Forum Discussion
Publish to Web
Hello swhistance,
Thank you for the clarification the key point here is that the behavior you’re seeing is expected.
Reports shared using Publish to Web run in an anonymous context, so features that require user identity (like triggering flows from the Microsoft Power Automate visual) are not supported. That’s why the button works in Desktop but disappears after publishing.
Regarding the licensing concern: external users do not need individual licenses if you use capacity-based embedding.
With Microsoft Power BI Embedded or Premium capacity, licensing is applied at the capacity level, which is specifically designed for scenarios like portals with thousands of users. Your portal can authenticate users (including MFA) while the reports run on the dedicated capacity, so viewers don’t require Power BI licenses. Typically, only report authors need Pro/PPU to publish the content.
So in practice:
Publish to Web → anonymous access, but Power Automate visual will not work.
Power BI Embedded / Premium capacity → supports authenticated users and allows the functionality you’re trying to enable without licensing every viewer.
This is the common approach used for large external reporting portals.
Hello swhistance,
Power Automate buttons don’t work in Publish to Web reports because viewers are anonymous; to enable similar functionality, use secure embedding / Power BI Embedded or an HTTP-triggered flow from your portal.
See Microsoft Docs: Publish to Web, Power Automate visual.
The report is currently available through our hosted Reporting web platform (requires MFA sign on). The issue with the embedded feature is the need then for external consumers to have PowerBI licensing, the only way to enable views was to Publish to Web. We are likely to have several 1000 users of these reports, financially this does not make sense (The PA functionality is limited to a small subset of users). Trying to understand the PBI licensing better as provisioning this sort of licence volume for casual consumers (in the main) does not make sense!
Hello swhistance,
Thank you for the clarification the key point here is that the behavior you’re seeing is expected.
Reports shared using Publish to Web run in an anonymous context, so features that require user identity (like triggering flows from the Microsoft Power Automate visual) are not supported. That’s why the button works in Desktop but disappears after publishing.
Regarding the licensing concern: external users do not need individual licenses if you use capacity-based embedding.
With Microsoft Power BI Embedded or Premium capacity, licensing is applied at the capacity level, which is specifically designed for scenarios like portals with thousands of users. Your portal can authenticate users (including MFA) while the reports run on the dedicated capacity, so viewers don’t require Power BI licenses. Typically, only report authors need Pro/PPU to publish the content.
So in practice:
Publish to Web → anonymous access, but Power Automate visual will not work.
Power BI Embedded / Premium capacity → supports authenticated users and allows the functionality you’re trying to enable without licensing every viewer.
This is the common approach used for large external reporting portals.