Forum Discussion
Activity Events API now includes RefreshDataset events for Scheduled refreshes since December 19, 20
Hi everyone,
We have a monitoring pipeline that collects Power BI refresh history using the Activity Events API (GET /admin/activityevents). The pipeline reads RefreshDataset activity events and then calls GET /groups/{groupId}/datasets/{datasetId}/refreshes for each discovered workspace/dataset pair.
We have observed a sudden and significant change on December 19, 2025 and would like to confirm whether this is an intentional change by Microsoft.
What we observed
We track RefreshDataset activity events daily. Here is what our data shows:
Date RefreshDataset Events Unique Workspaces
| Dec 15 | 25 | 7 |
| Dec 16 | 39 | 6 |
| Dec 17 | 50 | 6 |
| Dec 18 | 36 | 5 |
| Dec 19 | 143 | 20 |
| Dec 20 | 126 | 15 |
| Dec 21 | 125 | 15 |
| Dec 22 | 170 | 20 |
The number of RefreshDataset events nearly quadrupled overnight (36 -> 143), and the number of unique workspaces jumped from 5 to 20.
At the same time, our factrefresh table (populated via the refresh history API) started showing Scheduled refresh types:
Date Scheduled Refreshes Workspaces Datasets
| Dec 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 19 | 28 | 3 | 8 |
| Dec 20 | 28 | 3 | 8 |
| Dec 21 | 28 | 3 | 8 |
Before December 19, we only captured ViaApi and occasional OnDemand refreshes. After December 19, Scheduled refreshes consistently appear.
Our interpretation
Based on prior community posts, the Activity Events API was known to exclude scheduled refresh events from RefreshDataset:
- April 2025 post: "scheduled refresh events are omitted (only on demand or via the API are returned)"
- June 2025 post: "this does not include scheduled events"
- Microsoft Community Support (July 2025): "Get Activity Events does not capture scheduled refreshes that were successful, as these are not considered user-triggered actions"
It appears that Microsoft has resolved this limitation around December 19, 2025, and the Activity Events API now includes RefreshDataset events for scheduled refreshes as well.
What we would like confirmed
- Has Microsoft intentionally changed the Activity Events API to include RefreshDataset events for scheduled refreshes starting around December 19, 2025?
- Is this change permanent and documented somewhere, or could it be a temporary/unintended change?
- Are there any other new activity event types that were added around this date?
Our environment
- Tenant: Commercial Cloud
- Authentication: Service Principal with Power BI Admin permissions
- API endpoint: GET /v1.0/myorg/admin/activityevents
- No code changes were made to our pipeline around December 19
We would appreciate any confirmation from Microsoft or the community, as this directly affects how we architect our refresh monitoring solution.
Thank you.
4 Replies
Hi dundyscholt
It appears that there could be some extra metadata that's been added to the API responses. When I have worked previously with the refresh history API, I have found that it'll always return all the events. Not specifically ones that I could select.
Hello dundyscholt,
We suggest raising a Microsoft Support ticket. When creating the ticket, please include all relevant details such as your observations, timestamps, API endpoint used, authentication method, and the steps you have already taken. This will help the support team better understand the scenario and provide accurate confirmation.You can create a Microsoft support ticket with the help of the link below:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/support/create-support-ticketHello dundyscholt,
We are following up once again regarding your query. Could you please confirm if the issue has been resolved through the support ticket with Microsoft?
If the issue has been resolved, we kindly request you to share the resolution or key insights here to help others in the community.
Thank you.
I also noticed the "RefreshDataset" activities are returned by Get Activity Events. If there is one refresh per day that one appears. However, if there are multiple scheduled refreshes per day there is no "RefreshDataset" event returned, this is strange. At least the last refresh should appear.
Does anyone have any information about this?
Thank you!
