Fabric / Power BI: Cannot see data unless user has access to the workspace

[MarcusFarrugia]

We are using a Fabric workspace to store our data model and tables in an lakehouse, then building semantic models and power BI reports on top of it.  We want to give users access to the Power BI dashboard and semantic model, but do not want to give them access to the Fabric workspace the Semantic model is in as there are other items and datasets in that workspace that users should not see depending on the users.  If the users do not have access to the workspace they are receiving an error saying the data cannot be fetched and there is an error to the data source.  Is it possible for users to see the data in a dashboard without having access to the workspace?

@mraza 

[nilendraFabric · Accepted solution]

Hi @MarcusFarrugia 

You can grant users “Read” or “Build” permissions directly on a semantic model (dataset) without giving them access to the entire workspace.

[v-prasare]

Hi @MarcusFarrugia,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the issue got resolved? or let us know if you need any further assistance here?

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

MS Fabric community support

[v-prasare]

Hi @MarcusFarrugia,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the issue got resolved? or let us know if you need any further assistance here?

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

MS Fabric community support

[v-prasare]

Hi @MarcusFarrugia,

We would like to follow up to see if the solution provided by the super user resolved your issue. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

@burakkaragoz & @nilendraFabric, Thanks for your prompt response.

Thanks,

Prashanth

MS Fabric community support

If our super user response resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accept as solution" and click "Yes" if you found it helpful

[burakkaragoz · Accepted solution]

Hi @MarcusFarrugia ,

Building on the previous answer, I’d like to clarify a few key points:

• It is true that you can grant users “Read” or “Build” permissions directly on the semantic model (dataset) without granting them access to the entire workspace.
• However, for users to consume a Power BI report or dashboard that uses this dataset, they must have at least “Read” permission on the dataset/semantic model itself.
• If users are seeing a “data cannot be fetched” or “error to the data source” message, it usually means they don’t have the necessary permissions on the dataset/semantic model, or the dataset is not shared correctly.

How to enable access without workspace permissions:

1. Go to the workspace where your semantic model (dataset) is located.
2. Click on the dataset (semantic model), then select “Manage permissions”.
3. Add the users or security groups that need access, and grant them either “Read” or “Build” permissions.
4. If you are sharing a report/dashboard outside the workspace, make sure the dataset is endorsed as “Certified” or “Promoted” and is discoverable, or explicitly share the report with those users.

Note:

• Users do NOT need direct access to the workspace, but they DO need access to the underlying dataset/semantic model.
• If you are publishing reports via “Apps” in Power BI, you can also manage dataset permissions via the App sharing settings.

Let us know if you need step-by-step guidance on setting these permissions, or if there are still access issues after following these steps!

[natyp]

We have the same issue. The user has been granted with Read access to the underlying semantic model and the report was shared via App. When user views the report from the App they get an error about Missing_References. However if a user is given either Admin or Contributor access to the workspace where the semantic model is hosted, the user is able to view the report. We thought Read access to the semantic model would be sufficient but it does not seem to be working. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[nilendraFabric · Accepted solution]

Hi @MarcusFarrugia 

You can grant users “Read” or “Build” permissions directly on a semantic model (dataset) without giving them access to the entire workspace.