DirectLake Without OneLake Access: A Fixed-Identity Pattern That Keeps the Lakehouse Off-Limits There’s a moment that catches a lot of Fabric teams off guard. You publish a beautiful report on a DirectLake semantic model. Users can slice, filter, and explore exactly the way you intended. Then someone asks, “Why can I open the lakehouse and browse the tables?” Or worse: “Why can I query the SQL analytics endpoint directly?” If your objective is semantic model consumption without lake access, the default DirectLake behavior can feel like it’s working against you. By default, DirectLake uses Microsoft Entra ID single sign-on (SSO)—meaning the viewer’s identity…

Stop granting lakehouse permissions just so people can read a report.

This fixed-identity DirectLake pattern cleanly separates semantic model consumption from OneLake access—and it’s one of the most practical #DataGovernance moves you can make in #MicrosoftFabric today. #DirectLake #PowerBI

DirectLake on OneLake CI/CD: A Practical Two-Step Deployment Pattern with Sempy Labs + Variable Libraries DirectLake on OneLake is one of those “this is what we’ve been waiting for” features in Microsoft Fabric—until you try to deploy it cleanly across Dev → Test → Prod and realize you’ve re-entered the world of post-deployment manual fixes. In this how-to, I’m going to do three things: Contrast DirectLake on SQL endpoints (the “classic” flavor) with DirectLake on OneLake (the newer flavor), and explain why OneLake is worth the trouble. Walk through the normal deployment pipeline approach that works well for DirectLake on SQL. Show a two-step, semi-automated approach for DirectLake on OneLake using: …

DirectLake on OneLake is the semantic layer many Fabric teams want—but CI/CD is still catching up. Here’s a practical two-step deployment pattern using Sempy Labs + Variable Libraries to rebind DirectLake models automatically after promotion. #MicrosoftFabric #PowerBI #DirectLake #CICD

Two Flavors of DirectLake: Over SQL vs. Over OneLake (and How to Switch Without Surprises) DirectLake has a way of sounding wonderfully simple: “Power BI, but it reads the lake directly.” Then you build two semantic models that both say DirectLake, and they behave… differently. One falls back to DirectQuery when you least expect it. Another refuses to touch your SQL views. Security works for you, but not for your report consumers. Suddenly, “DirectLake” feels less like a feature and more like a riddle. The good news: this is explainable. And once you understand the two flavors—DirectLake over SQL and DirectLake over OneLake…

#DirectLake isn’t “one mode,”it’s two. If your #MSFabric #PowerBI semantic model is slow, failing security tests, or behaving inconsistently, there’s a good chance you’re running the wrong DirectLake flavor (or falling back without realizing it).

Deep dive into composite semantic models with Direct Lake and import tables Getting your data job done just got easier with composite semantic models, mixing Direct Lake tables with import tables, now available in public preview.

Deep dive into composite semantic models with Direct Lake and import tables
#DirectLake #PowerBI #SemanticModel #WebModelling

powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/d...

Everything You Need to Know About the New Power BI Storage Mode | Towards Data Science 50 Shades of Direct Lake

Curious to learn more about the intricacies of #DirectLake storage mode for #PowerBI semantic models?

Recently, I wrote an article for @towardsdatascience.com that explains the inner workings and potential use cases for Direct Lake in #MicrosoftFabric.

towardsdatascience.com/50-shades-of...

Stop the hassle of interrupted connections in #PowerBI when using #DirectLake. @mmoengen.bsky.social guides you through setting up a fixed identity so your published apps can be leveraged without giving direct access to #OneLake.

Watch on YouTube - guyinacu.be/fixedidentity

Introducing Power BI Embedded with Direct Lake Mode (Preview) | Microsoft Fabric Blog | Microsoft Fabric As we step into 2025, we’re excited to announce the preview of Power BI Embedded with Direct Lake Mode, a new feature designed to enhance how developers and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) provide...

How will Power BI Embedded with Direct Lake Mode impact developers and ISVs? Hasan Abo Shally from the Microsoft Fabric team introduces this feature, enhancing embedded analytics with real-time data updates and optimized performance. #PowerBI #DirectLake Read their blog: https://blog.fabric.microso…

Check out my latest blog and video on how to integrate #PowerApps with #MicrosoftFabric Warehouse and enable writebacks for #PowerBI reports using #DirectQuery or #DirectLake models! youtube.com/watch?v=exJW...
shabnamwatson.com/2024/10/26/u...

Just pushed a script and notebook for a #PowerBI datamart modernization and upgrade accelerator to #MicrosoftFabric data warehouse that @BradleySchacht and I had been working on.

Data type compatibility/converter and semantic model upgraded to #DirectLake too. ENJOY (soon~ish).

#MicrosoftFabric #DirectLake #SemanticModel authoring now in #PowerBIDesktop!
#FabConEurope

Dan Freidman shows a performance and cost comparison of #ImportMode, #DirectQuery, #DirectLake and #CompositeModel in this great article on #PowerBI #MicrosoftFabric -www.linkedin.com/pulse/perfor...

If I don't say it enough, I love working with Michael Kovalsky. We're cooking up the next iteration of the #SemanticModel migration utility for #DirectLake with built-in logic for #DataflowGen2 fast copy eligible query detection. 1/n

Converting a Direct Lake model to Import One of my favorite features of Tabular Editor (both 2 and 3) is its C# scripting capability, which allows you to run code, see the impact immediately, and even undo the changes made by the script usin...

Ever had the need to convert a Direct Lake model to plain ol' Import-mode? There's a #TabularEditor script for that...

www.linkedin.com/pulse/conver...

#PowerBI #Fabric #DirectLake