Fabric deployment pipeline - semantic model

[disney_batista]

I am using the Fabric deployment pipeline to perform some deployment tests from the Staging environment to Production.

I tested the following scenarios:
- I published a report to the Staging workspace
- I deployed Staging to Production using the pipeline
- I needed to reconfigure the data credentials and update the semantic model

Question: whenever the semantic model is deployed, will I need to update the semantic model again in the production workspace? Aren't the data from the Staging model copied?

[v-csrikanth · Accepted solution]

Hi @disney_batista 
Thank you for being part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.

When deploying a semantic model from Staging to Production using Microsoft Fabric deployment pipelines, please note the following:

For security purposes, data source credentials (such as usernames, passwords, OAuth tokens, or key vault references) are not transferred from Staging to Production. While the model structure—including tables, relationships, measures, and metadata—is successfully copied to Production, the credentials are excluded. After deployment, you’ll need to configure the credentials in the Production semantic model to enable refreshing or querying.

Regarding the data itself, please be aware that the actual data from the Staging semantic model is not copied to Production. Only the model definition and metadata are transferred during deployment. The Production semantic model will remain empty until you refresh it against its data sources, ensuring it populates with the most current data directly from the source. This process helps maintain both data integrity and security in the Production environment.

If the above information is helpful, please give us Kudos and mark the response as Accepted as solution.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ C Srikanth.