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Scaffold Data App

Scaffolds a new Tableau data app workspace: a starter Tableau viz (worksheet) extension that queries a published datasource live via the Extensions API. Given a single datappName, the tool derives the extension package id and display name and returns a ready-to-edit workspace — a workbook plus an extension package containing index.html and a src/app.js starter you author the query and visualization into.

This tool only scaffolds and names the app — it does not wire a datasource, author query logic, build, publish, or embed data. Those remain separate steps.

Disabled by Default

This tool is gated behind the data-apps feature flag, which defaults to false in features.json. It is unavailable unless an administrator enables data-apps. See Feature Flags.

Required permissions​

  • Site Role: Requires Explorer (Can Publish) role or higher

APIs called​

None — the tool emits the starter workspace from a bundled or pre-published template with no Tableau REST API calls.

Required arguments​

datappName​

Name for the new data app. Used verbatim as the workbook (.twb) filename and the extension display name, and slugified into the extension package id (com.tableau.mcp.<slug>). Letters, digits, spaces, dot, underscore, and hyphen only; must start and end with a letter or digit; no path separators or ..; 1–100 characters.

Example: Sales Demo → package id com.tableau.mcp.sales-demo

Derived values​

From datappName the tool derives the following identity:

  • package id: com.tableau.mcp.<slug(datappName)> — lowercase, non-alphanumeric runs collapsed to a single hyphen.
  • display name: datappName verbatim.

The extension's author is fixed to Tableau MCP in the template; it is not derived per call.

Response behavior​

The result is a single object. Both output modes return the same static, un-substituted template zip plus a postUnzip plan describing the identity edits/renames to apply after unzipping — they differ only in transport, never in when substitution happens (always client-side, after unzipping):

  • Otherwise (disk output): the result's filePath points at the template zip already on disk on the server — skip the download and unzip directly.

  • MCP_S3_BUCKET configured (S3 output): the server uploads its own build artifact — the same template zip disk output serves — to S3 automatically on every call, then presigns a short-lived GET URL for exactly those bytes. There is no manual publish step and nothing persists in the bucket waiting to be trusted; the object is always what the server just wrote. The result's s3URL points at the same un-substituted template — download it first, then unzip.

In both cases, postUnzip describes the literal find/replace edits and path renames to apply after unzipping to finalize the workspace. Datasource wiring is never performed by this tool in either mode — it is the caller's responsibility, applied to the finalized workbook after this tool returns.

Example result (disk output)​

{
  "datappName": "Sales Demo",
  "filePath": "/app/build/templates/data-app-template.zip",
  "postUnzip": {
    "instructions": "Finalize the workspace after unzipping: first apply every `edits` entry (a literal find/replace on the file at `file`), then apply `renames` in order. Every path is relative to the unzip directory.",
    "edits": [
      {
        "file": "Data App Name/Data App Name.twb",
        "replacements": [
          { "find": "TODO-MANIFEST-ID", "replace": "com.tableau.mcp.sales-demo" },
          { "find": "TODO App Name", "replace": "Sales Demo" }
        ]
      },
      {
        "file": "Data App Name/Packages/TODO-MANIFEST-ID/extensions/data-app.trex",
        "replacements": [
          { "find": "TODO-MANIFEST-ID", "replace": "com.tableau.mcp.sales-demo" },
          { "find": "TODO App Name", "replace": "Sales Demo" }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "renames": [
      { "from": "Data App Name/Packages/TODO-MANIFEST-ID", "to": "Data App Name/Packages/com.tableau.mcp.sales-demo" },
      { "from": "Data App Name/Data App Name.twb", "to": "Data App Name/Sales Demo.twb" },
      { "from": "Data App Name", "to": "Sales Demo" }
    ]
  }
}

Example result (S3 output)​

{
  "datappName": "Sales Demo",
  "s3URL": "https://example-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/...presigned...",
  "postUnzip": {
    "instructions": "Finalize the workspace after unzipping: first apply every `edits` entry (a literal find/replace on the file at `file`), then apply `renames` in order. Every path is relative to the unzip directory.",
    "edits": [
      {
        "file": "Data App Name/Data App Name.twb",
        "replacements": [
          { "find": "TODO-MANIFEST-ID", "replace": "com.tableau.mcp.sales-demo" },
          { "find": "TODO App Name", "replace": "Sales Demo" }
        ]
      },
      {
        "file": "Data App Name/Packages/TODO-MANIFEST-ID/extensions/data-app.trex",
        "replacements": [
          { "find": "TODO-MANIFEST-ID", "replace": "com.tableau.mcp.sales-demo" },
          { "find": "TODO App Name", "replace": "Sales Demo" }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "renames": [
      { "from": "Data App Name/Packages/TODO-MANIFEST-ID", "to": "Data App Name/Packages/com.tableau.mcp.sales-demo" },
      { "from": "Data App Name/Data App Name.twb", "to": "Data App Name/Sales Demo.twb" },
      { "from": "Data App Name", "to": "Sales Demo" }
    ]
  }
}