Unable to Generate Ontology from Semantic Model in Microsoft Fabric

[FBH00]

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to generate an ontology from a semantic model in Microsoft Fabric, but the "Generate Ontology" button doesn’t appear in the semantic model editor. Here’s my setup and what I’ve already checked:

1. The tenant settings for "Users can create Ontology (preview)" and "Users can create Graph (preview)" are enabled for my security group.
2. The workspace is on a Fabric (F SKU) capacity (F128, East US 2).
3. The semantic model is based on a Warehouse, and I’ve also tried creating a semantic model based on a Lakehouse, but the button still doesn’t appear.
4. The semantic model is published, and the tables have defined relationships and are not hidden.
5. I have the Collaborator role in the workspace and access to the data sources.

When I try to create an ontology from scratch, I can only connect entities to Lakehouses or Eventhouses, but not to Warehouses or semantic models.

Is there something I’m missing, or is this a limitation of the current preview version? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[hyodokatsuki]

We have confirmed that this does not work for some guest accounts. Could this be due to tenant settings related to guest accounts?

[v-kpoloju-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @FBH00, 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum. Also, thanks to @InsightsByV, @Zanqueta,  for those inputs on this thread.

Has your issue been resolved? If the response provided by the community member @InsightsByV, @Zanqueta, addressed your query, could you please confirm? It helps us ensure that the solutions provided are effective and beneficial for everyone.

Hope this helps clarify things and let me know what you find after giving these steps a try happy to help you investigate this further.

Thank you for using the Microsoft Community Forum.

[v-kpoloju-msft]

Hi @FBH00, 

Just wanted to follow up. If the shared guidance worked for you, that’s wonderful hopefully it also helps others looking for similar answers. If there’s anything else you'd like to explore or clarify, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you.

[InsightsByV]

Hi @FBH00 ,

As you have a warehouse, the current version of Ontology may not work.  

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/iq/ontology/how-to-bind-data - Please refer Limitations and troubleshooting section here.

However, it should ideally work with the Lakehouse based semantic model. 

Can you go to any of your published report's semantic model -> right click ? and check if you can see "Generate Ontology" option there?

[Zanqueta]

Hello @FBH00 

Based on the scenario you described, this does not appear to be a configuration or permission issue. It is a limitation of the current preview version of Ontology and Graph in Microsoft Fabric.

All required prerequisites seem to be correctly configured:

• Tenant settings for “Users can create Ontology (preview)” and “Users can create Graph (preview)” are enabled.
• The workspace is assigned to a Fabric capacity (F SKU) in a supported region.
• The semantic model is published, with visible tables and defined relationships.
• You have the Collaborator role in the workspace.
• You tested both Warehouse-based and Lakehouse-based semantic models.

Despite this, the behaviour you are seeing is expected in the preview.

At the moment:

• The “Generate Ontology” button does not appear for semantic models.
• Automatic ontology generation from semantic models is not supported, even if they are based on Lakehouses or Warehouses.
• When creating an ontology manually, only Lakehouses and Eventhouses are available as data sources.
• Warehouses and semantic models cannot be used directly as ontology sources.

This happens because Ontology and Graph currently work directly on the OneLake physical storage layer. Semantic models are an analytical layer (tabular/DAX), and integration with this layer has not yet been implemented in the preview.

Possible Temporary Approach

• Create the ontology directly on Lakehouse tables, and keep the semantic model separate for analytical consumption.

[FBH00]

Thank you for the response, but the official Microsoft documentation explicitly states that ontology generation from semantic models IS supported for all modes (Import, Direct Lake, DirectQuery) — at least for generating entity type and relationship definitions. The documentation reference is: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/iq/ontology/concepts-generate. I'm still investigating the XMLA endpoint settings as a potential blocker.