MongoDB BI Connector and SQL Access

Parent: MongoDB Atlas · researched 2026-05-28T16:45:03.596Z· 14 sources · 9 concepts · skill mongodb-bi-connector

Two distinct approaches for SQL-based BI tool integration with MongoDB:

Overview

Two distinct approaches for SQL-based BI tool integration with MongoDB: [source]
Legacy BI Connector (mongosqld): EOL September 2026. Self-hosted translation layer. [source]
Atlas SQL Interface (current): Managed service via Atlas Data Federation. Certified connectors for Tableau and Power BI. [source]

What It Is

A self-hosted binary (mongosqld) that acts as a MySQL-protocol SQL translation layer in front of MongoDB. BI tools connect via ODBC/JDBC as if connecting to a MySQL database. [source]

DRDL Schema Files

mongosqld uses DRDL (Document Relational Definition Language) files to define the SQL schema mapping: [source]

EOL Timeline

September 2026: BI Connector reaches end-of-life; mongosqld will no longer be supported or updated [source]
Migration: All customers should migrate to Atlas SQL Interface (if on Atlas) or third-party tools (Hasura, DBeaver, etc.) [source]

Architecture

Atlas SQL Interface uses Atlas Data Federation (FDI) as its query engine. No self-hosted binary needed. [source]

Certified Connectors

Custom connector in the Tableau Exchange or direct download [source]
Supports Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Prep [source]
Tableau Cloud: check current status (in progress as of 2025) [source]
Driver: JDBC or MongoDB ODBC Driver (Windows/Linux/macOS) [source]
Certified by Microsoft; available in Microsoft AppSource [source]
Supports DirectQuery (live Atlas queries) and Import mode [source]
Driver: MongoDB ODBC Driver [source]
Via ODBC connection with MongoDB ODBC Driver [source]
Windows only (ODBC data source configuration) [source]

JDBC Connection

Connection setup in Tableau: [source]
Select "Other Databases (JDBC)" connector [source]
URL: jdbc:mongodb://atlas-sql-<fdi-id>.mongodb.net:27017/<database>?ssl=true [source]
Class name: com.mongodb.mongosql.MongoSQLDriver [source]
Username/password [source]

ODBC Connection (Power BI / Excel)

Download MongoDB ODBC Driver 2.0+ [source]
In Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator: Add new DSN [source]
Server: atlas-sql-<fdi-id>.mongodb.net [source]
Port: 27017 [source]
Database: <virtual database name> [source]
Authentication: username/password [source]

DirectQuery vs Import Mode (Power BI)

DirectQuery performance depends on Atlas query performance. Index optimization applies here too - slow MQL = slow DirectQuery. [source]

Atlas Cluster Requirements

Atlas clusters: MongoDB 5.0+ [source]
Self-managed Enterprise: MongoDB 6.0+ (JDBC/ODBC 3.0.1+) [source]
Data Federation is provisioned automatically when Atlas SQL Interface is enabled [source]

Cost

Atlas SQL Interface incurs Data Federation query processing costs: [source]
$5.00/TB of data processed per query [source]
Partition strategy and Parquet format reduce costs significantly [source]
DirectQuery workloads (multiple users, frequent refreshes) accumulate more data processed charges than scheduled Import [source]

Pre-migration checklist

Verify cluster is on MongoDB 5.0+ [source]
Enable Atlas Data Federation on the project [source]
Map DRDL schema columns to Atlas SQL Interface schema (jsonSchema format) [source]
Update BI tool connection: switch from mongosqld host to FDI hostname [source]

Schema Migration

DRDL columns → jsonSchema properties: [source]

Anti-Patterns

Using BI Connector for new deployments (post-2024): EOL is September 2026; invest in Atlas SQL Interface [source]
DirectQuery without optimizing MongoDB indexes: Every Power BI interaction queries Atlas live; unindexed queries = slow dashboards [source]
Schema auto-infer on heterogeneous collections: Auto-infer samples 1,000 documents and may miss fields in outliers; validate schema explicitly for production [source]
Not setting a Data Federation query byte limit: Runaway DirectQuery workloads can drive significant $5/TB costs [source]

References

BI Connector Documentation (Legacy) [source]
Atlas SQL Interface [source]
Atlas SQL JDBC Driver [source]
Atlas SQL ODBC Driver [source]
BI Connector EOL Announcement [source]

Children

mongosqld Architecture (frontier)
DRDL Schema Management (frontier)
BI Connector Authentication (frontier)
SQL-to-MQL Translation (frontier)
Atlas SQL Interface MongoSQL
BI Connector EOL Migration (frontier)
Atlas Data API Removal
HTTP Data Access Replacements (frontier)
Atlas GraphQL API Removal (frontier)

Frontier under this node: Atlas GraphQL API Removal, BI Connector Authentication, BI Connector EOL Migration, DRDL Schema Management, HTTP Data Access Replacements, SQL-to-MQL Translation, mongosqld Architecture

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