Forum Discussion
Impactful IndividualUsage Metrics Semantic Model
i am looking at existing report created by someone else based on Usage Metrics Semantic Model as per below lineage, the report shows data for only last month, how many months of data i can see in report created using this semantic model? can i see previous years data? i found below article which says that prebuilt report can show data fro 30 days however this report is custom and not prebuilt . Also, I am unable to find the semantic model Usage Metrics Report in the workspace,
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-modern-usage-metrics
Hi powerbiexpert22,
You're running into something that trips up a lot of people, and honestly the docs don't make it obvious.
The 30 days isn't a property of the prebuilt report — it's the model. The Usage Metrics Report semantic model keeps a rolling 30-day window, so whatever you build on top of it (a copy, or something fully custom in Desktop) sees the same 30 days. The report being custom doesn't buy you anything extra, and there's no setting to widen the window. So no, previous years aren't in there — that data was never retained to begin with.
If you've seen 90 days mentioned anywhere, that was the older usage metrics in classic workspaces. A model named "Usage Metrics Report" is the modern one, so 30 days.
On not finding it in the workspace — that part is expected. It's a system-managed item and it's hidden from the workspace content list by design, which is why lineage view shows it but browsing doesn't. If you want to get at it: workspace settings → Semantic models tab (handy if ownership or credentials ever break), or in Power BI Desktop through the OneLake data hub, where it does show up under Power BI semantic models and you can build against it normally. Worth knowing too that new data can take up to 24 hours to land, and you can't force a refresh from the service.
For longer history you're into archiving it yourself. The usual route is the Admin API's GetActivityEvents on a daily schedule, appending each day into a Lakehouse or Warehouse table — tenant-wide, and it keeps growing from the day you start. The catch is that it also only reaches back 30 days, so day one gives you a month and the history builds forward from there. If you need to answer a question about the last few months right now, the Purview audit log is the only thing that'll help — 90 days standard, longer with Audit Premium. There's also the option of snapshotting the model itself over XMLA with sempy in a notebook if you're on Premium/PPU/Fabric capacity, though the API route is usually less fragile.
Either way, worth kicking something off sooner rather than later, since none of it backfills.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-modern-usage-metrics
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/power-bi/admin/get-activity-events
- If this post helps, then please consider Accepting it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.
2 Replies
RossEdwardsRioResolver I
There are actually 2 different usage metric models. The old and new version. The old version is the one that supported 90 days worth of data. I personally preferred some of the extra columns that it had. The new version only holds 30 days worth of data.
As for the semantic model, it's invisible as it's inbuilt within the Power BI service.
- Ritaf1983
Super User
Hi powerbiexpert22,
You're running into something that trips up a lot of people, and honestly the docs don't make it obvious.
The 30 days isn't a property of the prebuilt report — it's the model. The Usage Metrics Report semantic model keeps a rolling 30-day window, so whatever you build on top of it (a copy, or something fully custom in Desktop) sees the same 30 days. The report being custom doesn't buy you anything extra, and there's no setting to widen the window. So no, previous years aren't in there — that data was never retained to begin with.
If you've seen 90 days mentioned anywhere, that was the older usage metrics in classic workspaces. A model named "Usage Metrics Report" is the modern one, so 30 days.
On not finding it in the workspace — that part is expected. It's a system-managed item and it's hidden from the workspace content list by design, which is why lineage view shows it but browsing doesn't. If you want to get at it: workspace settings → Semantic models tab (handy if ownership or credentials ever break), or in Power BI Desktop through the OneLake data hub, where it does show up under Power BI semantic models and you can build against it normally. Worth knowing too that new data can take up to 24 hours to land, and you can't force a refresh from the service.
For longer history you're into archiving it yourself. The usual route is the Admin API's GetActivityEvents on a daily schedule, appending each day into a Lakehouse or Warehouse table — tenant-wide, and it keeps growing from the day you start. The catch is that it also only reaches back 30 days, so day one gives you a month and the history builds forward from there. If you need to answer a question about the last few months right now, the Purview audit log is the only thing that'll help — 90 days standard, longer with Audit Premium. There's also the option of snapshotting the model itself over XMLA with sempy in a notebook if you're on Premium/PPU/Fabric capacity, though the API route is usually less fragile.
Either way, worth kicking something off sooner rather than later, since none of it backfills.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-modern-usage-metrics
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/power-bi/admin/get-activity-events
- If this post helps, then please consider Accepting it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.