Dashboard Refresh
The BI Pixie Dashboard is a Power BI template app that imports telemetry data from your BI Pixie storage into a semantic model. Each time the semantic model refreshes, it reads event data from your storage container and updates the dashboard with the latest insights.
This page explains how dashboard refresh works, what limits apply to each plan, and how to get the most out of your refresh budget.
How It Works
BI Pixie continuously collects telemetry from your tracked Power BI reports and stores it in your dedicated storage container. The dashboard is a separate Power BI app that you schedule to refresh on a regular cadence, just like any other Power BI semantic model.
Each refresh pulls event data from your storage container and loads it into the semantic model. The amount of data loaded depends on two factors:
- Data retention determines how long telemetry data is kept in your storage container.
- Dashboard refresh window (Pro and Enterprise) determines how many days of historical data the semantic model imports on each refresh.
For example, a Pro customer with 365-day retention and a 90-day refresh window will keep a full year of raw data in storage, but each dashboard refresh only loads the most recent 90 days into the semantic model.
Refresh Limits by Plan
| Trial | Standard | Pro | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refreshes per day | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Data retention (max) | 14 days | 30 days | 365 days | 1,095 days |
| Dashboard refresh window | All data | All data | 7 to 365 days | 7 to 365 days |
| Refresh strategy | Full scan | Full scan | Full scan | Incremental (with Lakehouse). Only new data is loaded on each refresh, so the full 3-year retention is available in the dashboard without scanning the entire history. |
The refresh window cannot exceed your current retention period. For example, if your retention is set to 30 days, the maximum refresh window is 30 days.
What Happens When You Reach the Limit
BI Pixie tracks how many times your dashboard semantic model is refreshed each day. If your dashboard is refreshed beyond the daily limit, further refreshes will be temporarily paused. You will see a clear message in Power BI explaining that the daily refresh limit has been reached.
No telemetry data is lost during this time. BI Pixie continues collecting events from your tracked reports as usual. Once the limit resets, your next scheduled refresh will pick up all the data that was collected in the meantime.
Tip: If you schedule your dashboard to refresh in Power BI Service, make sure the number of scheduled refreshes does not exceed your daily limit. For example, on a Standard plan with 2 refreshes per day, schedule the semantic model to refresh twice (e.g., morning and evening).
Optimizing Your Refresh
Use the Dashboard Refresh Window
On Pro and Enterprise plans, you can configure the dashboard refresh window in the Data Management page. This controls how many days of historical data the semantic model imports on each refresh.
A narrower refresh window means each refresh processes less data and completes faster. This is especially useful if you have a long retention period but only need the dashboard to show recent activity.
For example, a Pro customer tracking 10 reports with 365-day retention might set the refresh window to 90 days. The full year of raw data remains available for searches in the Data Management page, while the dashboard stays focused on the most recent quarter.
Schedule Refreshes Thoughtfully
You do not need to use all your daily refreshes. If your organization reviews the dashboard once a day, a single morning refresh may be sufficient. Save additional refreshes for days when you need more up-to-date data (e.g., after a major report launch).
Upgrade Your Plan
If you consistently need more refreshes or a longer refresh window, consider upgrading to a higher plan. See Plans and Billing for details.
Enterprise: Fabric Lakehouse with Incremental Refresh
Enterprise customers can opt into a Fabric Lakehouse deployment where the telemetry pipeline runs inside their own Fabric workspace. Instead of importing all data on every refresh, the Lakehouse uses incremental refresh: only new telemetry data is loaded on each run.
This means refresh time and cost stay constant regardless of how much historical data you retain. A 3-year Enterprise customer refreshes just as fast as a 30-day customer.
The Lakehouse deployment also enables Direct Lake connectivity, where the BI Pixie Dashboard reads directly from the Lakehouse with no import step at all. This gives near-real-time visibility into your telemetry data.
Key benefits of the Lakehouse deployment:
- Incremental refresh processes only new events, not the full history.
- Direct Lake connectivity eliminates the import refresh cycle entirely.
- Your data stays in your own Fabric workspace with full control over access and governance.
- The pipeline can be extended with custom measures, reports, or AI agents.
To learn more about the Lakehouse architecture, see How We Deploy BI Pixie Dashboard Across Customers Using Fabric Dataflows. To enable this for your account, contact support.
Data Is Never Lost
Regardless of your plan or refresh configuration, BI Pixie never stops collecting telemetry from your tracked reports. Dashboard refresh limits only affect how often the Power BI semantic model is updated. Your raw telemetry data is always available in your storage container and can be searched from the Data Management page.