Add a "Dependency Count" Column for Semantic Models in Power BI / Fabric Workspaces

[harisaqeel]

Idea Summary

In Power BI / Fabric workspaces, managing semantic models becomes challenging when there are many models and reports — especially after some reports (Power BI or paginated) are deleted or unpublished. Currently, there’s no quick way to identify which semantic models are still in use and which are orphaned.

Problem

While the Item Lineage view allows us to see dependencies, manually opening the lineage for each model is time-consuming and repetitive. When numerous reports and models exist in a workspace, this becomes inefficient and error-prone. After removing unused reports, many semantic models remain with no dependents, and confirming this requires checking them one by one.

Proposed Solution

Add a “Dependency Count” column for semantic models in the workspace view.
This column would display the number of dependent items (e.g., reports, paginated reports, datasets, dataflows) connected to each model.

Example:

Name Type Dependency Count Git Status Refreshed Included in App

Analysis of Sales	Semantic Model	2	Synced	10/14/2025	—
Average Accumulated Cost	Semantic Model	0	Synced	10/14/2025	—

Benefits

• Simplified workspace cleanup: Quickly identify unused semantic models that can be safely deleted.

• Improved governance: Prevent clutter and optimize storage by keeping only active models.

• Enhanced visibility: View dependency information directly in the workspace list without navigating to the lineage view.

• Better efficiency: Reduces repetitive manual checks, saving time for workspace administrators and developers.

Optional Enhancements

• Clicking the dependency count could open a small popup listing dependent items with direct links.

• Enable sorting and filtering by dependency count (e.g., show only models with 0 dependents).