#DDQ2025-03 VizQL Data Service (VDS) (Beginner)

Welcome to the DataDev Quest Challenge for March 2025! This challenge is designed to teach you how to use VizQL Data Service, Tableau REST API, and Tableau Developer Sandbox to query Sample – Superstore Data source.

Challenge Overview

Objective:

Familiarize yourself with VizQL Data Service, and connect and execute a query to a published data source.

Why this challenge?

VDS is a new technology that allows connecting directly to the Data Source without using the Tableau Interface, which is why it is called Headless BI.

Learning Goals

Get your Tableau Developer Sandbox
Configure Personal Access Token (PAT)
Connect to your Developer Site using Postman by PAT
Execute a query and return data from a published Data Source
Use basic Postman for HTTP requests

Submission Guidelines

Source Code: Publish your project publicly in your GitHub profile
Add README: Include setup instructions and describe how to run the program.
Video of Solution: Include a video of your solution in the README file. You can publish it on YouTube and embed the iframe, or save the video file in the repository’s root directory.
Comments: Ensure your code is well-commented.
Submission: Submit your challenge in the following **forms**

Additional Resources

Getting Started

The first step is to get and set up your Tableau Developer Sandbox. My Medium Post provides a step-by-step guide to configuring it.

1. In your Tableau Cloud Site, go to Explore

and open the Folder with the name Samples:

2. Select Superstore Datasource and click on the information icon for details, and copy the LUID

3. Ensure you have enabled the Personal Access Token (PAT) and configured your Personal Access Token (PAT) . If you need help, follow my Medium Post, where I explain how to get it.

Create a token TEST_VDS and copy the Secret value:

4. Open Postman and create a new POST HTTP Request called REST_API_SIGN_IN

As an example, my site is https://10ax.online.tableau.com/#/site/cristiansaavedradx, and the URL that I need to use is https://10ax.online.tableau.com/api/3.24/auth/signin, and my site is cristiansaavedradx

Use your Tableau Cloud address for the API sign-in call and add the headers to support JSON:

For the body, create a raw JSON File equivalent to the following and click Send.

After that will return a JSON file with the Token. Copy to use it in a second page.

{
    "credentials": {
        "site": {
            "id": "99aafaa0-e8e7-4asd-867c-f0666a960008",
            "contentUrl": "cristiansaavedradx"
        },
        "user": {
            "id": "413b02ff-2453-4e47-af34-a4e0if0dd4b2"
        },
        "token": "8ow6BUFoSK6sGn4SqCu6ew|hqeUSUijRu4YNJXmlnWSSKkNtzfkvowg|99adfaa0-e8e7-4ebd-867c-f0666a960008",
        "estimatedTimeToExpiration": "364:23:58"
    }
}

JSON

5. Create a second POST HTTP Request called TEST_VDS and add x-tableau-auth with the token as value

6. In the BODY, create a JSON file and click Send. You will get the Regions with the Sum of Sales:

Challenge

Your challenge is to use the filter by Category, Furniture, and Technology

DataDev Rules!

Have you already solved it?

You can learn more from this exercise, like using Kyle Query Builder to explore more options.

If you want to know more about the DataDev Community, you can see the recorded session at SalesForce Plus

Who am I?

Hey, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Cristian Saavedra Desmoineaux, a Visionary, Tableau Data Dev Ambassador, and co-founder of DataDevQuest. I am passionate about solving data problems and have over 20 years of experience in complex scenarios. You can contact me on LinkedIn.

DataDev Rules!

Special Thanks to Kyle Massey and Joe Chirilov

Do you have problems?

Are you getting a Resource Not Found message? VDS requires Hyperforce and Tableau Server Version: 2025.1.0
Sandbox and Developer Sites will be migrated after April 5th.

Tagged Beginner