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Enrich Slackbot Trusted Answers with the Tableau Next Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Connect the Tableau Next Model Context Protocol (MCP) directly to Slackbot. Then, ask Slackbot about your data in plain language. Tableau Next MCP is grounded in your context and data, so you can ask follow-up questions and take action with Slackbot across Salesforce records, Slack messages, and Slack canvases, or any other tools connected to Slackbot via MCP.
Required Editions
| View supported editions. |
Enable the Tableau Next Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Slackbot
When you connect Slackbot to Tableau Next MCP, Slackbot has many of the same agentic capabilities as Tableau Agent to enable conversational analytics in Tableau Next. Slackbot and Agentforce answer questions about semantic data models with a similar approach, and they both take advantage of the same semantic context. However, Tableau Next in Slackbot doesn’t require an Agentforce agent because Slackbot interacts directly with Tableau Next MCP and its underlying tools. You can also connect an Agentforce Agent into Slack, but it isn’t required.
Required Editions
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To enable Tableau Next MCP in Slack: | Tableau Unmetered Admin or Tableau Next Admin permission set |
You need both a Salesforce and Slack admin to complete different steps to enable the end-to-end integration:
- Salesforce Admin: Enable Metadata Knowledge Graph and Semantic Enrichments (Beta) in Data 360 Setup.
- Salesforce Admin: Enable the Tableau Next Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server.
- Salesforce Admin: To use Tableau Next MCP with Slackbot, assign one of these permissions to give the user access to Tableau Next in Salesforce: Tableau Next Consumer, Tableau Next Platform Analyst, Tableau Next Self-Service Analyst, or Tableau Next Self-Service Consumer.
- Salesforce Admin and Slack Admin: Connect Salesforce and Slack.
- Slack Admin: Set up and configure a Salesforce MCP server, and add the tableau-next server.
- Choose which workspace and select which users in that workspace have access to the MCP server.
After the server is connected, open a conversation with Slackbot. Select the apps icon (plug icon) in the Slackbot message composer. Confirm that the Tableau Next MCP toggle is visible. When the Slack Organization admin grants a user access to the Tableau Next MCP, the user can enable the connection manually. Alternatively, Slackbot recommends enabling Tableau Next MCP when the user asks Slackbot to analyze data with Tableau Next. After the Tableau Next MCP is enabled, try asking Slackbot a question, for example, “Which semantic models do you have access to?” or “What insights can you generate from my data from Tableau Next?”
Use the Tableau Next Model Context Protocol (MCP) in Slack
After your admins enable the Tableau Next Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, you can ask Slackbot about your Tableau Next data.
Required Editions
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To use the Tableau Next MCP in Slack: | Tableau Unmetered Consumer or Tableau Next Consumer or Tableau Unmetered Self-Service Consumer or Tableau Next Self-Service Consumer permission set |
- Open a new chat with Slackbot.
- Select the apps icon (plug icon), and confirm that the Tableau Next MCP toggle is on.
- Ask Slackbot a question. For more information, see How to use Slackbot.
After you’ve set up the Tableau Next MCP in Slack, you can Create a Slackbot Skill that provides guidance to Slackbot about how to best use the Tableau Next and Slackbot integration. create a Slackbot skill that creates a proactive intelligence briefing, or ask Slackbot to help you create a skill that runs a set of questions to Tableau Next MCP and create a comprehensive summary as a Slack message or Slack canvas. You can even ask Slackbot to help you create a question-and-answer skill that helps Slackbot know which data questions are currently supported by the Tableau Next semantic model. For more examples of how to use the Tableau Next MCP in Slack, see the Salesforce blog: How to Set Up Intelligence Briefs with Tableau Next and Slackbot Skills
