Question 1

Does TextQL replace Tableau?

Accepted Answer

No. TextQL complements Tableau by adding a natural language query layer on top of your existing published data sources. Your dashboards, workbooks, and governance stay exactly as they are. TextQL simply gives non-technical users another way to access the trusted data your Tableau team has already curated.

Question 2

Can TextQL access Tableau extracts and live connections?

Accepted Answer

TextQL reads Tableau published data sources, including both extracts and live connections. For extracts, Ana queries the materialized data. For live connections, queries are passed through to the underlying database. In both cases, Tableau's field definitions and calculated fields are respected.

Question 3

Do I need a Tableau license for TextQL to connect?

Accepted Answer

You need at least one Tableau account with a personal access token and appropriate data source permissions. TextQL uses this token to access published data sources via Tableau's APIs. Individual end users asking questions through TextQL do not need their own Tableau licenses.

Question 4

Can I combine Tableau data with other sources in one question?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TextQL can join Tableau data source results with live queries against warehouses like Snowflake or BigQuery. For example, you could ask "compare the KPIs in our Tableau executive dashboard with raw Snowflake sales data" and get a unified answer from both sources.

Question 5

How does TextQL handle Tableau calculated fields?

Accepted Answer

TextQL reads the field definitions from your published data sources, including calculated fields. Ana understands these derived metrics and uses them in query generation. This means your team's business logic — margin calculations, cohort definitions, KPI formulas — carries over into natural language queries.