Does API-Triggered Dataset Refresh Count as Activity to Prevent Inactivity Pause?

[npolitihhr]

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to clarify how Power BI handles dataset inactivity when using programmatic refreshes.

I understand from the official documentation that scheduled refreshes are paused after 60 days of inactivity—defined as no one accessing a report or dashboard connected to the dataset.

However, in our case, we have Power Automate flows that trigger a dataset refresh daily using either:

• The built-in “Refresh a dataset” action, or
• The Power BI REST API (POST /groups/{groupId}/datasets/{datasetId}/refreshes)

These flows do not involve opening any reports or dashboards.

My question is:
Do these programmatic refreshes count as “activity” and prevent the dataset from being paused due to inactivity?

If anyone has official confirmation, personal experience, or a Microsoft response on this, I’d really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

[v-pagayam-msft]

Hi @npolitihhr ,
Thank you @Poojara_D12  and @DataNinja777  for the helpful responses!

Programmatic refreshes via Power Automate or the Power BI REST API do not count as activity and will not prevent the 60-day inactivity pause. Only query activity like viewing a report, dashboard, Analyze in Excel, or using XMLA/Execute Queries API resets the inactivity timer. 
Please refer the link and solved threads below for more information:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/refresh-scheduled-refresh
https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Service/Power-BI-refresh-is-paused-due-to-inactivity/m-p/2...
https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Service/Refreshing-Inactive-reports/m-p/391367

Hope this resovel your query.If so,give us kudos and consider accepting it as solution.

Regards,
Pallavi.

[Poojara_D12 · Accepted solution]

Hi @npolitihhr 

This is a great and commonly misunderstood point in Power BI governance. According to Microsoft’s official guidance, Power BI datasets in the Power BI Service are paused after 60 days of inactivity, where inactivity specifically means no user interaction—such as opening a report or dashboard that relies on the dataset. Crucially, programmatic refreshes alone—whether triggered by Power Automate flows or the Power BI REST API—do not count as user activity and therefore do not reset the 60-day inactivity timer. This means that even if your dataset is being refreshed daily via the API or a scheduled flow, it can still be automatically paused by the service if no one is viewing the associated reports or dashboards.

This behavior has been confirmed in official Microsoft documentation and by responses from Microsoft engineers in community forums. The rationale is that refreshes consume compute resources, and Microsoft wants to optimize performance by pausing unused datasets—even if they're still being programmatically refreshed. To keep a dataset active, someone must interact with a report or dashboard that uses it at least once every 60 days. In scenarios like yours, where datasets are kept up to date for downstream processes or alerts, you may want to build a lightweight automation or alert that opens the report URL periodically, or have a service account simulate that access. This ensures the dataset stays active without depending on manual user visits.

[DataNinja777]

Hi @npolitihhr ,

API or Power Automate refreshes in Power BI do not prevent the 60-day inactivity pause. Only queries—like those from reports, dashboards, Analyze-in-Excel, ExecuteQueries, or XMLA—count as activity. A refresh alone reloads data but doesn't run a query, so scheduled refreshes will still pause after 60 days with no query activity. To avoid this, automate a simple query periodically to keep the dataset active.

Best regards,