How to connect GraphApi with PBi to get complete data?

[TomasGazsi]

Hi, 

can anybody give me advice how to use MS GraphApi as datasource in PowerBi? 
What is the purpose of my report?
- I need get all tasks of Planner. Plan ID is SbuxRYX9cUuekCEIBEiv05gAAlg8. When I use URL  below in MS GraphApi explorer -> I get all infomation what I need. one of the required attributes was the assignment of people to the task ("assignments{}")

BUT when I use Odata.feed option (so far the only way I knew how to connect GraphApi and PBi, or Planner and PBi).
when I use GraphApi  URL: https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/planner/plans/SbuxRYX9cUuekCEIBEiv05gAAlg8/tasks  
I got all the records, but some data like assigments{} is missing.

Could someone explain to me whether I am using GraphApi incorrectly, and how it should be used correctly? Possibly also with real functional examples. 

PS: 

I would like to avoid using PowerAutomate as an intermediary, which will use GraphApi and store data e.g. in SharePoint or Dataverse. And then PBi work with this source.

Is there a direct connection between PBi and GraphApi?

Thanks, Tom.

[v-csrikanth · Accepted solution]

Hi @TomasGazsi 
You're absolutely right in identifying the current limitations when connecting Power BI directly to Microsoft Graph API.

1. Power BI doesn’t have a native Graph API connector, so an intermediate storage layer (like Dataverse, SharePoint, or Azure Data Lake) is required, depending on the tool (Power Automate, Logic Apps, etc.).
2. Microsoft Graph Data Connect (MGDC) needs a Microsoft Fabric or ADF license—Power BI Premium alone isn’t enough. MGDC is built for large-scale, governed data extraction into Azure storage, not direct Power BI use.
3. If upgrading licenses isn’t an option, the best workaround is automation: use Power Automate or Logic Apps to pull Graph data and store it where Power BI can access it.
4. For small, non-real-time needs, exporting to CSV in SharePoint or OneDrive works well with scheduled refresh.

If the above information is helpful, please give us Kudos and mark the response as Accepted as solution.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ C Srikanth.

[v-csrikanth]

Hi @TomasGazsi 
Please find the reference links as below:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/connecting-to-graph 
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/overview#access-microsoft-graph-data-at-scale 

If the above information helps you, please give us a Kudos and marked the Accept as a solution.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ C Srikanth.

[TomasGazsi]

Hi @v-csrikanth, 
thanks for links. 

While searching for answers, I have already gone through these links. I came across a limiting factor for us at the moment, which is the type of PBi license.
We are currently using PBi premium licenses.
If I have the right knowledge, then to start Microsoft Graph Data Connect you need a license for Azure Data Factory or Microsoft Fabric.

From the materials I have studied so far, it seems to me that in order to be able to connect PBi and GraphApi, some kind of intermediate storage is needed.

For example, when using PowerAutomate and calling GraphApi (where it returns complete results), save them to Dataverse or SharePoint.
When using LogicApps and calling GraphApi, save them to, for example, Azure Data Lake Storage.

Currently, if we do not plan to change licenses and MS does not make a direct connection, the only option is to use automation and some cloud storage.

Thanks. 

[TomasGazsi]

Thanks @v-csrikanth @lbendlin for response. 

I added a voting ticket: MS GraphApi connector for communication with Plann... - Microsoft Fabric Community. 

I'm going to try to create some workaround solution based on  knowledge.

And I'm going to try to create some workaround solution based on @v-csrikanth recommendations and MS documentation/knowledge from the community.

@v-csrikanth please, do you have any experience or recommendations for documentation that would lead me to at least some degree of success?

[v-csrikanth]

Hi @TomasGazsi 

Direct connection from Power BI to Microsoft Graph API is not officially supported or recommended by Microsoft, mainly due to authentication challenges and limited OData compatibility. While it is possible to use OData.Feed or Web.Contents in Power BI to access some data from Graph API endpoints, this approach often leads to missing fields-such as the assignments{} property for Planner tasks-or inconsistent results, especially when working with nested or complex objects.

The reason certain fields like assignments{} are missing is that Power BI’s handling of OData and JSON expansion interprets each assignment’s unique user ID as a separate column, which complicates the process of expanding and normalizing the data for reporting purposes.

To extract and work with nested objects like assignments{} in Power Query, advanced M scripting is required. This typically involves transforming the assignments record into a list of key-value pairs and then expanding and normalizing these into rows for easier analysis in Power BI.

Best Regards,
Cheri Srikanth

[lbendlin]

There is no official connector, and the documentation also states that only the /groups  endpoint is semi-supported.

If this is important to you please consider voting for an existing idea or raising a new one at https://ideas.fabric.microsoft.com