Tableau MCP Server 🚀

A powerful Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects Claude Desktop to Tableau Server, enabling natural language interactions with your Tableau data and comprehensive administrative capabilities.

✨ Features

📊 Data Access & Analysis

List & Browse: Explore all workbooks, views, and data sources
Data Extraction: Get CSV data from any Tableau view
Visual Export: Download dashboard images in PNG format
Complete Datasets: Download entire data sources with all raw data
Smart Search: Find content across your Tableau server

🛡️ Administrative Tools (New!)

User Management: List all users with roles and login history
Permission Auditing: See exactly who has access to workbooks
Group Management: View all groups and member counts
Project Oversight: Audit project permissions and settings
Site Administration: Get comprehensive site statistics
Usage Analytics: Detailed workbook usage and access audits

🎯 Use Cases

For Data Analysts

"Show me the sales data from Q4 dashboard"
"Export the customer metrics as CSV"
"Find all reports containing revenue data"

For Tableau Administrators

"Who has access to the Finance workbook?"
"List all users who haven't logged in recently"
"Show me all groups and their member counts"
"Audit the permissions for our HR dashboards"

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Python 3.8+
Claude Desktop installed
Access to Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud
Administrative privileges (for admin tools)

1. Clone and Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hetpatel-11/Tableau-MCP.git
cd Tableau-MCP

# Create virtual environment (recommended)
python -m venv tableau_mcp_env
source tableau_mcp_env/bin/activate  # On Windows: tableau_mcp_env\Scripts\activate

# Install ALL dependencies including MCP SDK
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. MCP SDK Installation (If Having Issues)

If you encounter MCP SDK installation issues, try these solutions:

# Option 1: Install MCP SDK directly
pip install mcp>=1.0.0

# Option 2: Install with specific version
pip install mcp==1.0.0

# Option 3: Install from source (if needed)
pip install git+https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk.git

# Option 4: Force reinstall
pip install --force-reinstall mcp>=1.0.0

3. Verify Installation

# Test that MCP SDK is properly installed
python -c "import mcp; print('✅ MCP SDK installed successfully')"

# Test Tableau Server Client
python -c "import tableauserverclient as TSC; print('✅ Tableau Server Client ready')"

# Test the server
python tableau_mcp_server.py --test

4. Configuration

Create a .env file with your Tableau credentials:

TABLEAU_SERVER_URL=https://your-tableau-server.com
TABLEAU_SITE_ID=your-site-name

# Option 1: Personal Access Token (Recommended)
TABLEAU_TOKEN_NAME=your-token-name
TABLEAU_TOKEN_VALUE=your-token-value

# Option 2: Username/Password
# TABLEAU_USERNAME=your-username
# TABLEAU_PASSWORD=your-password

5. Claude Desktop Setup

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tableau-server": {
      "command": "/path/to/Tableau-MCP/start_clean.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

6. Start the Server

# Make startup script executable
chmod +x start_clean.sh

# Start the server
./start_clean.sh

🛠️ Available Tools

Data Access Tools

Tool	Description
`list_workbooks`	List all available Tableau workbooks
`list_views`	List views in a specific workbook
`get_view_data`	Extract CSV data from any view
`get_view_image`	Get dashboard/view as PNG image
`search_content`	Search across all Tableau content
`list_datasources`	List all available data sources
`download_datasource`	Download complete raw datasets

Administrative Tools

Tool	Description
`list_workbook_permissions`	See who has access to workbooks
`list_all_users`	View all users with roles and details
`list_all_groups`	View all groups with member counts
`get_user_permissions`	Get detailed user permissions
`list_projects_permissions`	Audit project permissions
`get_site_info`	Get site statistics and quotas
`audit_workbook_usage`	Comprehensive workbook audits
`list_user_groups`	See user group memberships

📋 MCP Resources

The server exposes Tableau content as MCP resources:

tableau://workbooks/{workbook_id} - Workbook metadata
tableau://views/{view_id}/data - View data in CSV format

🔧 Advanced Usage

Debug Mode

python tableau_mcp_server.py --debug

Authentication Testing

python tableau_mcp_server.py --test

Manual Setup

python setup.py --test-only

🏗️ Architecture

Claude Desktop ↔ MCP Server ↔ Tableau REST API ↔ Tableau Server
                     ⬇️
               [15 Available Tools]
                     ⬇️
            [Data + Admin Capabilities]

📁 Project Structure

Tableau-MCP/
├── tableau_mcp_server.py    # Main MCP server implementation
├── start_clean.sh           # Server startup script
├── requirements.txt         # Python dependencies (includes MCP SDK)
├── setup.py                # Setup and configuration script
├── env.example             # Environment configuration template
├── README.md               # This file
└── .env                    # Your credentials (create this)

🔒 Security

Local Operation: Server runs locally with your permissions
Secure Credentials: Uses environment variables for authentication
Token Authentication: Supports Tableau Personal Access Tokens
No Data Leakage: No data sent to external services

🚨 Troubleshooting

MCP SDK Issues

"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mcp'"

# Solution 1: Install MCP SDK
pip install mcp>=1.0.0

# Solution 2: Check virtual environment
source tableau_mcp_env/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Solution 3: Verify Python version
python --version  # Should be 3.8+

"MCP SDK version conflict"

# Uninstall and reinstall
pip uninstall mcp
pip install mcp>=1.0.0

Common Issues

"Authentication failed"

Verify credentials in .env file
Check Tableau Server URL format
Ensure account has proper permissions

"No tools available in Claude"

Restart Claude Desktop after configuration
Check that start_clean.sh is executable
Verify Python dependencies are installed

"Permission denied errors"

Ensure your account has administrative privileges
Check Tableau Server user permissions
Verify site access rights

Getting Help

Test Connection: python tableau_mcp_server.py --test
Debug Mode: python tableau_mcp_server.py --debug
Check Logs: Look for error messages in terminal output
Verify MCP: python -c "import mcp; print('MCP SDK OK')"

📈 Example Conversations

Data Analysis

User: "Show me all workbooks and find the sales data"
Claude: [Lists workbooks] → [Finds sales-related content] → [Extracts data]

User: "Get the customer metrics from the Q4 dashboard as CSV"
Claude: [Locates dashboard] → [Extracts view data] → [Provides CSV]

Administration

User: "Who has access to our Finance workbook?"
Claude: [Lists all users and groups with permissions] → [Shows permission levels]

User: "Show me all users who are site administrators"
Claude: [Lists users by role] → [Highlights administrators]

🤝 Contributing

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Add your improvements
Test thoroughly
Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Ready to supercharge your Tableau workflows with Claude? Get started now! 🎉

Tableau MCP Server