Forum Discussion
Model Build Permissions AND Viewer Workspace Permissions to Create Report?
Hi arock-well
Yes, in most practical scenarios, especially when using Power BI Desktop, a user will likely need both Build permissions on the semantic model and Viewer permissions on the workspace to effectively create reports.- Build permission only (No Viewer access) → The user might not see the model in Power BI Desktop.
- Viewer access only (No Build permission) → The user can view reports but cannot create new ones from the model.
- Want access to the model without exposing the workspace? → Consider using Shared Dataset Access from another workspace.
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Hi arock-well
Yes, in most practical scenarios, especially when using Power BI Desktop, a user will likely need both Build permissions on the semantic model and Viewer permissions on the workspace to effectively create reports.
- Build permission only (No Viewer access) → The user might not see the model in Power BI Desktop.
- Viewer access only (No Build permission) → The user can view reports but cannot create new ones from the model.
- Want access to the model without exposing the workspace? → Consider using Shared Dataset Access from another workspace.
If this response was helpful, please accept it as a solution and give kudos to support other community members
None of these links appear to indicate someone must have Viewer permissions to a Workspace to be able to connect to a model, which is what we want. We don't want or need someone to view the workspace contents, just be able to connect to a model in Power BI Desktop with Build permissions set on the model. It's very confusing.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-datasets-permissions
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-datasets-manage-access-permissions
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-datasets-build-permissions
Thank you for sharing the links and providing more context.
based on experience, Power BI Desktop often requires at least Viewer-level access to the workspace to discover and connect to the model. This is because Power BI Desktop interacts with the workspace to locate the model, even if the user doesn't need to view the workspace contents directly.
While Build permissions allow a user to create reports from the model, they don't inherently grant the ability to discover the model in Power BI Desktop if the workspace is inaccessible.
If your goal is to restrict workspace visibility while ensuring access to the model, consider these options:
- Shared Dataset Access: Publish the model to a separate workspace, grant Build permissions to users, and restrict their access to other content.
- XMLA Endpoint: If using Premium (P SKU) or Fabric (F SKU) capacity, you can connect via XMLA Endpoints in Power BI Desktop. This method allows access without requiring Viewer permissions, but it's only available for Premium or Fabric users, not Pro users.