Tableau for Codex

A Codex plugin that connects Codex to Tableau's hosted MCP server (https://mcp.tableau.com), with skills for exploring existing Tableau content, rendering a specific view/workbook so you can see it, and generating or modifying workbooks on the fly.

There's no official Tableau plugin for Codex yet (Tableau's docs say one is "coming soon"), so this fills that gap in the meantime.

Layout

.agents/plugins/marketplace.json   # local marketplace catalog (for testing/dev)
plugins/tableau/
  .codex-plugin/plugin.json                    # plugin manifest
  .mcp.json                                    # bundles the hosted Tableau MCP server
  skills/tableau-analytics/                    # read-oriented: querying/exploring content
  skills/tableau-content-viewer/               # find a view/workbook and render it, no data querying or editing
  skills/tableau-workbook-authoring/           # generate/modify workbooks by editing TWB XML
  skills/shared/rendering.md                   # shared render-in-side-panel steps, used by both of the above
  schemas/<YYYY_R>/twb_<YYYY.R.0>.xsd           # per-Tableau-version TWB XSD schemas (2018.1-2026.2)
  scripts/validate_workbook.py                 # validates a .twb/.twbx against the matching XSD
  scripts/requirements.txt                     # lxml, needed by validate_workbook.py
  scripts/render_embed.py                      # builds an embeddable URL + local iframe fallback

scripts/validate_workbook.py needs lxml: pip install -r plugins/tableau/scripts/requirements.txt.

How it connects to Tableau

The hosted MCP server authenticates each user with their own Tableau Cloud/Server OAuth login — there's no API key or token to configure here. plugins/tableau/.mcp.json just points Codex at the server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tableau": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tableau.com/tableau-mcp"
    }
  }
}

or if running Tableau-MCP locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tableau": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://127.0.0.1/tableau-mcp"
    }
  }
}

The first time you use it, Codex will prompt you to authenticate in the Plugins UI (see below) — codex mcp login <name> does not work for MCP servers bundled inside a plugin, only for servers added directly via codex mcp add. Once signed in, every tool call runs with that user's own Tableau permissions — the server doesn't store Tableau data itself.

Install and authenticate in Codex Desktop

1. Register this repo as a marketplace. From inside this repo:

 codex plugin marketplace add .

This adds a marketplace source named after the repo directory (e.g. plugin-codex) pointing at your local checkout. Run codex plugin marketplace list if you want to confirm the name it picked. 2. Install the plugin from the Plugins tab. Open Codex Desktop → Plugins, find the "Tableau MCP Skills" marketplace, and install the tableau plugin. 3. Authenticate the MCP connector. Still in the Plugins tab, find the Tableau plugin's entry and click Authenticate/Connect. This opens your browser to Tableau's OAuth login (Tableau Cloud or Server, whichever your site uses). Approve the request; Codex stores the resulting token and the plugin's entry should flip to a connected state. 4. Start a new task. MCP connections and plugin config are only (re)loaded when a task starts, so an already-open task won't pick up a fresh install or a new OAuth connection — start a new one before trying a Tableau request.

If a site admin has restricted tool groups via Tableau's EXCLUDE_TOOLS site setting (e.g. disabling admin-insights or pulse), those tools simply won't show up — that's expected, not a bug in this plugin.

If you edit plugin files locally

Codex copies plugin files into its own cache at install time (~/.codex/plugins/cache/<marketplace>/<plugin>/) rather than reading from this repo live, so editing .mcp.json or a skill here has no effect until you reinstall. reload-plugin.sh in the repo root automates the remove/re-add cycle:

./reload-plugin.sh

Then start a new task (chat) in Codex Desktop as in step 4 above.