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Power BI integration guide

This guide provides instructions for accessing and tracking CoLab data within Power BI. This integration leverages pre-configured power queries and Enterprise API endpoints to streamline your data analysis and reporting workflows.

Prerequisites

  • A CoLab account with Company Admin permissions.

  • A CoLab API Key with all available read permissions enabled.

  • A CoLab Client ID (found under Company & Admin → API Keys).

  • Access to the CoLab.pbit file.

  • Power BI Desktop version November 2025 or later.

Setup guide

Phase 1: Power BI desktop configuration

  1. Open the CoLab.pbit file in Power BI Desktop.

  2. Open Home → Transform Data → Edit Parameters.

  3. Enter your CoLab API Key and CoLab Client ID and click OK.

  4. Click Refresh (also found on the Home tab, in the “Queries” Section).

  5. When prompted to Access Web Content, click Connect.

  6. The queries begin loading data from CoLab. Depending on the amount of data in your workspace, this may take 10–15 minutes. If the queries fail to load, verify your CoLab API Key and CoLab Client ID and try again.

  7. Review and configure table relationships in Model View before creating reports and visuals:

    1. Review the predefined relationships.

    2. Modify relationships as needed for your reporting requirements.

    3. Create separate copies of the .pbit file if different relationship models are required.

⚠️ Configure and validate all table relationships before publishing. Power BI does not allow relationship changes after publication.

Phase 2: Power BI service setup

  1. Create your reports and visuals, then click Publish to publish the semantic model and report to a Power BI workspace.
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  2. In your workspace, you should now see a report and a semantic model named "CoLab" (assuming you have not renamed the .pbit file):

    You can now create reports from the semantic model and configure scheduled refreshes.
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  3. Select Settings for the semantic model.

    1. Open Gateway and cloud connections.

    2. From the Maps to: dropdown, select Create Connection.

  4. In the side pop-out:

    1. Enter a name for the connection.

    2. Select Anonymous as the authentication method.

    3. Select Organizational as the privacy level.

    4. Click Create.

  5. Return to the workspace, select the Schedule Refresh icon next to the semantic model, and configure the desired refresh schedule.
    Each refresh re-queries data from the CoLab Enterprise API may take 10–15 minutes to complete.

💡 We recommend scheduling refreshes no more than once per day and outside working hours.

Troubleshooting and tips

Connection issues

  • Warning banners when opening the template
    It is normal to see warning banners when first opening the .pbit file. These warnings are cleared automatically after you enter a valid CoLab API Key and CoLab Client ID.

  • Queries fail to load
    Verify that your CoLab API Key and CoLab Client ID are entered correctly and do not contain extra spaces. Also ensure that the API key has all available read permissions enabled.

Data refresh

  • Initial data load takes a long time
    Depending on the amount of data in your CoLab workspace, the initial refresh may take 10–15 minutes.

Relationship configuration

  • Relationship limitations
    Power BI allows only one active relationship path between two tables.

  • Relationships cannot be changed after publishing
    Configure and validate all table relationships before publishing the semantic model to a Power BI workspace.

Advanced customization

  • Editing the Power Query model
    The template uses preconfigured Power Query (M) code to retrieve data from the CoLab Enterprise API. Modifying this code is recommended only for users with advanced Power Query experience.

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