Greetings.
In working with the Datasets - Bind To Gateway In Group Power BI REST API, I was encountering a problem in which the API call returned Status Code: OK (200) but did not actually change the data source on the semantic model. The docs page on this API was not helpful as it only states that this will only work for on-prem gateways, but does not indicate any other key factors.
When I asked Copilot, it provided some very helpful information:
if the BindToGateway API call is succeeding (i.e., returning a 200 OK or 202 Accepted) but the semantic model's data source connection does not actually change, here are the most likely causes and how to address them:
Semantic Model Already Bound to the Same Gateway and Data Source
The API is idempotent—if the semantic model is already bound to the specified gateway and data source, the call will succeed but make no changes.
Check: Compare the Before Update and After Update outputs. If they are identical, the binding was already in place.
2. Binding Only Affects Gateway Routing, Not Connection Strings
BindToGateway does not update the connection string or credentials of the semantic model.
It only tells Power BI which gateway and data source to use for refreshes.
Check: If your semantic model was published with a different connection string (e.g., server name or database name), it must match exactly with the data source on the gateway.
3. Mismatch Between Semantic Model and Gateway Data Source
The semantic model’s connection string must exactly match the one defined in the gateway data source.
Even minor differences (e.g., ServerName vs ServerName.domain.local) will prevent binding from taking effect.
Check: Use Get-PowerBIDataset and Get-PowerBIDatasource to inspect the connection string and compare it to the gateway data source.
4. Semantic Model Uses Cloud Data Source
If the dataset uses a cloud data source (e.g., Azure SQL, SharePoint Online), it doesn’t need a gateway.
In this case, binding to a gateway has no effect.
Check: Look at the datasourceType in the semantic model’s data source info.
The issue I was having was caused by my PBIX pointing to a different warehouse than my cloud connection (on purpose, so I could verify the change), which is item 3 in the list above.
When I made the PBIX file connection match exactly the server/warehouse of the Gateway connection (via Power Query Parameters in the PBIX), I was able to modify the connection successfully and verify that it worked via a refresh.
It would be super helpful if the great info Copilot provided could be incorporated into the documentation of the API.
Thanks
