Use Tableau Connected Apps for Application Integration

Applies to: Tableau Cloud, Tableau Server

Beginning in early January 2022, Tableau connected apps enable a seamless and secure authentication experience by facilitating an explicit trust relationship between your Tableau Cloud site and external applications where Tableau content is embedded. In June 2022, Tableau connected apps extended their capabilities to support REST API authorisation. And as of October 2023, REST API authorisation via connected apps is respected by the Metadata API.

There are two types of connected apps you can configure: direct trust or OAuth 2.0 trust.

Using direct trust, you can:

  • Restrict access to which content can be embedded and where that content can be embedded

  • Provide users with the ability to access embedded content using single sign-on (SSO) without having to integrate with an identity provider (IdP)

  • Provide users with the ability to authenticate directly from your external application

  • Programmatically authorise access to Tableau REST API (and the Metadata API starting in Tableau Cloud October 2023) on users' behalf using JSON Web Token (JWT)

  • Scope Tableau REST API capabilities users or applications can perform

    For more information about this connected app type, see Configure Connected Apps with Direct Trust.

Using OAuth 2.0 trust, you can:

  • Restrict access to which content can be embedded and where that content can be embedded

  • Provide users the ability to access embedded content using single sign-on (SSO) through your identity provider (IdP)

  • Provide access using standard OAuth 2.0 standard protocol

  • Programmatically authorise access to Tableau REST API (and the Metadata API starting in Tableau Cloud 2023) on users' behalf

  • Scope Tableau REST API capabilities users or applications can perform

    For more information about this connected app type, see Configure Connected Apps with OAuth 2.0 Trust.

Note: Tableau-connected apps and Salesforce-connected apps are different and offer different functionality. Today, Tableau-connected apps are optimised for embedding Tableau views and metrics in external applications and used to authorise access to the Tableau REST API. (In October 2023, Tableau retired the ability to embed metrics in Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server version 2023.3.)

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