Forum Discussion
API wont refresh at scheduled refresh
I get an error anytime I try o refresh the API on power bi. It refreshes fine on desktop.
Data source error: Information is needed in order to combine data. Please specify a privacy level for each data source.;Information about a data source is required.. The exception was raised by the IDbCommand interface.
Cluster URI: WABI-UK-SOUTH-redirect.analysis.windows.net
Activity ID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
Request ID: d90e8d24-a4f0-4e47-9725-db135026c7df
Time: 2026-07-30 06:09:03Z
KofoHarris Before you work through that list, one step in it cannot be your cause, and there is a second possibility nobody has raised that fits your error better.
The step to skip is Current File > Privacy. Microsoft's privacy levels documentation states that "Ignore the Privacy Levels and potentially improve performance" does not work for semantic models, and that reports published to the service do not adhere to the setting. So whatever that box is set to, it is not what is failing your scheduled refresh. The equivalent control that does bite is under Global > Privacy, called "Always ignore Privacy Level settings". If that one is on, Desktop is combining freely while the service refuses, which is the classic works-in-Desktop-fails-in-the-service shape.
The bigger thing is the second half of your error. You quoted "Please specify a privacy level for each data source.;Information about a data source is required." That second clause is a different complaint from the first, and for an API it is usually the real one. Microsoft calls this a dynamic data source, meaning one where some or all of the information needed to connect cannot be determined until the query actually runs, and they name the URL of a web service as an example. Their stated position is that in most cases models using dynamic data sources cannot be refreshed in the service at all. If that is what you have, no amount of privacy level configuration will fix it, which is worth knowing before you spend an entire afternoon on it.
You can tell which one you are looking at for free, in about a minute. Open Power Query Editor, go to Data source settings, and choose "Data sources in current file". If a dynamic source warning appears there, that is your answer and privacy levels are a red herring. If no warning appears, the privacy level route is worth pursuing and the Global setting is where to start.
If it does turn out to be dynamic, the documented escape is to stop building the whole URL as one string. Web.Contents takes RelativePath and Query options, and a call written with a static base URL plus those options is one of the few dynamic source patterns Microsoft says the service can refresh. So a URL you are currently concatenating from a parameter or another query gets split, with the fixed part staying in the base and the varying part moving into RelativePath or Query.
One aside. Your Cluster URI is WABI-UK-SOUTH-redirect.analysis.windows.net, which is the Power BI service rather than Report Server, so you may get more eyes on that than on the Service board.
What does the query look like at the point it builds the URL, and is any part of it coming from a parameter or another query?
2 Replies
KofoHarris Hi!
This error usually occurs because Power BI Desktop is configured to ignore privacy levels, while the Power BI Service enforces them during refresh.Please try the following:
- In Power BI Desktop, go to File > Options and settings > Data source settings.
- Select each data source used by the report, including the API and any parameter/file/query combined with it, and set an appropriate privacy level—usually Organizational if the sources belong to your organization.
- Under Options > Current File > Privacy, make sure Ignore privacy levels is not selected.
- Refresh the report in Desktop. If it still fails, the query should show which sources Power Query is trying to combine.
- Republish the report.
- In the Power BI Service, open the semantic model’s Settings > Data source credentials, edit each connection, sign in again, and select the same privacy level.
Let me know,
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KofoHarris Before you work through that list, one step in it cannot be your cause, and there is a second possibility nobody has raised that fits your error better.
The step to skip is Current File > Privacy. Microsoft's privacy levels documentation states that "Ignore the Privacy Levels and potentially improve performance" does not work for semantic models, and that reports published to the service do not adhere to the setting. So whatever that box is set to, it is not what is failing your scheduled refresh. The equivalent control that does bite is under Global > Privacy, called "Always ignore Privacy Level settings". If that one is on, Desktop is combining freely while the service refuses, which is the classic works-in-Desktop-fails-in-the-service shape.
The bigger thing is the second half of your error. You quoted "Please specify a privacy level for each data source.;Information about a data source is required." That second clause is a different complaint from the first, and for an API it is usually the real one. Microsoft calls this a dynamic data source, meaning one where some or all of the information needed to connect cannot be determined until the query actually runs, and they name the URL of a web service as an example. Their stated position is that in most cases models using dynamic data sources cannot be refreshed in the service at all. If that is what you have, no amount of privacy level configuration will fix it, which is worth knowing before you spend an entire afternoon on it.
You can tell which one you are looking at for free, in about a minute. Open Power Query Editor, go to Data source settings, and choose "Data sources in current file". If a dynamic source warning appears there, that is your answer and privacy levels are a red herring. If no warning appears, the privacy level route is worth pursuing and the Global setting is where to start.
If it does turn out to be dynamic, the documented escape is to stop building the whole URL as one string. Web.Contents takes RelativePath and Query options, and a call written with a static base URL plus those options is one of the few dynamic source patterns Microsoft says the service can refresh. So a URL you are currently concatenating from a parameter or another query gets split, with the fixed part staying in the base and the varying part moving into RelativePath or Query.
One aside. Your Cluster URI is WABI-UK-SOUTH-redirect.analysis.windows.net, which is the Power BI service rather than Report Server, so you may get more eyes on that than on the Service board.
What does the query look like at the point it builds the URL, and is any part of it coming from a parameter or another query?
