Tableau 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/monjaworska/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": "/bin/bash",
      "args": [
        "/Users/monika/Documents/Git/Tableau-MCP/start_clean.sh"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Change it to your path!

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

1. Test Connection: python tableau_mcp_server.py --test
2. Debug Mode: python tableau_mcp_server.py --debug
3. Check Logs: Look for error messages in terminal output
4. 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

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add your improvements
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

📄 License

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

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with the Model Context Protocol
• Uses Tableau Server Client
• Designed for Claude Desktop

---

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