Configure Power BI metadata scanning

Enable metadata scanning to access detailed data source information including tables and columns.

Before you begin

Role required: admin

You must be a Power BI administrator to enable metadata scanning settings.

About this task

Metadata scanning provides access to detailed data source information, such as tables and columns, through Power BI read-only admin APIs. The collector uses the Power BI Scanner APIs to establish lineage to source tables and columns. Review the limitations to the scanner APIs before configuring the collector.

Procedure

Enable metadata scanning based on your authentication method.

• For service principal authentication:

  1. Follow the Power BI documentation to enable service principal authentication for Power BI read-only APIs
  2. Enable the following enhanced tenant settings for metadata scanning:
     • Enhance admin APIs responses with detailed metadata
     • Enhance admin APIs responses with DAX and mashup expressions

• For username and password authentication, enable the following enhanced tenant settings for metadata scanning:

  Important:

  The user must have administrator rights (Microsoft 365 Global Administrator or Power BI Service Administrator) to use metadata scanning. For details, see the Power BI documentation.
  • Enhance admin APIs responses with detailed metadata
  • Enhance admin APIs responses with DAX and mashup expressions