Microsoft Fabric integration
Common queries around Microsoft Fabric integration. The Microsoft Fabric connector is generally available, and Atlan is available in the Microsoft Marketplace and is Microsoft Azure co-sell eligible.
Atlan crawls Microsoft Fabric workspaces, reports, and dashboards into the catalog; this FAQ answers common integration questions.
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the Microsoft Fabric connector integration.
Does enabling Scanner API Access affect which permissions are required?
Yes. When Scanner API Access is enabled, Atlan uses only the Power BI Admin Scanner APIs and doesn't require workspace-level permissions. The following admin API settings (configured in the Fabric Admin Portal) are sufficient:
- Service principals can access read-only admin APIs: Enabled for your security group
- Enhance admin APIs responses with detailed metadata: Enabled for your security group
When Scanner API Access is disabled, Atlan also uses non-scanner APIs, which require the crawl identity (service principal or APIM managed identity) to have Viewer access on each workspace in addition to the admin API settings listed.
This applies to both authentication methods (Service Principal and APIM Managed Identity).
When Extract Spark runtime lineage is enabled, workspace-level permissions are required in both modes: Viewer or higher on every crawled workspace, and Contributor or higher on workspaces that contain a Runtime Lineage item. See Set up Spark runtime lineage.
To extract entity columns and lineage for Dataflow Gen2 (CI/CD), the crawl identity needs Contributor or higher on each workspace that contains them, in both modes. With admin API access alone, these dataflows are cataloged without columns or lineage. See Dataflow Gen2 (CI/CD) permissions.
How does Scanner API toggle affect catalog coverage and lineage?
The Microsoft Fabric connector can run in two modes based on the Enable Scanner API Access toggle in the crawler workflow.
- Scanner API enabled (toggle on): Uses only the Power BI Admin Scanner APIs. Workspace-level permissions aren't required. This simplifies setup but limits catalog coverage.
- Scanner API disabled (toggle off): Uses both scanner and non-scanner APIs for full catalog coverage. Requires Viewer access on each workspace.
| Asset or lineage capability | Scanner API enabled | Scanner API disabled |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog Workspaces | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Lakehouses, Warehouses (tables, views, columns) | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Semantic Models (tables, columns, and measures) | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Reports | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Dashboards | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Dataflows (Dataflow Gen1, Dataflow Gen2, and Dataflow Gen2 (CI/CD)) | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Dataflow last updated date and creator (Dataflow Gen1 and Dataflow Gen2) | ❌ Not available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Report Pages | ❌ Not available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Report Visuals | ❌ Not available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Pipeline Copy Activities | ❌ Not available | ✅ Available |
| Catalog Notebooks and Spark jobs, with their lineage (requires Extract Spark runtime lineage) | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| End-to-end lineage (external sources → Semantic Models) | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Lineage: Semantic Model → Report | ✅ Available | ✅ Available |
| Lineage: Semantic Model Table/Column → Report Page or Visual | ❌ Not available | ✅ Available |
| Workspace-level permissions required | ❌ Not required, unless Extract Spark runtime lineage is enabled | ✅ Required (Viewer role per workspace) |
For setup instructions specific to each mode, see Set up Microsoft Fabric — Scanner API permissions.
Why fabric semantic model tables don't appear in global Assets search
FabricSemanticModelTable assets are intentionally excluded from Atlan's global Assets search. This is by design—it isn't a bug or an access control issue. Semantic model tables are internal sub-components of a Semantic Model and are designed to be discovered through their parent.
To find a specific semantic model table:
- Search for and open your parent Semantic Model asset.
- Open the Related Assets tab.
- Filter by Semantic Model Table.
Does Atlan catalog Fabric notebooks?
Yes, when Extract Spark runtime lineage is enabled in the crawler. Atlan catalogs each notebook in the crawled workspaces and, from Fabric Spark runtime lineage events, the Spark jobs each notebook runs, with table- and column-level lineage. This requires capture to be set up in Fabric first. See Set up Spark runtime lineage.
Why don't recent notebook runs show lineage in Atlan?
Atlan reads runtime lineage events only for UTC hours that have ended, so a run from the current hour appears after the next crawl that starts once the hour ends. If lineage is still missing, confirm that the tables the notebook reads and writes are cataloged in Atlan. See Troubleshooting Spark runtime lineage.
Can I catalog Microsoft Fabric mirrored databases?
No. Mirrored databases aren't a supported item type in the Fabric connector—a crawl of a workspace that contains only mirrored databases returns zero items. This is a known feature gap with no current workaround.
Known limitations of Microsoft Fabric connector
Atlan currently doesn't support the following Microsoft Fabric features and experiences:
Data Engineering & Analytics:
- Mirrored databases - not cataloged by the Fabric connector; this is a known feature gap
- Data Science (ML models) - not ingested or linked to upstream/downstream
- Real-Time Analytics (KQL) - not supported as source/lineage entities
- Data Activator - not represented in catalog or lineage
Dataflows:
- Dataflow Gen2 (CI/CD) without Contributor access - Atlan reads Dataflow Gen2 (CI/CD) definitions through a workspace-level Fabric API that requires the Contributor role or higher. No admin or Scanner API returns them. Without that role, the dataflow is cataloged but has no entity columns or lineage, even when Scanner API Access is enabled
- Dataflow Gen2 (CI/CD) destinations outside Fabric - Atlan catalogs entity columns and downstream lineage only for queries that write to a crawled Fabric lakehouse or warehouse table
- References between queries - lineage doesn't follow one dataflow query referencing another, or queries combined with
Table.Combine
Metadata & Governance:
- Visual Metadata - visuals inside Power BI reports (charts, fields, filters) not captured
- File-Level Metadata - file-level (CSV/Parquet) assets in Lakehouse.
- Governance Metadata - RLS/OLS roles from Fabric not yet ingested
Scanning & Usage:
- Incremental Scans - only full/scoped scans supported; no change-aware deltas
- View in source - not supported
- Usage statistics and Popularity - not supported for Fabric assets