Create and Interact with Flows on the Web


Starting in version 2020.4, you can create and interact with flows on Tableau Server to clean and prepare your data. Connect to your data, build a new flow, or edit an existing flow and your work is automatically saved every few seconds as you go. Create draft flows that are only available to you or publish your flow to make it available for others. Run your individual flows right from the web or run your flows automatically on a schedule using Tableau Prep Conductor if Data Management is licensed. For more information, see Tableau Prep on the Web.

For more information about configuring the Tableau Prep Flow Authoring process on Tableau Server, see Tableau Prep Flow Authoring .

Complete the tasks described in this article to enable web authoring for flows and other flow features on the web.

Turn flow web authoring on or off for a site

Enabled by default, this option controls whether users can create and edit flows on Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud

  1. In a web browser, sign in to the server as an administrator, go to the site and click Settings.

  2. In the Web Authoring section, clear or select Flows. Let users edit flows in their browser. to turn the functionality off or on.

  3. If you want the change to take effect immediately, restart the server. Otherwise, the change takes effect after server session caching expires or the next time users sign in after signing out.

Enable linked tasks

Supported in Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server version 2021.3 and later.

Use the Linked Tasks option to schedule up to 20 flows to run sequentially, one after the other. Linked tasks can only be run on schedules with the Linked Tasks option selected. For more information about setting up linked tasks, see Schedule Linked Tasks.

Starting in version 2022.1, Linked Tasks is enabled by default on the Server Settings and for any new flow schedules that you create. In prior versions, administrators must first enable the option.

If you have multiple sites, you can turn off Linked Tasks for individual sites by clearing the check boxes described below.

If the setting is turned off after linked tasks are scheduled, any tasks that are running will complete and the scheduled linked tasks are hidden and no longer show on the Scheduled Tasks tab.

Enable Linked Tasks (version 2021.4 and earlier)

  1. In a web browser, sign in to the server as an administrator and go to the site in which you want to enable Linked Tasks for flows. In that site, click Settings.

  2. In the Linked Tasks section, select Let users schedule linked tasks to enable administrators to configure schedules to run linked tasks.

  3. Select Let users run linked tasks manually using Run Now to enable users to run linked flow tasks using Run Now.

Enable flow parameters

Enable users to schedule and run flows that include parameters. Parameters enable users to scale their flows by building them once, then changing the parameter values to accommodate different data scenarios.

Parameters can be entered in an input step for file name and path, table name, or when using custom SQL queries, in an output step for file name and path and table name, and in any step type for filters or calculated values.

Starting in Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Cloud version 2023.2, you can add system parameters to flow output names to automatically include the flow run start date and time.

Flow parameter settings can be applied at the server level to include all sites on Tableau Server. The settings can be disabled at the site level to include only specific sites.

For more information about using parameters in flows, see Create and Use Parameters in Flows(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau Prep help.

  1. In a web browser, sign in to the server as an administrator and go to the site in which you want to enable Flow Parameters. In that site, click Settings.

  2. In the Flow Parameters section, select Let users run and schedule flows that use parameters to enable the functionality.

  3. (version 2023.2 and later) Select Allow system generated parameters like timestamps to be applied to output names to enable users to add a date or time stamp to the flow output name at runtime for file and published data source output types.

  4. Select Allow parameters that can accept any input to enable anyone running the flow to enter any parameter value in the flow at run time.

    Important: Setting this option enables any flow user to enter any value in a parameter, potentially exposing data that the user should not have access to.

    If this option is not selected, users can only select from predefined list of parameter values and any flows that include parameters that accept any value cannot be run or scheduled to run.

Enable Tableau Prep Conductor

If Data Management is licensed, enable this option to let users schedule and track flows in Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud. For information about the additional configuration requirements for Tableau Prep Conductor, see Tableau Prep Conductor(Link opens in a new window).

  1. In a web browser, sign in to the server as an administrator and go to the site in which you want to enable Tableau Prep Conductor. In that site, click Settings.

  2. In the Tableau Prep Conductor section, select Let users schedule and monitor flows to enable the functionality.

Enable Run Now

Control whether users or only administrators can run flows manually using the Run Now option. Data Management is not required to run flows manually.

  1. In a web browser, sign in to the server as an administrator and go to the site in which you want to enable Run Now for flows. In that site, click Settings.

  2. In the Run Now section, select Let users run jobs manually using Run Now to enable the functionality.

    Clear the check box if only Server Administrators can run flows manually.

Flow Subscriptions

Control whether users can receive flows notifications about scheduled tasks for successful flow runs. Data Management is required to enable notifications.

  1. In a web browser, sign in to the server as an administrator and go to the site in which you want to enable flow subscriptions. In that site, click Settings.

  2. In the Flow Subscriptions section, select Let users send or receive emails that include flow output data to enable the functionality.

    Note: The option to attach either a .csv or .xlsx file type to the email is only available for on-premise environments.

Enable Tableau Prep Extensions

Supported in Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud starting in version 2021.2.0

Set this option to control whether users can connect to Einstein Discovery to run predictive models against data in their flow.

You can use Einstein Discovery-powered models to bulk score predictions for the data in your flow when authoring flows on the web. Predictions can help you make better informed decisions and take actions to improve your business outcomes.

You'll need to configure additional settings to include predictions in our flow. For more information, see Add Einstein Discovery Predictions to your flow(Link opens in a new window) and Configure Einstein Discovery Integration(Link opens in a new window).

  1. In a web browser, sign in to the server as an administrator and go to the site in which you want to enable Tableau Prep Extensions. In that site, click Settings > Extensions.

  2. In the Tableau Prep Extensions section, select Let users connect to Einstein Discovery to enable the functionality.

Turn autosave off or on

Enabled by default, this feature automatically saves a user's flow work every few seconds.

While not recommended, administrators can disable autosave on a site using the Tableau Server REST API method "Update Site" and flowAutoSaveEnabled setting. For more information, see Tableau Server REST API Site Methods: Update Site(Link opens in a new window). For more information about autosave on the web, see Turn autosave off or on.

For more information about configuring site settings, see Site Settings Reference(Link opens in a new window) in the Tableau Server help.

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