It is technically possible to use a tool like Selenium to automate the browserâ€based creation of a BigQuery connection in Tableau—complete with entering a custom query and performing bulk connection operations—but there are several important caveats to consider:
What You Can Do with Selenium
• Browser Automation:
Selenium (or a similar browser automation tool) can control Chrome (or another browser) to log into Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud, navigate the UI, and simulate the manual steps you’d normally take to create a connection. This means you could script the process of:
• Signing into Tableau.
• Navigating to the data connection or data source creation page.
• Selecting Google BigQuery as the connection type.
• Entering or uploading service account credentials.
• Inserting a custom SQL query.
• Repeating these steps in a loop to handle bulk operations.
• Bulk Operations:
With careful scripting, you can iterate over a list of parameters or queries, effectively automating the creation of multiple connections. This could be useful if you need to deploy many similar connections at once.
Challenges and Considerations
• Brittleness:
UI automation is inherently fragile. Any change to the Tableau web interface (such as layout, element identifiers, or workflow changes) can break your Selenium script. This means you’ll have to invest time in maintaining your automation scripts.
• Lack of Official Support:
Tableau does not officially support UI automation for creating or managing connections. The REST API and Tableau Server Client (TSC) library are the recommended and supported methods for automating Tableau tasks. If those APIs do not expose exactly the functionality you need (for example, the embedding of a custom query in a connection), that might force you to consider UI automation—but keep in mind the risks.
• Authentication & Security:
Automating through the browser may require handling authentication (and possibly multi-factor authentication) in a secure manner. Ensure that any credentials or service account keys are managed securely and not hard-coded in your automation scripts.
• Complexity of Custom Queries:
If your process involves creating custom SQL queries as part of the connection setup, you’ll need to script the logic to input these queries correctly. Any errors in the custom query syntax or its integration into the Tableau UI may not be easily recoverable from an automated script.
Recommended Alternatives
• Tableau REST API / TSC Library:
Before resorting to Selenium, review whether you can accomplish your goal using Tableau’s REST API or the Tableau Server Client library. Although these APIs may not let you “create a connection from scratch†in every detail (especially if you need to embed non-standard elements like a custom query), they are far more stable and supported for bulk operations.
• Hybrid Approach:
In some cases, you might use a combination of API calls (for publishing and updating data sources) and lightweight browser automation to handle any remaining steps that the API cannot cover. This minimizes the parts of the process that rely on brittle UI automation.
In Summary
Yes, you can use Selenium or a similar tool to automate the creation of a BigQuery connection (including entering a custom query and handling bulk connections) by automating browser interactions in Chrome. However, this approach is generally less robust and more error-prone than using the officially supported Tableau REST API or TSC library. If you choose the Selenium route, prepare for additional maintenance and troubleshooting as Tableau’s web interface evolves.
For more details on Tableau’s supported automation methods, see the official Tableau REST API documentation ( ).