Power BI REST API returns PowerBIEntityNotFound for dataset with upstream

[msantos5]

I have two datasets, dataset A and dataset B, both in the same workspace. Dataset B uses dataset A as an upstream data source.

I can execute queries via the API on dataset A, using the service principal (admin) for authentication.

However, when I try to execute queries on dataset B, Power BI returns the following error:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "PowerBIEntityNotFound",
    "pbi.error": {
      "code": "PowerBIEntityNotFound",
      "parameters": {},
      "details": [
        {
          "code": "DetailsMessage",
          "detail": {
            "type": 1,
            "value": "You cannot query the dataset 'c3fa76d7-4dea-4999-bf27-***********' by using the REST API because the dataset was not found or you do not have the required permissions. Please contact a workspace admin or a dataset owner to grant you the required permissions. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2190204 for more info on required permissions."
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

All the required options listed in the documentation for this endpoint are already enabled in the tenant where they are located, and the service principal used for authentication is already an admin of the workspace that contains both datasets.

I ran some tests and I can execute queries on dataset B via the XMLA endpoint using the same service principal.

Dataset B Scan:

                {
                    "id": "c3fa76d7-4dea-4999-bf27-***********",
                    "name": "Relatório  Service Now - Refactory",
                    "configuredBy": "user@email.com",
                    "configuredById": "146d0bbd-04d2-479b-b01c-**********",
                    "isEffectiveIdentityRequired": false,
                    "isEffectiveIdentityRolesRequired": false,
                    "targetStorageMode": "Abf",
                    "createdDate": "2026-02-03T14:06:48.86",
                    "contentProviderType": "PbixInCompositeMode",
                    "upstreamDatasets": [
                        {
                            "targetDatasetId": "25806921-b100-447e-b447-***********",
                            "groupId": "GroupID"
                        }
                    ],
                    "tags": []
                }

Dataset A Scan:

                {
                    "id": "25806921-b100-447e-b447-***********",
                    "name": "Conjunto de dados Service Now - Refactory",
                    "configuredBy": "user@email.com",
                    "configuredById": "146d0bbd-04d2-479b-b01c-**********",
                    "isEffectiveIdentityRequired": false,
                    "isEffectiveIdentityRolesRequired": false,
                    "targetStorageMode": "Abf",
                    "createdDate": "2026-01-14T14:56:23.85",
                    "contentProviderType": "PbixInImportMode",
                    "datasourceUsages": [
                        {
                            "datasourceInstanceId": "b29ef488-aa00-4fed-8ce5-************"
                        }
                    ],
                    "tags": []
                },

Lineage:

Thanks in advance for any help.

[v-priyankata]

Hi @msantos5 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community.

@mohit_sakhare Thanks for the inputs.

I hope the information provided by user was helpful. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to the community.

[v-priyankata]

Hi @msantos5 

Hope everything’s going smoothly on your end. I wanted to check if the issue got sorted. if you have any other issues please reach community.

[mohit_sakhare · Accepted solution]

Hi,

What you’re hitting is not a permissions problem — it’s a limitation of the ExecuteQueries REST API with composite / upstream models.

Your Dataset B is PbixInCompositeMode and has upstreamDatasets (i.e., it’s a composite model that depends on another semantic model). In these scenarios, the ExecuteQueries REST endpoint can fail with “PowerBIEntityNotFound” even when the dataset exists and the caller is a workspace admin. This aligns with other reported cases where ExecuteQueries works for import models, but fails once a model becomes composite / DirectQuery over another semantic model.

A few important points:

• The ExecuteQueries API has several limitations (and service principal scenarios have additional limitations such as RLS/SSO restrictions).

• Composite models introduce extra security/lineage requirements (permissions across all participating models) and, in practice, REST ExecuteQueries is not reliable/unsupported for composite models even though XMLA works.

Recommended workarounds:

1. Query Dataset A instead (the upstream/import model) via ExecuteQueries, since that’s the part the REST API supports reliably.

2. Continue using the XMLA endpoint for Dataset B (since you confirmed it works) — XMLA is generally the more robust option for programmatic querying at scale.

3. If you must use REST ExecuteQueries, consider restructuring so Dataset B is not composite (i.e., avoid “dataset over dataset” / upstream dependency).

So, bottom line: Dataset B being a composite model with upstream datasets is the reason you’re getting PowerBIEntityNotFound via REST, while XMLA still succeeds.