QuickBooks Connection not available in pipeline CopyData Source

[ToddChitt]

I am trying to use a Fabric pipeline to get data from QuickBooks Online. I can create a connection under Manage Connections and Gateways, but that item is not available from a CopyData Source perspective.

What am I missing?

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @ToddChitt , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

Could you please confirm if you have raised it in the Ideas forum, if you did, get as many upvotes as possible, as the Microsoft may consider to bring the most popular idea as a feature.  
Thank you.

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @ToddChitt , Could you please confirm if you have raised it in the Ideas forum, if you did, get as many upvotes as possible, as the Microsoft may consider to bring the most popular idea as a feature.  
Thank you.

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @ToddChitt , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

The Copy Data activity in Fabric pipelines doesn’t support QuickBooks Online as a source, even if you’ve set up a connection in Manage Connections and Gateways. The activity is limited to native connectors and QuickBooks’ REST-based API isn’t included. Troubleshooting your connection won’t resolve this, as the limitation is in Fabric’s design. Dataflow Gen2 or Notebooks bypass this restriction by leveraging the API directly, ensuring reliable data extraction.

The best way to do this is to use a Dataflow Gen2 with Power Query’s Web connector, which supports QuickBooks’ REST API. Create a new Dataflow Gen2 in your Fabric workspace, select the Web source, and enter the QuickBooks API endpoint. Configure OAuth 2.0 authentication using your access token. Add headers like Authorization: Bearer <token> and Accept: application/json, then specify a query. Transform the JSON response in Power Query and load it into a Lakehouse or Warehouse. This low-code method is ideal for its ease of use and integration with Fabric’s data ecosystem.

You can also use a Fabric Notebook to call the QuickBooks Online API with Python and load data directly into a Lakehouse. Create a new Notebook in your workspace and use the requests library to query the API. This is best for handling complex queries or large datasets and allows programmatic token. The data will be saved as a Delta table in your Lakehouse, ready for further processing.

If this helped solve the issue, please consider marking it 'Accept as Solution' so others with similar queries may find it more easily. If not, please share the details, always happy to help.
Thank you.

[ToddChitt · Accepted solution]

When I set up the connection in Manage Connections and Gateways, it gives me a disclaimer that it is "not supported by Dataflows, Dataflows Gen2, and Datamarts." If it is not supported by the CopyData activity of a pipeline eiter, THAT should be mentioned there as well:

I have created a solution in classic Azure Data Factory, which has a native (albeit in preview, and still preview after like 8 years) connector for QBO. The trouble there is that the Refresh Token only lasts about 24 hours. We are working on a process to renew that Refresh Token programatically and store it in an Azure Key Vault, which the ADF Linked Service can utilize to make the connection. 

Fabric Dataflows (Gen 1 or Gen 2) do not support external interactions with parameters. So if I built this using Dataflows, the Refresh Token would need to be manually edited and saved every DAY. NOT sustainable. 

So I'm back to paying for architecture OUTSIDE of Fabric just to get raw data INTO Fabric. I put in a Fabric Ideas item to allow the QBO connection broader adoption, but I'm not holding my breath.

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @ToddChitt , We are sorry for the inconvinience caused by the disclaimer and other fabric features. Your ADF workaround with Azure Key Vault for token renewal is a smart solution given Fabric’s current constraints, especially since Dataflows lack external parameter support. Your Fabric Ideas submission could drive future improvements, we thank you for that.