Forum Discussion
Service Principal authentication works with Lakehouse Data Agent but fails with Semantic Model
Hello,
I am currently experimenting with Data Agents in Microsoft Fabric and I created two different agents:
One connected to a Semantic Model
One connected to a Lakehouse
My goal is to programmatically interact with these agents from a Python application in order to display the chatbot interface inside my own application.
According to the official documentation (Consume Fabric data agent from external applications with Python client SDK - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn), the recommended authentication method is to use InteractiveBrowserCredential, where the user signs in with their Microsoft credentials and then interacts with the Data Agent.
However, for my use case, I replaced this authentication method with a Service Principal using ClientSecretCredential, since the application needs to run without interactive user login.
Here is what I observed:
When the Data Agent is connected to a Lakehouse, everything works correctly using the Service Principal.
When the Data Agent is connected to a Semantic Model, the authentication works but queries against the data fail.
Specifically:
The agent responds correctly to general prompts such as greetings ("hello", "goodbye").
But when the question requires accessing the underlying Semantic Model, the agent returns an error similar to "unable to connect to the data source".
From the documentation, I noticed that Service Principals are currently not supported, which might explain the behavior. However, since the same authentication method works with Lakehouse-based agents, I wanted to confirm whether this limitation is expected.
My questions are:
Is it expected that Service Principal authentication works with Lakehouse agents but not with Semantic Model agents?
Are there any recommended workarounds for non-interactive authentication when using Semantic Model Data Agents?
Is there a timeline or roadmap for supporting Service Principal authentication with Semantic Models in Fabric Data Agents?
Thank you very much for your help.
Hi Antoine1733 ,
Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.
Thanks for sharing your scenario. What you are seeing is expected behavior. At the moment, Service Principal authentication is not supported when a Data Agent connects to a Semantic Model. Even though the authentication with ClientSecretCredential succeeds, the queries fail because accessing a Semantic Model requires a user identity context. That is why general prompts like greetings work, but any request that needs data from the Semantic Model returns an error.
In contrast, Lakehouse agents work with Service Principals because you can assign permissions directly to the Service Principal for the Lakehouse. This allows the agent to read data without needing a signed‑in user. For Semantic Models, the recommended approach right now is to use user‑based authentication such as InteractiveBrowserCredential.
There is currently no official timeline for Service Principal support with Semantic Model Data Agents. The best way to stay updated is to keep an eye on Fabric documentation and release notes for future changes. I hope this helps clarify the behavior you are seeing.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team
4 Replies
v-menakakotaCommunity Support
Hi Antoine1733 ,
Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.
Thanks for sharing your scenario. What you are seeing is expected behavior. At the moment, Service Principal authentication is not supported when a Data Agent connects to a Semantic Model. Even though the authentication with ClientSecretCredential succeeds, the queries fail because accessing a Semantic Model requires a user identity context. That is why general prompts like greetings work, but any request that needs data from the Semantic Model returns an error.
In contrast, Lakehouse agents work with Service Principals because you can assign permissions directly to the Service Principal for the Lakehouse. This allows the agent to read data without needing a signed‑in user. For Semantic Models, the recommended approach right now is to use user‑based authentication such as InteractiveBrowserCredential.
There is currently no official timeline for Service Principal support with Semantic Model Data Agents. The best way to stay updated is to keep an eye on Fabric documentation and release notes for future changes. I hope this helps clarify the behavior you are seeing.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team- v-menakakota
Hi Antoine1733 ,
I hope the issue has been resolved. If you continue to experience any problems, please reach out here and we will assist you.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team- v-menakakota
Hi @Antoine1733 ,
I hope the issue has been resolved. If you continue to experience any problems, please reach out here and we will assist you.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team
it's working now following the latest update !
