Authoring Dataflows

Dataflows are reusable, scalable self-service extract-transform-load (ETL) artifacts created exclusively in the Power BI service. Dataflows utilize the same Power Query M language for data access and transformation that has existed within Power BI Desktop but can be shared across semantic models and, with Power BI Premium capacity, can support large, resource-intensive workloads.

There are two types of dataflows available in the Power BI service: Gen1 and Gen2. Dataflow Gen1 supports DirectQuery and incremental refresh. Dataflow Gen2 requires a Fabric capacity and adds a number of new or improved features, including new data destinations such as Azure SQL Database, Azure Data Explorer (Kusto), and Fabric Lakehouse/Warehouse. Thus, Gen 2 dataflows or Power Platform dataflows address a longstanding limitation and challenge of incorporating Power Query (M) into data warehouse and lakehouse solutions. The familiar and often existing M expressions used to retrieve...