# Authentication

Tableau MCP requires authentication in order to connect with your Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud
site.

This authenticated user must have access to the published data source(s) you plan to access.

There are a couple different ways to authenticate to Tableau.

1. Provide your Tableau [Personal Access Token](pat.md) (PAT).
2. Use Tableau [Connected Apps](direct-trust.md).
3. Use Tableau [Unified Access Tokens](uat.md).
4. Use Tableau [OAuth](oauth.md).
5. Use [Passthrough Authentication](passthrough.md).
