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Flow image unavailable when using flows publish method #1537
Description
Describe the bug
When using the flows publish method, the flow image is not available on Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server. This occurs when using a .tfl and .tflx file. The image is available when manually published through Tableau prep using either file type. A flow image is a diagram of the steps created to produce a desired output. This is what the user sees when creating the flow. When zipping and subsequently unzipping the flow file this is the flowGraphThumbnail.svg. The image renders on local machine.
Versions
Details of your environment, including:
- Tableau Cloud (latest) and Tableau Server (2023.3.6)
- Python 3.12.3
- TSC library version 3.24
To Reproduce
server.flows.publish( flow_item=new_flow, file=Path('some_flow.tfl'), mode='CreateNew' )
Results
Flow image unavailable
If more information is required, then please let me know.
Activity
CodingOnWindowsOS commentedon Dec 10, 2024
After downloading the flow from the server manually and inspecting the unzipped contents, I noticed an additional image called flowGraphImage. This image file seems to be produced by the Server / Cloud instance and is not produced when creating and publishing a flow from a local machine, so when I attempt to publish, the image is not available.
This lines up with another observation I had while editing the flow "in-place" on the server. I noticed that if I edited the flow with the flow image not available issue and clicked republish, then the flow image would be produced. Seems like something that is done server side if I have connected to dots correctly.
Is there anyway to trigger this when using the flows endpoint publish method?
jacalata commentedon Jan 3, 2025
It looks like the image can be generated, but when published through the UI it is done separately and this step doesn't happen with the API call.
I have logged a bug internally for the relevant team to look into, and hopefully they can make these behave the same way.
CodingOnWindowsOS commentedon Jan 5, 2025
Thank you for the support!
github-actions commentedon Jul 24, 2026
This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed in 14 days if no further activity occurs. If this is still relevant, please comment to keep it open.
fixup: use existing 'Server-Side Enhancement' label instead of new one
jacalata commentedon Jul 30, 2026
Quick update: I reproduced this against Tableau Cloud (2026-07-30, server v3.29) and filed an internal bug against the Tableau Prep Engine team. Confirmed on the current release: publishing
test/assets/SampleFlow.tflviaserver.flows.publish()and downloading it back showsdisplaySettings, maestroMetadata, flow, flowGraphThumbnail.svg— no server-generated thumbnail. A UI-published flow on the same site downloads with an additionalflowGraphImage.pngin the bundle, which is the file the flow's overview page actually renders.One correction from the original report: the missing file is
flowGraphImage.png, notflowGraphThumbnail.svg(the SVG is a local file that's always present). Bug filed with that correction.Leaving this open as the tracking issue for the underlying server-side gap.
ci: exempt Server-Side Enhancement label from stale bot (#1841)