Open data model?

[Dimani]

Hi,

According to our admin, Power BI Service' "Open data model" option for a workspace is for all or none.

Is there any equivlent we can do? I wonder if sharing a model and giving users build permission would be equivalent to open data model for selected users, except in this case we have to do it for every model?

Thanks

[v-venuppu]

Hi @Dimani ,

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you'd like to discuss this further. If this answers your question, please accept it as a solution and give it a 'Kudos' so other community members with similar problems can find a solution faster.

Thank you.

[v-venuppu]

Hi @Dimani ,

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 and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[v-venuppu]

Hi @Dimani ,

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.

Regards,

Rama U.

[Dimani]

Hi Poojara_D12 and Cookistador,

Thanks for your information and confirmation.

Best regards,

Dimani

[Poojara_D12 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Dimani 

Yes, you're right in observing that the "Open data model" setting in Power BI Service is applied at the workspace level and grants all users in that workspace the ability to connect to and build on top of any dataset in that workspace. However, if you want more granular control—allowing only specific users to access and build on selected datasets—then the equivalent approach is to share individual datasets and explicitly grant Build permissions to those users. While this requires managing permissions on a per-dataset basis, it does give you the flexibility to tailor access and prevent unrestricted usage across the entire workspace. This method is particularly useful in scenarios where multiple teams or departments share a workspace but should only have access to certain data models. Though more administrative effort is needed, especially as the number of datasets and users grows, it effectively replicates the "Open data model" feature for selected users only.

[Cookistador]

Hi @Dimani 

If you enabled the feature, all person in a workspace with higher rights than viewer, will be able to edit the semantic model

But, you can manage this settings at the workspace level, once it is turned on in the admin portal, you can select for which workspace you allow this kind of edit

And lastely, you can also set up the right to open data model for a group a specific user

This is the approach I recommend 

If it is not clear, do not hesistate to ask for more clarification