Refresh frequency - Need hourly option - only have weekly or daily

[csaethre19]

I have a dataset on the Power BI services that is using DirectQuery mode so I have the option to schedule automatic refresh of this data. It is important that it is as live as possible, I would like to be able to keep it up to date on an hourly basis at least. However, when I go into the refresh settings of my dataset I only have the options to set the schedule up for weekly or daily.

The workspace that this dataset lives in is a Pro license workspace. I have a Premium license but I set it to Pro because we are planning on having our users on a Pro license and they would not be able to view these reports if the workspace was set up as a Premium workspace. I am wondering if this is the reason I don't have more options for the refresh schedule. Or if there is a way I can get around this? Thank you!

[cassidy · Accepted solution]

I use Power Automate.  You can schedule any frequency you like and use the Power BI "Refresh a Dataset" Action

[gsrikar33]

Hi,

But, still Power BI refresh limits apply even when we do this with power automate right?
PRO licence - 8 refreshes/day (scheduled + Refresh APIs(like power automate))

Premium Licence - 48 refreshes/day

[csaethre19]

My datasets are using DirectQuery mode. I understood that interacting with the report that uses a DirectQuery dataset would update the data automatically. However, when I was looking at the report today the date slicer did not show todays date and I know there should be already data for today that I would want to look at. I am not sure if I need to schedule refreshes or not (using Power BI or Automate). Am I misunderstanding what the expected behavior of reports using DirectQuery mode should be?

[gsrikar33]

Hi,

How are you supplying the data to the slicer?
You should have a separate dataset(with storage mode as DirectQuery) to supply values for your slicer with the help of a parameter.
If you have a Date slicer and if you are generating a calendar table in your report data sets, you can use the below as the end date value.

DateTime. LocalNow()

[cassidy]

I don't use DirectQuery personally, but it does look there is a setting to update the automatic update frequency per the screenshot here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/refresh-data#datasets-in-directquery-mode

Or with Power Automate, you could literally force refreshes every minute if you really wanted to.