Copilot in Power BI when connecting through LiveConnect (AAS) and DQ (SQL MI)?

[lenka]

Hi Team, are there any limitations on using Copilot in Power BI when connecting through LiveConnect (AAS) and DQ (SQL MI)?

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @lenka,

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @lenka,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution so that other community members can find it easily.

Thank you.

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @lenka,

As we haven’t heard back from you, so just following up to our previous message. I'd like to confirm if you've successfully resolved this issue or if you need further help.

If yes, you are welcome to share your workaround and mark it as a solution so that other users can benefit as well. If you find a reply particularly helpful to you, you can also mark it as a solution.

If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are more than happy to continue to help you.
Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.

[Poojara_D12]

Hi @lenka 

When using Copilot in Power BI with LiveConnect to Azure Analysis Services (AAS) and DirectQuery (DQ) through SQL Managed Instance (SQL MI), there are several considerations and limitations to keep in mind. First, LiveConnect to AAS relies on the predefined models within AAS, so the capabilities of Copilot depend on the data and measures exposed by the model. Copilot can help with data insights and creating natural language queries, but its performance may be impacted by the complexity of the model or if there are restrictive security roles in place that limit access to certain data. For DirectQuery (DQ) with SQL MI, Copilot may struggle with performance when querying large or complex datasets due to the need for real-time querying directly from the SQL server. The querying efficiency is also dependent on the network connection and the SQL server performance. Moreover, with both AAS and DQ, Copilot’s functionality can be limited by the lack of full support for advanced DAX measures or complex relationships that aren’t exposed in the underlying data models, meaning users might not always get the most optimized or accurate results without manual intervention. Additionally, since LiveConnect and DirectQuery both rely on external data sources, the user's session performance and data access constraints can affect how well Copilot operates in such scenarios.

[lenka]

Thank you Poojara! Very much appreciate!

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @lenka,

Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.

It seems you have queries about the limitations of using Copilot in PowerBI when connected through LiveConnection or DirectQuery. As few points are already mentioned by @rohit1991, you can also go through the following link to get a better understanding of how Copilot integrates with PowerBI. 

Overview of Copilot for Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Apart from the mentioned points Copilot requires an imported dataset for full functionality when used with LiveConnect. Since, LiveConnect does not store data within Power BI, certain Copilot features may not be available when connecting directly to AAS. Also when used with DirectQuery, Copilot can function but it may be subject to performance considerations, as queries are executed in real-time against the underlying database. Additionally, some AI-driven insights may be limited depending on query folding and data structure.

I would also take a moment to thank @rohit1991, for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference.

If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know.  

Best Regards,
Hammad.
Community Support Team

If this post helps then please mark it as a solution, so that other members find it more quickly.

Thank you.

[lenka]

Thank you for the detailed response and for the link to the documentation. I went through the docs, but I couldn't find any more information beyond what Rohit already mentioned.

Could you please clarify what exactly is meant by "certain Copilot features" when using LiveConnect and DirectQuery? Specifically, can you point me to the exact paragraph or section in the documentation that details these limitations?

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @lenka,

Currently, Microsoft has not explicitly documented a detailed breakdown of Copilot limitations by connection mode in a single section so you may not find more information about it. As for what "certain Copilot features" means is that Copilot relies on an imported dataset to analyze and generate insights so, features like data summarization, auto-generated insights, and natural language queries may be limited or unavailable. This happens because LiveConnect does not store data within Power BI but rather queries the external AAS model in real time.

Thank you.

[rohit1991 · Accepted solution]

Hi @lenka ,

Yes, Copilot in Power BI has limitations when using LiveConnect to Azure Analysis Services (AAS) and DirectQuery to Azure SQL Managed Instance (SQL MI). For LiveConnect (AAS), Copilot cannot generate report pages, and object-level security is not supported. For DirectQuery (SQL MI), performance depends on the data source, and certain Power BI features are restricted. Additionally, Copilot requires Fabric capacity (F64+) or Premium capacity to function. Understanding these limitations ensures optimal usage of Copilot in your reports.

[ManojRamesh]

Can't we access copilot if we have PPU license?

Clear me this what is the requirements to enable copilot in power bi.

[lenka]

thank you Rohit! The docs are quite chaotic on this matter, the only thing I found is the one you mentioned about not supporting 'generate report pages' feature Create reports in the Power BI service with Copilot - Power BI | Microsoft Learn