Data Warehouse Connectors

Overview

Workshop supports three data warehouse and business intelligence connectors for enterprise-scale analytics:

Platform	Authentication	Best For
BigQuery	GCP Service Account JSON	Petabyte-scale analytics on Google Cloud
Snowflake	Account + User/Password	Cloud data warehousing with separated storage and compute
Tableau	Personal Access Token	Business intelligence dashboards and data visualization

General Setup

All data warehouse connectors follow the same workflow:

Open Hub > Connectors

Open the Workshop Hub from the sidebar and click the Connectors tab.

Select your platform

Find and click the card for your data warehouse.

Enter credentials

Fill in the connection fields described for your platform below.

Name and save

Give your connection a memorable name and click Add Connection.

BigQuery
Snowflake
Tableau

BigQuery

BigQuery is Google Cloud’s serverless data warehouse. Workshop connects via a GCP service account with read-only access.

What You’ll Need

Credential	Description
Service Account JSON	A JSON key file from Google Cloud Platform

Setting Up Access

Create or select a GCP project

Go to the Google Cloud Console and create or select a project with BigQuery data.

Enable the BigQuery API

Go to APIs & Services > Library, search for “BigQuery API”, and enable it (most projects have it enabled by default).

Create a service account

Go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts, click Create Service Account, and enter a name (e.g., “Workshop BigQuery Access”).

Grant permissions

Add two roles:

BigQuery Data Viewer — read access to tables and views
BigQuery Job User — permission to run queries

Click Continue, then Done.

Download the JSON key

Click on the service account, go to the Keys tab, click Add Key > Create new key, select JSON, and click Create. The file downloads automatically.

Connecting to Workshop

Click the BigQuery card in the Connectors tab
Enter a Connection Name (e.g., “Analytics Warehouse”)
Open the JSON key file in a text editor, copy the entire contents, and paste into the Service Account JSON field
Click Add Connection

Limiting Access to Specific Datasets

For finer control, grant permissions at the dataset level instead of the project level:

Go to BigQuery in the Cloud Console
Click on a dataset, then Sharing > Permissions
Add the service account email with the BigQuery Data Viewer role

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
”Permission denied”	Verify both BigQuery Data Viewer and BigQuery Job User roles are assigned.
”Invalid JSON”	Ensure you copied the entire JSON file contents without extra characters.
”Project not found”	Confirm the project ID in the JSON matches an existing project with BigQuery API enabled.
Can’t see datasets	Grant BigQuery Data Viewer on specific datasets if using dataset-level permissions.

Keep your service account key file secure. Don’t share it or commit it to version control. If compromised, delete the key in the Cloud Console and create a new one.

Learn more: BigQuery Documentation | BigQuery IAM Roles

Snowflake

Snowflake is a cloud data warehouse with separated storage and compute. Workshop connects using your account identifier and user credentials.

What You’ll Need

Field	Required	Description	Example
Account	Yes	Account identifier	`xy12345.us-east-1`
User	Yes	Snowflake username	`WORKSHOP_USER`
Password	Yes	Snowflake password	—
Role	No	Snowflake role	`ANALYST`
Warehouse	No	Compute warehouse	`COMPUTE_WH`
Database	No	Default database	`ANALYTICS`
Schema	No	Default schema	`PUBLIC`

Role, warehouse, database, and schema are optional. If omitted, Snowflake uses the defaults configured for your user.

Finding Your Account Identifier

Your account identifier comes from your Snowflake URL:

If your URL is https://xy12345.us-east-1.snowflakecomputing.com, the identifier is xy12345.us-east-1
For app.snowflakecomputing.com URLs, go to Settings > Accounts, click ... next to your account, and select Manage URLs to find the full URL

Read-Only Role Setup

CREATE ROLE WORKSHOP_READER;
GRANT USAGE ON DATABASE ANALYTICS TO ROLE WORKSHOP_READER;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA ANALYTICS.PUBLIC TO ROLE WORKSHOP_READER;
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA ANALYTICS.PUBLIC TO ROLE WORKSHOP_READER;

Warehouse Cost Considerations

Warehouses incur costs when running. For Workshop:

Use a smaller warehouse (X-SMALL) for most queries
Enable auto-suspend to pause the warehouse after inactivity
Monitor query costs through Snowflake’s usage dashboard

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Invalid account identifier	Verify the format matches your Snowflake URL. Include the region identifier.
Authentication failed	Check username/password. Verify user is not locked. Check if MFA is blocking access.
Warehouse not found	Verify warehouse name. Check the role has USAGE permission on the warehouse.
Access denied	Ensure the role has USAGE on the database/schema and SELECT on tables.

Create a dedicated service account for Workshop rather than using personal credentials. If MFA is required, you may need a service account without MFA for programmatic access.

Learn more: Snowflake Documentation | Access Control

Tableau

Tableau is a business intelligence platform for interactive dashboards and reports. Workshop connects using a Personal Access Token.

What You’ll Need

Field	Description	Example
Token Name	Name of your Personal Access Token	`workshop-integration`
Token Secret	Secret value of the token	`dGhpcyBpcyBhIHNlY3JldA==...`
Server URL	Tableau Server or Online URL	`https://10ax.online.tableau.com/`
Site ID	Your Tableau site identifier	`mycompanysite`

The Site ID is found in your Tableau URL. For example, in https://10ax.online.tableau.com/#/site/mycompanysite/home, the Site ID is mycompanysite.

Creating a Personal Access Token

Open Tableau settings

Generate a token

Scroll to Personal Access Tokens, enter a descriptive name (e.g., workshop-integration), and click Create new token.

Copy credentials

Copy both the Token Name and Token Secret immediately. The secret is only shown once.

Token Expiration

Personal Access Tokens expire if not used for 15 consecutive days. You must use the token at least once every 15 days to keep it active. If it expires, create a new token and update your Workshop connection.

Token Permissions

Tokens inherit the permissions of your Tableau user account. For limited access, consider creating a dedicated Tableau user with restricted permissions.

Example Queries

List all workbooks in my Tableau connection

What data sources are available in my Tableau site?

Show me the views in the "Sales Dashboard" workbook

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Invalid token	Verify Token Name and Token Secret were copied correctly.
Token expired	Create a new token if unused for 15+ days.
Site not found	Verify Site ID matches the URL path. For the Default site, try empty or `default`.
Server connection failed	Verify the Server URL includes `https://` and is accessible externally.

Learn more: Tableau Personal Access Tokens | Tableau REST API

Verifying Any Data Warehouse Connection

After connecting, ask Workshop:

What datasets are available in my data warehouse?

Show me the schema of my analytics database

List all tables I have access to

If Workshop returns your data, the connection is working.

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Account

Data Warehouse Connectors

Overview

General Setup

BigQuery

What You’ll Need

Setting Up Access

Connecting to Workshop

Limiting Access to Specific Datasets

Troubleshooting

Snowflake

What You’ll Need

Finding Your Account Identifier

Read-Only Role Setup

Warehouse Cost Considerations

Troubleshooting

Tableau

What You’ll Need

Creating a Personal Access Token

Token Expiration

Token Permissions

Example Queries

Troubleshooting

Verifying Any Data Warehouse Connection

​Overview

​General Setup

​BigQuery

​What You’ll Need

​Setting Up Access

​Connecting to Workshop

​Limiting Access to Specific Datasets

​Troubleshooting

​Snowflake

​What You’ll Need

​Finding Your Account Identifier

​Read-Only Role Setup

​Warehouse Cost Considerations

​Troubleshooting

​Tableau

​What You’ll Need

​Creating a Personal Access Token

​Token Expiration

​Token Permissions

​Example Queries

​Troubleshooting

​Verifying Any Data Warehouse Connection

Overview

General Setup

BigQuery

What You’ll Need

Setting Up Access

Connecting to Workshop

Limiting Access to Specific Datasets

Troubleshooting

Snowflake

What You’ll Need

Finding Your Account Identifier

Read-Only Role Setup

Warehouse Cost Considerations

Troubleshooting

Tableau

What You’ll Need

Creating a Personal Access Token

Token Expiration

Token Permissions

Example Queries

Troubleshooting

Verifying Any Data Warehouse Connection