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Delete Datasource

Deletes a published data source from the current Tableau site as the destructive step of the Stale Content Cleanup workflow.

This tool is admin-only and is registered only when the ADMIN_TOOLS_ENABLED feature flag is enabled. Non-administrator callers are rejected before any action is taken.

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

  1. Preview (default — confirm omitted or false): tags the data source with pending-deletion (reversible, visible in the Tableau UI; label configurable via the tag argument), reports the data source name, project, and owner, warns which workbooks and flows depend on it and may break, returns a confirmationToken, and does not delete anything.
  2. Delete (confirm: true + confirmationToken): permanently removes the data source. The token from the preview step is required — deletion is rejected without a matching token, which forces a deliberate two-step delete rather than a blind one-shot call. On Tableau Cloud the data source is moved to the recycle bin and can be restored for a limited time before permanent removal; on Tableau Server there is no recycle bin and deletion is permanent.
Human confirmation required

Between the preview and the delete, the calling agent is instructed (via the tool description and the preview response) to surface the data source identity and its dependent content to the user and obtain explicit approval before deleting. The confirmationToken enforces that a preview ran, but the human approval step is a prompt-level expectation — agents must not auto-confirm or compute the token themselves.

Dependent content is not deleted

Deleting a published data source does not delete the workbooks or flows that use it. Those items remain but lose this data source (their views/extracts may break). The preview phase surfaces these dependents so you can decide before deleting. The dependency check uses the Metadata API; if the Metadata API is disabled or unavailable, the preview notes that and still allows deletion.

Tool scoping​

This tool honors the same tool-scoping rules as the read tools (for example Get Datasource Metadata). If the server is configured with a bounded context (such as INCLUDE_DATASOURCE_IDS or INCLUDE_PROJECT_IDS), a data source that falls outside that scope cannot be previewed or deleted — the request is rejected before any tag or delete, so there are no side effects. Being an administrator does not bypass tool scoping.

APIs called​

Required arguments​

datasourceId​

The LUID of the published data source to delete, potentially retrieved by the List Datasources tool.

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

Optional arguments​

confirm​

When omitted or false, runs the non-destructive preview (tags, warns about dependents, and reports). When true, permanently deletes the data source (also requires confirmationToken).

Example: true

confirmationToken​

Required when confirm is true. The confirmationToken value returned by the preview step for this data source. Deletion is rejected without a matching token, which forces a deliberate two-step delete rather than a blind single call.

The token is a deterministic sha256(siteId:datasourceId) value, so it enforces an explicit second call but does not prove the preview/tag step actually ran (a caller who knows the datasource LUID can compute it). Guaranteeing a preview happened would require server-side state.

Example: 3a7f9c2e1b04

tag​

The label applied to the data source during the preview phase to mark it as pending deletion. Reversible and visible in the Tableau UI. Defaults to pending-deletion; callers (for example a stale-content cleanup workflow) can override it with their own vocabulary.

Example: stale-pending-deletion

Side effects​

  • Preview adds the pending-deletion tag (pending-deletion by default, or the tag value) to the data source. This is reversible and visible in the Tableau UI. No content is deleted.
  • Delete removes the data source. On Tableau Cloud it is moved to the recycle bin and can be restored for a limited time before it is permanently purged; on Tableau Server there is no recycle bin and deletion is permanent. Dependent workbooks and flows are not deleted but lose this data source. Always run the preview first, review the dependency warning, and confirm the data source identity before deleting.