Tableau overview
Tableau in Glean combines permission-aware indexing with live Assistant queries. Use the connector to discover Tableau workbooks and data source metadata in Glean Search, then use Tableau in Assistant to ask natural-language questions about live Tableau data when the Connected App setup is enabled. View metadata may appear within the parent workbook when view folding is enabled.
At a glance
Glean offers two ways to integrate with Tableau. Each serves a different purpose, and together they give your organization both searchable Tableau content and live data access in one place.
| Indexing | Assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Index Tableau workbooks and data source metadata into Glean Search | Let users ask natural-language questions about Tableau data in Glean Assistant |
| Data model | Crawled and indexed metadata | Live access at request time |
| Authentication | Connected App setup or PAT setup | Connected App with per-user impersonation |
| Setup owner | Tableau admin and Glean admin | Tableau admin and Glean admin |
| End-user experience | Search and open indexed Tableau results | Ask natural-language questions and get live Tableau answers in Glean Assistant |
For a detailed breakdown of who completes each setup, see Who completes each setup? in the Indexing topic.
How Tableau works in Glean
The Tableau connector and the Glean-hosted Tableau MCP integration handle different parts of the same workflow:
- Indexing indexes Tableau workbook and data source metadata for permission-aware discovery. When view folding is enabled, view metadata is added to the parent workbook. The Connected App setup uses Connected App credentials; the PAT-based setup uses an admin Personal Access Token and per-user Tableau credentials.
- Assistant integration uses the Connected App to impersonate each user and retrieve live, read-only results through the Glean-hosted Tableau MCP server.
- Permissions remain enforced by Tableau. Glean applies indexed permissions for search, while live Assistant requests use the authenticated user’s Tableau access.
- Data freshness differs by integration. Search results depend on crawl and webhook updates; Assistant retrieves current data at request time.
Which one should you start with?
For the current Assistant-capable setup, start with Connected App setup and configure the Tableau connector with Connected App credentials. After you select Continue, complete the Connect step in the same connector setup to enable Tableau tools.
For a PAT-based indexing setup, use Personal Access Token setup. Indexing handles discovery and navigation, while Assistant handles natural-language questions about live Tableau data.
To use Tableau in Assistant, configure the Tableau connector with Connected App credentials and complete the connector's Connect step in Glean.