Cwtwb

Tableau workbook engineering for reproducible .twb / .twbx generation, validation, and migration.

cwtwb is a Python toolkit and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for building Tableau Desktop workbooks from code or agent tool calls.

It is meant to be a workbook engineering layer, not a conversational analytics agent. The focus is reproducibility, inspectability, and safe automation in local workflows, scripts, and CI.

The cw in cwtwb comes from Cooper Wenhua.

Latest update (0.18.9): release refresh for a republish after the previous 0.18.8 artifacts already existed on PyPI.

Author: Cooper Wenhua <[email protected]>

Website · Source · Changelog

Website Source License Python

Star History Chart

Try the example workflow · Read the guide

Quick Start

Install

pip install cwtwb

If you want the bundled Hyper-backed example too:

pip install "cwtwb[examples]"

Run As An MCP Server

uvx cwtwb

Add the server to your MCP client with the same command. For example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cwtwb": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["cwtwb"]
    }
  }
}

For Claude Code:

claude mcp add cwtwb -- uvx cwtwb

For VSCode, add cwtwb to your workspace or user mcp.json and use uvx cwtwb as the command.

For client-specific details and the full reference, see https://github.com/imgwho/cwtwb/blob/master/docs/guide.md.

Highlights

Area	What you get
Workbook authoring	Generate .twb / .twbx files from templates or from scratch
Chart building	Build bar, line, pie, map, KPI, and dual-axis workbooks
Safety	Validate structure and Tableau XSD before publishing
Migration	Repoint existing workbooks to new data sources with explicit steps
MCP support	Drive workbook workflows from Claude, Cursor, VSCode, or other MCP clients

See It In Action

This GIF shows the MCP tool flow that builds a dashboard step by step.

Architecture

                            Interfaces
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  ┌──────────────────────────┐  ┌───────────────────────────┐  │
  │  │        MCP Server        │  │      Python Library       │  │
  │  │  tools_workbook          │  │  from cwtwb.twb_editor    │  │
  │  │                          │  │  import TWBEditor         │  │
  │  │                          │  │                           │  │
  │  │                          │  │  editor.add_...()         │  │
  │  │                          │  │  editor.configure_...()   │  │
  │  │  (Claude / Cursor /      │  │  editor.save(...)         │  │
  │  │   VSCode / Claude Code)  │  │                           │  │
  │  └─────────────┬────────────┘  └──────────────┬────────────┘  │
  │                └──────────────┬────────────────┘               │
  └─────────────────────────────  ┼  ─────────────────────────────┘
                                  ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │                          TWBEditor                            │
  │       ParametersMixin  ·  ConnectionsMixin                    │
  │       ChartsMixin      ·  DashboardsMixin                     │
  └──────────┬──────────────────┬──────────────────┬─────────────┘
             ▼                  ▼                  ▼
  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │  Chart Builders  │  │  Dashboard   │  │  Analysis &          │
  │                  │  │  System      │  │  Migration           │
  │  Basic  DualAxis │  │              │  │                      │
  │  Pie    Text     │  │  layouts     │  │  migration.py        │
  │  Map    Recipes  │  │  actions     │  │  twb_analyzer.py     │
  │                  │  │  dependencies│  │  capability_registry │
  └────────┬─────────┘  └──────┬───────┘  └──────────┬───────────┘
           └───────────────────┼──────────────────────┘
                               ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │                     XML Engine  (lxml)                        │
  │    template.twb/.twbx  →  patch  →  validate  →  save        │
  └───────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┘
                                  ▼
                      output.twb  /  output.twbx

FAQ

What is the difference between .twb and .twbx?

.twb is the workbook XML. .twbx is the packaged version that bundles the workbook together with extracts and images.

Does validate_workbook save files?

No. validate_workbook() checks the workbook in memory or on disk, but it does not write output. save_workbook() is the tool that writes files.

When should I use uvx cwtwb versus python -m cwtwb.mcp?

Use uvx cwtwb for the normal MCP workflow. Use python -m cwtwb.mcp for local testing without uvx.

Where is the full guide?

See the online guide.

Documentation

• Guide
• Changelog

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later