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Starting with Tableau Server version 2022.3 , using Tableau-connected apps, you can programmatically call and access the Tableau REST API through your custom application on behalf of Tableau Server users. Access to the REST API is enabled by a JSON Web Token (JWT) defined as part of the initial Sign In request. The JWT must contain scopes that define the REST API methods that are available to your custom application and its users through the connected app.

Authorise access to the REST API using connected apps to:

• Enhance security – using a JWT as a bearer token is inherently more secure than storing and managing admin user passwords through .env files in vaults
• Enhance efficiency – using a JWT as a bearer token enables a simplified impersonation with one request to the Sign In endpoint instead of two requests
• Extend and automate complex Tableau integrations and backend queries – such as dynamic content retrieval and advanced filtering

Scope actions

Connected apps use scopes that grant access to content or administrative actions through the REST API methods that support JWT authorisation (below). A scope is a colon-separated string that starts with the namespace tableau, followed by the Tableau resource that access is being granted to, such as datasources, and ends with the action that is allowed on the resource, such as update.

The action a scope can take includes:

• create
• read
• run
• update
• download
• delete

For example, a scope that allows your custom application to call the Update Data Source(Link opens in a new window) method looks like:

tableau:datasources:update

Scope types

The type of scope you use depends on the content or administrative action that you want to enable. Scopes generally fall into one of the following types: content read, individual, wildcard and cross-category.

• Content read scope: The content read scope, tableau:content:read, enables supported GET methods for Tableau content. When you use this scope, you enable actions across REST API categories. More specifically, using this scope you enable GET methods for data sources, metrics, views, workbooks, projects and sites. Starting in Tableau Server 2023.3, you also specify this scope in a JWT that will be used to create a credentials token for use with the Metadata API(Link opens in a new window).

  Note: To enable GET methods for administrative actions, like users and groups, you can use their individual scopes.

• Individual scopes: To enable supported content and administrative actions, you can use their individual scopes. An individual scope is generally associated with a single method and REST API category.

  Examples:

  • To enable publish or update a data source action, you can use the individual tableau:datasources:create or tableau:datasources:update scope, respectively.
  • For administrative actions like add or remove users, you can use the individual tableau:users:create or tableau:users:delete scope, respectively.

  Note: There are some individual scopes that can enable actions across REST API categories. For example, tableau:views:download enables actions in the view data and workbooks REST API categories.

• Wildcard (*) scopes: For certain scopes, you can replace the action with the wildcard character (*) to enable supported actions within a specific REST API category.

  Examples:

  • You can use the tableau:projects:* wildcard scope to enable the create, delete and update actions in the projects REST API category.
  • You can use the tableau:users:* wildcard scope to enable the get/list, add, delete and update actions in the users REST API category.
  • You can use the tableau:tasks:* wildcard scope to enable the get/list, add, delete, update and run actions of extract and subscriptions REST API categories. In addition, this scope enables update data source (if an extract) and update workbook.

• Cross-category scopes: In addition to the content read scope, there are a few additional scopes that, if used, enable supported actions across different REST API categories.

  Examples:

  • If using the tableau:tasks:run scope, you enable actions in the data sources and workbooks REST API categories.
  • Again, if using the tableau:views:download scope, you enable actions in the view data and workbook REST API categories.
  • If using permissions scopes like tableau:permissions:update or tableau:permissions:delete, you enable actions in the data sources, workbooks and projects REST API categories.

Summary of how to authorise REST API access

The following list summarises the steps to request access to the REST API through a JWT:

1. Create a connected app using one of the following methods:
   • Configure Connected Apps with Direct Trust
   • Configure Connected Apps with OAuth 2.0 Trust
2. Generate a valid JWT – at runtime your custom application will generate a valid JWT, configured with the scopes you have included
3. Make a Sign In(Link opens in a new window) request – your custom application will make a Sign In request using the JWT to return a Tableau credentials token and site ID (LUID)
4. Use the Tableau access token in subsequent requests – in subsequent REST API calls, use 1) the Tableau credentials token as the X-Tableau-Auth(Link opens in a new window) header value and 2) the site ID (LUID) in the request URI

Example

For example, suppose you create a connected app using direct trust. Using direct trust, your custom application that calls the REST API generates a valid JWT using the client ID and client secret generated by the connected app.

Scopes in the JWT

To successfully authorise access to the REST API, the JWT must also contain the scopes that define the REST API capabilities. For example, to enable various data source-related methods, you might include the following scopes in the JWT:

"tableau:content:read","tableau:datasources:create","tableau:datasources:update","tableau:datasources:download","tableau:tasks:run"

Or

"tableau:content:read","tableau:datasources:*","tableau:tasks:run"

Note: Scope values must be passed as a list type.

Sign In Request URI

To make a call to the REST API, your custom application must first make a Sign In request to generate a Tableau credentials token.

POST https://myco/api/3.17/auth/signin

Request body

To authorise REST API access using a JWT, the Sign In request body must contain the valid JWT like the example below.

<tsRequest>
   <credentials jwt="eyJpc3MiOiI4ZTFiNzE3Mi0zOWMzLTRhMzItODg3ZS1mYzJiNDExOWY1NmQiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6ImIwMTE1YmY5LTNhNGItNGM5MS1iMDA5LWNmMGMxNzBiMWE1NiJ9.eyJhdWQiOiJ0YWJsZWF1Iiwic3ViIjoicm1vaGFuQHRhYmxlYXUuY29tIiwic2NwIjpbInRhYmxlYXU6c2l0ZXM6cmVhZCJdLCJpc3MiOiI4ZTFiNzE3Mi0zOWMzLTRhMzItODg3ZS1mYzJiNDExOWY1NmQiLCJleHAiOjE2NDg2Njg0MzksImp0aSI6IjY1ZWFmMmYxLTNmZTgtNDc5Ny1hZmRiLTMyODMzZDVmZGJkYSJ9.mUv2o4gtBTrMVLEXY5XTpzDQTGvfE2LGi-3O2vdGfT8">
    <site contentUrl="mycodotcom"/>
   </credentials>
</tsRequest>

Response body

The Sign In request produces the following response body, which includes the Tableau credentials token.

<tsResponse>
   <credentials token="12ab34cd56ef78ab90cd12ef34ab56cd">
    <site id="9a8b7c6d5-e4f3-a2b1-c0d9-e8f7a6b5c4d" contentUrl=""/>
    <user id="9f9e9d9c-8b8a-8f8e-7d7c-7b7a6f6d6e6d" />
   </credentials>
</tsResponse>

After the Tableau access token is generated, add the Tableau credentials token to the header of all subsequent REST API requests.

Header

X-Tableau-Auth:12ab34cd56ef78ab90cd12ef34ab56cd

All subsequent REST API requests using the Tableau access token are then bounded by the scopes in the JWT.

REST API methods that support JWT authorisation

The following scopes can be associated with the connected app to define access and methods your custom application can have to the REST API(Link opens in a new window) on users' behalf.

Notes:

• For other REST API capabilities not listed in the table below, you can use other authorisation mechanisms to access the methods. For more information, see Authentication Methods(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau REST API Help.
• Both the Sign In(Link opens in a new window) and Sign Out(Link opens in a new window) methods are supported by JWT authorisation but do not require scopes to use beginning in Tableau Server 2023.3.
• For scopes supported by the Embedding API v3, see one of the following:
  • Configure Connected Apps with Direct Trust
  • Configure Connected Apps with OAuth 2.0 Trust

Wildcard (*) scopes

Wildcard scopes use the wildcard character (*) instead of a specific action, to enable multiple supported actions within a specific REST API category. These include:

Cross-category scopes

Cross-category scopes enable multiple supported actions across multiple REST API categories. These include:

Individual scopes

Troubleshoot scopes

401001 - signin error

If you encounter error 401001, the Sign In response body is appended with one of the following additional connected apps-specific error codes: 16, 10084, or 10085.

For example, in the following response body, "10084” is the connected apps error code you can use to help troubleshoot issues with signing in to Tableau Server using a JWT for REST API authorisation.

<error code="401001">  
  "summary": "Signin Error",
  "detail": "Error signing in to Tableau Cloud (10084)"
</error>

To help resolve the issue, refer to the description of the applicable error code and its potential causes.

• 16: Could not find user – this error can occur because the incorrect "sub" (user name) was specified

• 10084: Could not parse access token – this error can occur for the following reasons:

  • JWT is invalid or there was an unexpected problem
  • Incorrect "aud" (audience) was specified
  • For direct trust, there was a problem with signing the secret

• 10085: Could not fetch secret to verify signature for client ID – this error can occur for the following reasons:

  • Incorrect client ID in "iss" specified
  • For direct trust, incorrect "kid" (secret ID) was specified
  • For EAS, unable to fetch keys from the JWKSource

401002 – unauthorised access error

If you encounter error 401002 and have confirmed that you have the appropriate permissions to make the request, ensure the scope included in the JWT is correct and matches the request you're trying to make. For a list of endpoints and supported scopes, see the REST API methods that support JWT authorisation section above.