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Connect Power BI to the Reporting API

Create a scoped read-only token, connect Power BI Desktop to your workspace data, and set up sustainable refresh.

Published

Outcome

A live Power BI report reads the scheduling data of your workspace. It uses a scoped, revocable, read-only token. You also configure the refresh so that it stays cheap.

Before you begin

  • The Admin role.
  • Reporting API availability. On SaaS it is “Available on Professional and Enterprise plans”. In Community it is always available. Check Administration → Integrations. If you see the upsell instead of the token list, your plan gates it.
  • Power BI Desktop. The flow is similar for Get Data → From Web in Excel, and for Metabase.

Step 1 — Create the token

  1. Open Administration → Integrations and select New token.
  2. Name it after the consumer, for example Power BI Dashboard. Never name it after a person.
  3. Set an Expiration. 90 days is a sound default. Rotation is better than No expiration.
  4. Select Create token, then copy the token immediately: “Copy this token now. It will not be shown again.” Store it in your secrets manager. “Anyone with it can read your workspace’s reporting data.”

The list now shows the Prefix and Status of the token. It shows Last used later. That column is how you recognize a dead integration.

Step 2 — Connect Power BI

Follow the quick-start on the page itself:

  1. In Power BI Desktop, select Get Data → Web → Advanced.
  2. Set the URL to the reporting endpoint you need. The Integrations page shows example endpoint URLs for your workspace.
  3. Authenticate with the token as a bearer credential.
  4. Load the data, then model and visualize it as usual. The API is read-only, so nothing you do in Power BI can change the workspace.

Step 3 — Keep the refresh incremental

The API supports incremental refresh through updatedSince. Parameterize your query on it. Scheduled refreshes then pull only the changes, not the full dataset. Your refresh schedule stays fast, and the workspace stays unbothered.

Step 4 — Operate the token like the credential it is

  • Rotate before expiry. Create the successor token, switch Power BI to it, then revoke the old one. That gives you a rotation with no downtime.
  • Revoke on retirement. “It will stop working immediately.” A dashboard that nobody opens must not keep a live credential.
  • One consumer per token. When Excel joins later, give it its own token.
  • Creation and revocation both land in the Audit log.