE": "pat_value"
      }
    }
  }
}

SERVER identifies the Tableau deployment, while SITE_NAME selects the site. PAT_NAME and PAT_VALUE provide a personal access token for the configured connection. For the hosted service, configure the client with https://mcp.tableau.com and complete the OAuth sign-in flow when prompted instead of supplying these local PAT settings.

Tools and capabilities

• Query published Tableau datasource data through natural-language requests.
• Explore workbook and content metadata, including view counts and modification details.
• Retrieve a named view from a Tableau project.
• Provide MCP tools, resources, and prompts to integrating applications.
• Connect to Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server through the web deployment.

Limitations and notes

The npm package is a web server for Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server. It does not contain Tableau Desktop's authoring server or Desktop authoring data; that server is built separately from the repository.

The hosted endpoint is intended for Tableau Cloud. Tableau Server users and organizations requiring self-hosted infrastructure should use a self-hosted deployment instead. Standalone executable archives are attached to supported GitHub Releases when available, and the executable is distributed separately from the npm-based setup.