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mjoseph111's avatar
mjoseph111
Icon for Helper II rankHelper II
6 months ago
Solved

Retaining data from Power BI Usage Metrics monthly

Hi ,
We are planning to build a centralized dashboard that tracks usage across all dashboards in our environment, for improving reporting governance.Our organization operates under a Microsoft P1 license, without access to Fabric.

We understand that the Usage Metrics semantic model currently retains only 30 days of data and automatically removes older records. We also understand that manual refreshes cannot be triggered from the Power BI interface, and that exporting data is required to preserve history. 

Given this limitation, we would like your guidance on the following:

1. What is the supported or recommanded method for routinely export Power BI Usage Metrics data so it can be stored externally for long‑term historical analysis?

2. Are there any APIs or automation patterns that Microsoft recommends for exporting usage data before it ages out of the semantic model?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

7 Replies

  • v-prasare's avatar
    v-prasare
    Icon for Community Support rankCommunity Support
    5 months ago

    Hi mjoseph111,

    There’s no public API that exposes the same dataset used by the built‑in Power BI Usage Metrics report. Microsoft doesn’t provide a supported endpoint to directly query that curated usage metrics data.

    there are two supported alternatives: you can use the Admin Activity Events REST API to retrieve audit‑level usage events (such as report views and exports), or you can copy and customize the built‑in Usage Metrics report by connecting to its underlying semantic model and building your own report on top of it. Please refer to below docs and let me know if these help?

     

     

    Track user activities in Power BI - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

    Power BI REST APIs for embedded analytics and automation - Power BI REST API | Microsoft Learn

    Monitor report usage metrics - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

     

     

    Thanks,

    Prashanth

    • mjoseph111's avatar
      mjoseph111
      Icon for Helper II rankHelper II
      5 months ago

      v-prasare Thanks for your response. I’m  exploring the option of connecting directly to the underlying semantic model and building my own report on top of it. I also need rolling historical data, so I’m planning to persist the usage metrics into SQL for longer‑term analysis.

      If you happen to know any best practices or considerations for storing and refreshing that data over time, I’d appreciate any pointers. Thanks again for your help.

  • collinq's avatar
    collinq
    Icon for Super User rankSuper User
    6 months ago

    HI mjoseph111 ,

     

    The expectation from Microsoft is that if you want to retain usage metrics more than 30 days that you will use the API or log capabilities and that you will store that data yourselves in a location that you report on.  The REST API's can be found here:  Power BI REST APIs for embedded analytics and automation - Power BI REST API | Microsoft Learn

    I believe that the automatic retention in the API's is 90 days.  But, you should get the data and store it yourself so that you have long term usage metrics.

    Or, you could use Power AUtomate to export the Usage Metrics semantic model and store that information.

     

    Or, you could use either Purview or the Microsoft 365 audit logs.  Again though, you will need to set up a storage area of some sort so that you have more than the system limitations (30, 60 or 90 days normally from those tools).

    • mjoseph111's avatar
      mjoseph111
      Icon for Helper II rankHelper II
      6 months ago

      collinq Can you please help me to figure out the API command responsible for pulling the data used in the Usage Metrics report?

  • lbendlin's avatar
    lbendlin
    Icon for Super User rankSuper User
    6 months ago
    We are planning to build a centralized dashboard that tracks usage across all dashboards in our environment, for improving reporting governance.

    That's what tenant audit logs are for. Speak to your tenant admin.

  • v-prasare's avatar
    v-prasare
    Icon for Community Support rankCommunity Support
    5 months ago

    Hi mjoseph111,

    We would like to confirm if our community members answer resolves your query or if you need further help. If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are happy to help you.


    lbendlin & collinq ,Thanks for your prompt response

     

     

    Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.
    Best Regards,
    Prashanth Are
    MS Fabric community support

  • v-prasare's avatar
    v-prasare
    Icon for Community Support rankCommunity Support
    5 months ago

    Hi mjoseph111,

    We would like to confirm if our community members answer resolves your query or if you need further help. If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are happy to help you.


    lbendlin & collinq ,Thanks for your prompt response

     

     

    Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.
    Best Regards,
    Prashanth Are
    MS Fabric community support