Tableau Connector | Collate Integration Guide

This section provides guides and references to use the Tableau connector. Configure and schedule Tableau metadata and profiler workflows from the Collate UI:

Requirements
Entity Mapping
Metadata Ingestion
Enable Security
Lineage
Troubleshooting
Reverse Metadata

Requirements

To ingest Tableau metadata, minimum Site Role: Viewer is required for the Tableau user. To create lineage between Tableau dashboards and any database service via the queries provided from Tableau Metadata API, enable the Tableau Metadata API for your Tableau server. For more information, see Get Started with the Metadata API.

Tip:

If using a default site on Tableau Server, leave the Site URL and Site Name fields blank in the ingestion configuration.
Ensure that the Metadata API is enabled for the user performing the ingestion. If it is not enabled, ingestion may fail. Follow the official Tableau documentation to enable the Metadata API.
The minimum required role to retrieve owners is Site Admin Explorer.

Tip:

As of Collate versions 1.7.4 and 1.7.5, the siteUrl field has been removed from the Tableau connector configuration. This change was intentional, as confirmed in the release commit.
To connect to a non-default Tableau site, use the siteName field instead. The Tableau Python SDK does not require siteUrl for authentication.
Ensure the siteName field is correctly populated (do not use *) to enable successful metadata ingestion for multi-site Tableau environments.

Source Tables and Lineage

Important: Table lineage requires the ingestion account to have the View capability on the external assets in Tableau Catalog, granted directly or derived. For any asset it cannot view, Tableau returns the source table with its table and database names removed, keeping only internal identifiers, and reports no error. Those tables are skipped without a message, so no lineage is created between them and the data models that use them. Assets the account can view are unaffected, and dashboards, charts and data models are still ingested either way.

Grant the ingestion account View on the affected external assets in Tableau Catalog, or use an account that already holds it. A Viewer or Explorer site role alone is not enough for Collate to build table lineage. For the steps, see Manage Permissions for External Assets in the Tableau documentation.

Entity Mapping

The Tableau connector maps Tableau assets to Collate entities as follows:

Tableau Asset	Collate Entity	Description
Workbooks	Dashboard	Tableau workbooks are mapped to Collate Dashboard entities.
Views (worksheets, dashboard views, stories—all sheet types)	Chart	All Tableau views are mapped to Collate Chart entities, regardless of their sheet type.
Data Sources (embedded and published)	Data Models	Tableau data sources are mapped to Collate Data Model entities.
Projects	Project field	The Tableau project name is stored in the project field of the Dashboard.

Example Structure

Tableau Structure:

Project: Sales Team
└── Workbook: Sales Analysis
    ├── Dashboard: Revenue Overview (sheetType="dashboard")
    ├── Worksheet: Monthly Sales (sheetType="worksheet")
    └── Story: Sales Story (sheetType="story")

Collate Structure:

Dashboard: "Sales Analysis" (Project: "Sales Team")
├── Chart: "Revenue Overview"
├── Chart: "Monthly Sales"
└── Chart: "Sales Story"

This mapping ensures that:

Tableau workbooks appear as Collate dashboards.
All views (worksheets, dashboard views, stories) appear as charts under that dashboard.
Tableau project names are preserved in the project field.
URLs point directly to the specific views.

Metadata Ingestion

To ingest metadata from Tableau, you need to create a service connection. The service connects Tableau with Collate. Once you create a service, Collate automatically starts ingesting metadata.

Step 1: Add New Service

Open the Services page and start a new service.

Navigate to Settings > Services and select Dashboard Services.
Click Add New Service.

Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

From the service type dropdown, select Dashboard Services, then click the Tableau connector tile.

Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. Collate identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other Tableau services you are ingesting metadata from.
Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

Note: The service name can’t be changed after you set it.

Step 4: Configure Connection Options

Specify where ingestion runs, provide your source credentials, and verify the connection.

Select Ingestion Runner

Select an Ingestion Runner: the runner where the ingestion pipeline will execute.

Enter Connection Details

Enter the connection details for Tableau. The right-hand panel in the UI displays inline help for each field.

Host and Port: URL or IP address of your installation of Tableau Server.
Authentication Types:
- Basic Authentication
- Username: The name of the user whose credentials will be used to sign in.
- Password: The password of the user.
1. Access Token Authentication
- Personal Access Token: The personal access token name. For more information, see Personal Access Tokens.
- Personal Access Token Secret: The personal access token value. For more information, see Personal Access Tokens.
API Version: Tableau API version. For a list of Tableau Server versions and their corresponding REST API and REST API schema versions, see REST API Versions.
Site Name: This corresponds to the contentUrl attribute in the Tableau REST API. The site_name is the portion of the URL that follows the /site/ in the URL.
Site URL: If it is empty, the default Tableau site name will be used.
Environment: The config object can have multiple environments. The default environment is defined as tableau_prod, and you can change this if needed by specifying an env parameter.
Pagination Limit: The pagination limit will be used while querying the Tableau Graphql endpoint to get the data source information.

Site Name and Site URL

The Site Name and Site URL fields behave differently depending on how your Tableau instance is deployed.

1. Service Connection for Tableau Cloud

If you’re connecting to a cloud Tableau instance, add the Site Name and Site URL with your site name.

2. Service Connection for a Default Tableau Site

For a default Tableau site, the Site Name and Site URL fields should be kept empty.

3. Service Connection for a Non-Default Tableau Site

For a non-default Tableau site, the Site Name and Site URL fields are required.

Tip: If https://xxx.tableau.com/#/site/MarketingTeam/home represents the homepage URL for your Tableau site, the MarketingTeam from the URL should be entered in the Site Name and Site URL fields.

Authentication Type

Tableau supports two authentication methods for the connector.

1. Basic Authentication

Basic authentication requires the username and password of the user signing in.

2. Access Token Authentication

Access token authentication requires the personal access token name and the personal access token value. For more information, see Personal Access Tokens.

Test Connection

Click Test Connection to verify the credentials.
After the test succeeds, click Save.

Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

In the What to Ingest step, use filter patterns to control which assets Collate ingests from your dashboard service. Filter rules match asset names using the following match types.

How Filter Patterns Work

Include: Add one or more comma-separated values. Each value uses one of the following match types. Collate ingests only assets whose names match at least one rule. Leave blank to include all assets.
Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated values. Each value uses one of the following match types. Collate skips any asset whose name matches a rule. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

Rules match asset names using one of five match types:

contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

When both Include and Exclude are set, Exclude takes priority.

Tip: Leave all filter patterns empty to ingest all dashboards and charts available in the source.

The Dashboard and Chart sections each include the following filter options:

Dashboard: Controls which dashboards Collate ingests from the source.
Chart: Controls which charts within the ingested dashboards are included.

Each section provides the following controls:

Scan Mode: Choose between the following scan modes:
- Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
- Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
Exclude system toggle: Use this toggle to filter out system-reserved names defined by the connector for that asset type.
Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
Include rules: In Only specific mode, click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips. An asset is included if it matches any rule.

Tip: If AutoPilot is enabled, usage tracking, data lineage, and other downstream workflows start automatically after the first metadata ingestion completes.

Step 6: Create & Deploy

Click Create & Deploy to deploy the agent and start the first metadata ingestion run. Collate saves the service configuration and immediately begins pulling metadata from the source. To monitor ingestion progress or view the service you just added, go to Settings > Services and select your service.

Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

The Metadata Agent extracts dashboards, charts, data models, and other structural metadata from your source and keeps your Collate catalog in sync. It powers discovery, lineage, and governance across your data assets. When you click Create & Deploy, Collate automatically deploys a Metadata Agent for this service and triggers the first ingestion run. View its status and run history from the Agents tab on the service detail page. To configure the additional Metadata Agent and schedule ingestion, follow these steps:

Navigate to Settings > Services and select the Dashboards service.
Select your service and click the Agents tab.
Click Add Agent and select Metadata from the dropdown. For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.

On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.

Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique, recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.

Agent Setup: Configure ingestion parameters. The following fields are available:

Field	Default	Description
Db Service Prefixes	—	List of database service name prefixes used to resolve lineage between dashboards and database assets. Accepted formats: `DBService`, `DBService.Database`, `DBService.Database.Schema`, `DBService.Database.Schema.Table`.
Query Parser Type	Auto	Select the SQL parser used for lineage extraction from dashboard queries. Auto selects the best available parser automatically. SqlGlot is a high-performance parser with excellent dialect support; falls back to SqlParse on failure. SqlFluff is a comprehensive parser with strong dialect support; falls back to SqlParse on failure.
Mark Deleted Dashboards	On	Soft-delete dashboards in Collate when they are removed from the source. Associated lineage is also deleted.
Mark Deleted Data Models	On	Soft-delete data models in Collate when they are removed from the source. Associated lineage is also deleted.
Mark Deleted Charts	On	Soft-delete charts in Collate when they are removed from the source.
Include Data Models	On	Ingest data model metadata.
Include Draft Dashboards	On	Ingest dashboards that are in draft state.
Include Usage	On	Collect and ingest usage statistics for dashboards.

Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which dashboards, charts, data models, and projects this agent ingests. These follow the same filter options described in Step 5.

Scope & Behaviour: Control what metadata to include and how to handle deletions. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

Toggle	Default	Description
Enable Debug Log	Off	Sets the ingestion log level to DEBUG. Useful for troubleshooting.
Include Current Owners	Off	When enabled, replaces the current owner with a new owner from the source if the current owner is null. Recommended to keep enabled during the first metadata ingestion to capture owner information.
Include Tags	On	Ingest tags from the source.
Override Metadata	Off	When on, source values overwrite existing descriptions, tags, owners, and display names in Collate. When off, Collate only updates fields that have no existing value.
Override Lineage	Off	When on, existing lineage is replaced with newly extracted lineage on each run.

On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:
- Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
- On-Demand: No automatic schedule. Trigger the agent manually when needed.
Click Add to deploy the agent.

Lineage

Lineage in Collate shows you which database tables power each dashboard. When lineage is set up, you can trace any dashboard back to the exact source tables in your database. There is no separate lineage agent or lineage pipeline—lineage is collected as part of the same metadata ingestion workflow. Configuring the Db Service Prefixes field (covered below) is optional but recommended — it restricts table matching to specific database services. If left blank, Collate attempts to match source tables across all ingested database services.

How to Set Up Lineage

Go to Settings > Services > Dashboards.
Click the dashboard service you’ve added.
Go to the Agents tab, then select Add Agent > Add Metadata Agent. If a metadata agent already exists, select the three-dot context menu (⋮) next to it and select Edit.
In the Configure Ingestion step, scroll down to the Lineage Information section.
Optionally enter one or more database service names in the Db Service Prefixes field to restrict table matching to specific services. If left blank, Collate searches across all ingested database services.

The Db Service Prefixes field helps Collate locate the source tables and draw the lineage path from table to dashboard. Examples of valid entries:

What you enter	What it matches
`SnowflakeProd`	All tables in the Snowflake service named `SnowflakeProd`
`SnowflakeProd.sales_db`	Tables in the `sales_db` database within `SnowflakeProd`
`SnowflakeProd.sales_db.public`	Tables in the `public` schema within `sales_db`

If your dashboards pull data from multiple database services, add each service as a separate entry in the Db Service Prefixes field.

Securing Tableau Connection with SSL in Collate

To establish secure connections between Collate and Tableau, navigate to the Advanced Config section. Here, you can provide the CA certificate used for SSL validation by specifying the caCertificate. Alternatively, if both client and server require mutual authentication, you’ll need to use all three parameters: ssl_key, ssl_cert, and caCertificate. In this case, ssl_cert is used for the client’s SSL certificate, ssl_key for the private key associated with the SSL certificate, and caCertificate for the CA certificate to validate the server’s certificate.

Troubleshooting

Tableau Troubleshooting

Learn more about how to troubleshoot common Tableau connector issues and resolve configuration or ingestion errors.

Reverse Metadata

Description Management

Tableau supports description updates at the following levels:

Dashboard level
Chart level

Owner Management

Tableau supports owner management at the following levels:

Dashboard level

❌ Owner management is not supported for Charts as ownership in Tableau is managed at the workbook level.

Tag Management

Tableau supports tag management at the following levels:

Dashboard level
Chart level

For more information about reverse metadata ingestion, see Reverse Metadata Application.

Connectors

Connectors

Tableau Connector | Collate Integration Guide