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Delete Content

Permanently deletes a workbook, published data source, or extract refresh task. Dispatches on resourceType:

  • workbook — deletes a workbook (recoverable via recycle bin on Tableau Cloud)
  • datasource — deletes a published data source (recoverable via recycle bin; warns on downstream dependents)
  • extract-refresh-task — deletes an extract refresh task schedule (permanent, not recoverable)

The tool is admin-only — it is registered only when ADMIN_TOOLS_ENABLED=true, and at request time it verifies the caller's site role and rejects anything below SiteAdministratorCreator / SiteAdministratorExplorer / ServerAdministrator.

Two-phase safety​

The tool is two-phase to keep the destructive action safe:

  1. Preview (default — confirm omitted or false):

    • For workbook / datasource: tags the resource with pending-deletion (reversible, visible in the Tableau UI), reports identity, project, and owner.
    • For extract-refresh-task: first verifies the task exists on the site (there is no single-get endpoint, so the task list is checked for a matching id) — an unknown taskId returns a not-found error and no confirmationToken is minted. When the task exists, mints a single-use confirmationToken and reports task metadata.
    • Does not delete anything.

  2. Confirm (confirm: true):

    • For workbook / datasource: re-fetches the resource and verifies the pending-deletion tag is present before deleting (server-authoritative gate — cannot be bypassed by guessing).
    • For extract-refresh-task: verifies the confirmationToken matches the nonce from the preview.
    • Performs the deletion.

:::warning Human confirmation required Between the preview and the confirm, the calling agent is instructed to surface the resource identity to the user and obtain explicit approval. This is a prompt-level expectation; the tag/nonce gate proves a preview ran but cannot observe whether a human actually approved.

When the mcp-apps feature flag is enabled, the model-driven confirm: true path is closed entirely — deletion requires a human gesture in the in-iframe confirm panel. :::

Tool scoping​

This tool honors the same tool-scoping rules as the read tools. If the server is configured with a bounded context (INCLUDE_WORKBOOK_IDS, INCLUDE_PROJECT_IDS, INCLUDE_DATASOURCE_IDS, INCLUDE_TAGS), a resource outside that scope cannot be previewed or deleted — the request is rejected before any side effects.

APIs called​

Workbook​

Datasource​

Extract Refresh Task​

Common​

Required arguments​

resourceType​

The kind of resource to delete: "workbook", "datasource", or "extract-refresh-task".

resourceId​

The LUID of the workbook or data source, or the UUID of the extract refresh task.

Example: "222ea993-9391-4910-a167-56b3d19b4e3b"

Optional arguments​

confirm​

When omitted or false, runs the non-destructive preview. When true, permanently deletes — but only if the prior-preview evidence is present (tag for workbook/datasource, confirmationToken for extract-refresh-task).

Example: true

tag​

For resourceType="workbook" or "datasource" only. The pending-deletion tag label. Reversible and visible in the Tableau UI. Defaults to pending-deletion.

Example: "stale-pending-deletion"

confirmationToken​

For resourceType="extract-refresh-task" only. The single-use token returned by a prior preview call. Required when confirm is true; ignored otherwise.

Audit records and durability​

Every mutation attempt — allowed, denied, completed, or failed — emits a single authoritative, structured-JSON audit record (actor, tool, action, phase, target identity, evidence kind, result) on a dedicated audit logger. That logger bypasses the LOG_LEVEL severity filter, so an operator cannot suppress security-audit records by raising LOG_LEVEL. For an extract-refresh-task target, the record's name/project/owner derive best-effort from the task's underlying data source or workbook (the task itself has no such fields); if that lookup fails the record still carries the task id.

Durability is the deployment's responsibility. The server only emits these records to its log stream (stderr/stdout/file). To retain them, operators must ship that audit-logger stream to a durable, ideally immutable, log store (SIEM, log archive, etc.). There is no built-in durable audit sink in this server.

Side effects​

  • Preview (workbook/datasource) adds the pending-deletion tag. Reversible.
  • Preview (extract-refresh-task) mints an ephemeral nonce (no visible side effect on the task).
  • Confirm (workbook/datasource) removes the resource. On Tableau Cloud it goes to the recycle bin and can be restored for a limited time.
  • Confirm (extract-refresh-task) permanently deletes the task schedule. Not recoverable.

Example​

Preview a workbook deletion​

{
  "resourceType": "workbook",
  "resourceId": "222ea993-9391-4910-a167-56b3d19b4e3b"
}

Confirm the deletion​

{
  "resourceType": "workbook",
  "resourceId": "222ea993-9391-4910-a167-56b3d19b4e3b",
  "confirm": true
}