# Linked tasks in Tableau Prep Conductor: New in tableau 2021.3

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2021-10-29
- **Format:** Video · 13 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data prep, Data engineering
- **Tools:** Tableau (cloud, prep, prep conductor, server)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/linked-tasks-in-tableau-prep-conductor-new-in-tableau-2021-3
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHBsMLP4fzU

I walk through the new linked tasks feature in Tableau Prep Conductor, introduced in Tableau 2021.3. I show how to enable it as an admin, link two flows so they run sequentially, set up error handling, and demonstrate the behaviour when these tasks run on the server.

## Key takeaways

- Linked tasks must first be enabled in the site or server settings tab — there are two options, one to allow scheduling linked tasks and a second to allow running them immediately.
- Deleting a single linked task removes it from all subsequent flows it was set up on, saving housekeeping effort.
- You build the link from the New Task dialog by choosing the flow order in dropdowns; each step has error handling so a downstream flow only runs when the previous one succeeds, with optional data quality warnings and high-vis alerts.
- Each linked task spawns its jobs independently and sequentially — the second job is only sent once the first succeeds.
- The maximum number of sequential linked tasks is 20, though Tim cautions that anything near that suggests a fragile data pipeline.

## Chapters

- 0:00 What linked tasks do
- 1:04 Enabling the feature in settings
- 1:46 Reviewing the two example flows
- 2:27 Deleting linked tasks behaviour
- 3:03 Setting up a linked task
- 4:00 Error handling and alerts
- 5:34 Scheduling and creating the task
- 7:08 How jobs spawn on the server
- 9:56 Run history and the owner's view
- 11:47 The 20-task maximum limit

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/linked-tasks-in-tableau-prep-conductor-new-in-tableau-2021-3

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena