Sisense MCP Server (Beta)

Last updated: August 15, 2026

The Sisense MCP Server lets any MCP-compatible AI agent, such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor, explore your data and build charts through Sisense, under Sisense governance. It is a fully hosted endpoint secured with OAuth 2.1, so there is nothing to install and no credentials to share.

Agents connect through Sisense rather than directly to your data. They work against your semantic model (your metrics, terms, and relationships), so the results reflect your own definitions, and every request runs as the signed-in user within that user's permissions.

To connect an agent, see Connect an AI Agent. For the tools and example prompts, see MCP Tools and Usage.

What Is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI agents connect to external systems in a consistent way. An MCP client (the AI tool) connects to an MCP server (Sisense) and calls the tools the server exposes. You do not need to know the protocol to use this feature — your MCP client handles it.

What You Can Do

Once an agent is connected, it can:

• Discover your data. List the data models and data sources you have access to, and inspect their fields, measures, and formulas before querying.

• Ask questions in natural language. The agent describes what it wants in plain language, and Sisense translates it into a governed query against your model.

• Build and refine charts. Turn a query result into a chart, then change its type, title, sorting, or styling. In agents that support interactive content (such as Claude), the chart renders live inside the conversation.

• Chain analysis across steps. Results are kept in the session, so the agent can build on a previous query or chart instead of starting over.

Because the agent works against your semantic model, it uses the same metrics and relationships your team already relies on, not ad-hoc definitions it invents on the fly.

How It Works

  AI agent  --OAuth 2.1-->  Sisense MCP Server  --runs as you-->  Your data model
 (Claude,                    (hosted endpoint)                     (metrics, terms,
  ChatGPT, ...)                                                     relationships)

1. You add the Sisense MCP endpoint to your AI client as a server.

2. On first use, the client sends you through a standard OAuth 2.1 sign-in to Sisense, using your existing credentials, including SSO.

3. After you approve access, Sisense issues the agent a short-lived, per-user credential. The agent never sees your Sisense password or a shared key.

4. Every tool the agent calls runs as you, against your instance's data model, filtered by your permissions.

There is no identity-provider configuration and no shared service account. Because the agent reaches your data only through Sisense, your data security, row and column permissions, and model definitions all apply automatically.

Prerequisites

• Your Sisense deployment is on 2026.3.1 or later.

• The MCP Server is available for your deployment. It is controlled by your Sisense administrator (System Configuration > MCP) and is on by default.

• You have a Sisense user account with access to the data models you want to explore. The agent can only see what you can see.

• You are using an MCP-compatible client that supports remote servers over HTTP and OAuth. Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor are validated for the Beta.

• For the AI-powered tools (buildQuery and buildChart), enable Cloud-Linked Features on your instance under Admin > Sisense Intelligence > Feature Management, then set up an LLM provider. You can use the LLM managed by Sisense, which draws on your Sisense credit package, or configure your own provider under Provider Configuration. The discovery tools (getDataSources and getDataSourceFields) read metadata only and do not require this.

Security and Governance

Access through the MCP Server is governed the same way as the rest of Sisense.

• No shared credentials. Agents connect over OAuth 2.1. There is no shared API key or service account, and the agent never receives your Sisense password. Each connection uses PKCE and a short-lived, per-user credential that expires automatically.

• Every request runs as the signed-in user. All tool calls execute under your identity and are filtered by your Sisense roles and data security, the same row- and column-level permissions you have in the product. Two people connecting to the same endpoint see different data, according to their own permissions.

• Attributable and logged. Every request is tied to the signed-in user and recorded, so activity can be traced to a specific identity.

Limitations (Beta)

• Read-only. The tools explore data and build charts. They do not create or modify data models, dashboards, or saved content in Sisense.

• Sessions re-authenticate periodically. Per-user credentials are short-lived, so long-running agents are prompted to sign in again when a credential expires.

• Interactive charts require a compatible client. Clients that do not support MCP interactive content receive only narrative insights (a text summary of the chart), not a rendered chart.

• Auditing is log-based today. Requests are logged and attributable to a user. A dedicated agent-activity admin view is planned for a later release.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)