OneLake Connections Randomly Stopped Working?

[goingfurther128]

I have a critical PBI report that leverages a composite semantic model. Refreshes daily with no issues...until yesterday morning. All of the DirectLake tables in the model that arrive in my Lakehouse via OneLake shortcuts (shortcuts to other semantic models in other workspaces) show the error in the image. If I click on the table itself, I'm able to see the full preview of the data. I can even query these shortcuts on the SQL endpoint. On top of that, I can bring this data into my model via the SQL endpoint and the data will be fresh. So...the shortcuts are working but they're also bugged to the point where DirectLake doesn't work?

Replacing the DirectLake connections with SQL endpoint connections is not an option because of the sheer size of some of these tables.

Not only will my semantic model not refresh, but all visuals in the report are completely blank because of the DirectLake tables that "do not exist."

Checked with our security team...no changes were made recently. Checked with the various owners of the models I'm shortcutting to...no changes were made recently. Tried creating brand new shortcuts, they all return the same error shown. I'm at a loss for what to try next. Any advice/tips greatly appreciated

[v-prasare]

Hi @goingfurther128 ,

We would like to confirm if our community members answer resolves your query or if you need further help. If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are happy to help you.

@Olufemi7 & @MJParikh ,Thanks for your prompt response

Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Prashanth Are
MS Fabric community support

[goingfurther128]

Unfortunately, these proposed solutions did not work for us. I wasn't even able to fallback to DirectQuery. I ended up deleting the DirectLake tables in my model an recreating them as imports from the SQL endpoint. We needed to get the report back online as quickly as possible, so this was our best option while we continue to investigate what is going on with OneLake/DirectLake

[Olufemi7]

Hello@goingfurther128,

This typically happens when the OneLake shortcut can no longer resolve its target item.

DirectLake tables depend on the shortcut’s target reference. If the shortcut cannot resolve that target, Fabric may return errors such as “The target is not valid” or “Can’t find this target item.”

Data preview or the SQL endpoint may still work because they access the data through a different engine than DirectLake.

Resolution

Delete and recreate the OneLake shortcut, then refresh the semantic model so the DirectLake tables bind to the new shortcut reference.

Reference
Microsoft OneLake shortcuts documentation:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/onelake/onelake-shortcuts

[MJParikh · Accepted solution]

Hi  

The error "Can't find this target item" for a shortcut to another workspace's semantic model tables via a OneLake shortcut is a known failure mode. Here is what you can start to troubleshoot.

Check the permissions for the source workspace

The identity used for shortcut resolution needs at least Viewer permissions for the source workspace. Someone recently changed a service principal's identity, a guest account's license, or workspace membership. That breaks shortcut resolution even if no one touched the shortcut.

Check if the source Lakehouse or semantic model was republished

A Lakehouse item in the target workspace deleted and re-created under the same name gets a new internal item ID. That is why your shortcut fails. That is also why new shortcuts show the same error: the target item does not exist under that ID. Ask the workspace owners if any Lakehouse or semantic model was republished, migrated, or restored from backup since March 3.

Re-create shortcuts using the current item ID

If the source item ID changed, delete all affected shortcuts and re-create them using the current item ID. Do not use a copy of an old path.

Verify the tenant-level OneLake access policy

Log in to the Fabric Admin portal. Navigate to OneLake settings. Verify that cross-workspace OneLake access is still enabled. An admin disabling OneLake data access or shortcut creation silently breaks all existing shortcuts.

SQL endpoint works but DirectLake does not: what this implies

SQL endpoint requests follow different logic than DirectLake requests. DirectLake requests access parquet files directly from OneLake storage. The data is accessible; the shortcut is not resolving correctly for the DirectLake engine.

What you do immediately while investigating

Change the fallback behavior for the semantic model to DirectQuery. In the semantic model settings, enable DirectQuery fallback. This does not solve the underlying problem but restores report access while you investigate.

The most likely root cause: a source item was recreated or migrated, giving it a new item ID that no longer matches the shortcut.

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@goingfurther128