Problem Statement: While integrating Power BI data with Alation (or any metadata platform), we are receiving both user-created reports and system-generated Usage Metrics reports through the Power BI Scanner API. Currently, there is no reliable way to programmatically differentate these usage metric reports from user-created assets. This causes clutter in the metadta catalog and leads to: Confusion for end-users browsing the catalog. Incorrect lineage and usage analysis. Unnecessary processing of irrelevant reports. Proposed Solution: Introduce a flag or metadata property in the Power BI Scanner API response to clearly mark Usage Metrics reports. Possible implementation approaches: Add a boolean flag like isUsageMetricReport: true/false Tag the dataset/report type (e.g., type: usage_metric) Provide metadata on system vs user-created origin Business Justification: Helps consumers focus only on relevant, user-generated content. Improves data governance, lineage accuracy, and catalog cleanliness. Reduces support burden and confusion in metadata management tools (like Alation, Collibra, etc.). Impact if Not Addressed: Catalog users may mistakenly analyze or document internal system reports. Data governance teams waste time manually identifying and filtering out usage metric content. Risk of incorrect data lineage or usage stats being reported.
... View more