Unable to Connect Looker Studio to MongoDB Atlas Using Atlas SQL (Without Enabling BI Connector)

Sai_Ram_Bavireddy · 2024-12-19T13:24:22.499Z

I am trying to connect Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) to my MongoDB Atlas cluster. I have enabled the Atlas SQL Interface because I want to avoid using the BI Connector, as it is being deprecated. However, I am encountering difficulties in setting up the connection.

My Current Setup:
Atlas SQL Interface Enabled: Yes
BI Connector Enabled: No (intentionally not enabled).

Atlas SQL Connection Options Provided:

Power BI Connector
Tableau Connector
JDBC Driver
ODBC Driver
I attempted to use all the Driver options but i am unable to connect

Steps I’ve Tried:

Enabled the Atlas SQL Interface in my MongoDB Atlas cluster.
Used the JDBC connection string provided by the Atlas SQL configuration.
Configured SSL using the appropriate certificates from Let’s Encrypt
All allow IP addresses in MongoDB Atlas
Verified that my database user has readwrite permissions

Despite trying the above steps, I cannot establish a connection between Looker Studio and MongoDB Atlas via the Atlas SQL Interface. Looker Studio throws an error like this:
Sorry, we encountered an error and were unable to complete your request.

Alexi_Antonino · 2024-12-19T13:44:23.438Z

Hello @Sai_Ram_Bavireddy Welcome to the MongoDB community! I am the product manager for both the BI Connector and the Atlas SQL Interface. I am in communication with the Looker PM and Engineering team as they are currently building out an integration for Google Looker based on our JDBC driver. We expect this to be ready in Q1 of the new year. Until then, your best option would be to use the BI Connector.

We will send out notifications to Looker users when this new integration this complete and ready for use.

Milind_Joshi · 2025-04-04T18:16:36.657Z

Hi @Alexi_Antonino . Thanks for this message. I’m trying to use MongoDB BI Connector with Looker Studio, but the instructions at https://www.mongodb.com/docs/bi-connector/current/connect/looker/ don’t seem to be correct for Looker Studio… Are there other instructions I should be using?

James_Ontiveros · 2025-04-22T18:11:58.130Z

@Alexi_Antonino Any updates here? Or any guidance on how to connect Looker Studio using the BI Connector

Alexi_Antonino · 2025-04-22T18:28:00.223Z

Hi There - FYI we are in the process of having Google create a new integration in Looker for the Atlas SQL JDBC driver. They are in the process of this now. I don’t have an exact date on the release. but I am meeting with them on Thursday and will update you with anything I find out. That said, I inquired with the Looker team if this integration would work with Looker Studio and they said yes, but only as a bridge. They informed me that one would have to connect through looker and then connect from Looker Studio to Looker. I am assuming this might be how the BI Connector could also work. I will ask the Looker team about this on Thursday as well.
I know this bridge probably isn’t ideal, but this is what was dictated by the Google Looker team. I can ask if there are plans to alter this in the future.

Best,
Alexi

James_Ontiveros · 2025-04-24T17:05:08.409Z

@Alexi_Antonino Unfortunately connecting through Looker is not a good option because of the cost of Looker. Keep us posted if you find a way to directly connect to Looker Studio.