> This is the Markdown of https://backed.giving/developers/guides/power-bi, a page of the Backed developer documentation. Every page is listed at https://backed.giving/developers/llms.txt.

# Connect Power BI

Load the OData reporting feed into Power BI Desktop, with Basic authentication or a token query, and refresh it on a schedule.

Power BI reads your organisation’s records through the OData reporting feed, the same records your Backed reports read, and only your own organisation’s.

## Before you start

- A credential with the `read:reporting_feed` scope (\`Read reporting feed\` on the \`API Access\` tab). Only an Administrator who can generate reports can give it. Without it the feed answers \`403 insufficient\_scope\`.
- Your organisation’s address plus `/odata/v4/`, such as `https://your-org.backed.giving/odata/v4/`.

The feed is OData v4. `/odata/v4/` lists its entity sets and `/odata/v4/$metadata` describes every column. The entity sets are `Applications`, `Applicants`, `RegistrationEntities`, `FundingRounds`, `Assessments`, `Decisions`, `Contracts`, `Milestones`, `Payments`, `Funds`. The OpenAPI document points to the feed (`x-odata-feed`) but does not describe it: `$metadata` does.

## Signing in

A tool that can only ask for a user name and password signs in to the feed with the credential itself: the Client ID as the user name and the Client Secret as the password. The pair is checked on every request, so there is no token to renew. Only the feed takes a user name and password; the rest of the API takes a token alone. A tool that can send headers may instead send `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, with a token from `POST /oauth/token`.

## With the OData feed connector

1. In Power BI Desktop, select `Get data`, then `OData feed`.
2. Under `URL`, enter `https://your-org.backed.giving/odata/v4/` with your organisation’s address, and select `OK`.
3. When Power BI asks how to connect, choose `Basic`. Enter the Client ID as the `User name` and the Client Secret as the `Password`, and select `Connect`.
4. In the `Navigator`, tick the entity sets you want, then select `Load` or `Transform Data`.

## With a token query

If you would rather the feed see a token, start from `Get data`, `Blank query`, open `Advanced Editor`, paste this query, and replace the three settings at the top. If Power BI asks how to connect to your organisation’s address, choose `Anonymous`: the query sends its own token.

Power Query (M):

```powerquery
let
    // Your organisation's address and your credential's pair.
    BaseUrl = "https://your-org.backed.giving",
    ClientId = "your-client-id",
    ClientSecret = "your-client-secret",
    // A token, asked for at every refresh (each lasts 5 days).
    Token = Json.Document(
        Web.Contents(BaseUrl, [
            RelativePath = "oauth/token",
            Headers = [#"Content-Type" = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"],
            Content = Text.ToBinary(Uri.BuildQueryString([
                grant_type = "client_credentials",
                client_id = ClientId,
                client_secret = ClientSecret
            ]))
        ])
    )[access_token],
    // The feed, with the token on every request it makes.
    Feed = OData.Feed(
        BaseUrl & "/odata/v4/",
        null,
        [Headers = [Authorization = "Bearer " & Token], Implementation = "2.0"]
    )
in
    Feed
```

## Refresh on a schedule

1. In Power BI Desktop, select `Publish` and choose a workspace.
2. In the Power BI service, open the semantic model’s `Settings`.
3. Under `Data source credentials`, select `Edit credentials`: `Basic` with the pair for the connector, `Anonymous` for the token query.
4. Under `Refresh`, turn on `Configure a refresh schedule`, choose the times, and select `Apply`.

With `Basic`, every refresh signs in with the pair; the token query asks for a new token at every refresh. Either way the 5-day token limit never stops a refresh. A refresh that fails with `401` means the credential was deleted or its secret is wrong; with `403`, it has lost `read:reporting_feed`.

## Paging and query options

- A page holds up to 1000 rows and ends with `@odata.nextLink` while more remain. Power BI follows it for you.
- Filters and column choices you make in Power Query are sent as `$filter` and `$select`, so only what you keep is read. `$orderby`, `$top` and `$count` are supported too.
- A step the feed cannot answer, such as `Remove Top Rows` (sent as `$skip`) or `Begins With` (sent as `startswith`), fails with `501 not_implemented`. Put it after a `Table.Buffer` step, so Power BI applies it to rows it has already read.

Every column, every query option and the change-tracking read for warehouse loaders are in [OData feed for BI tools and data warehouses](https://admin.backed.giving/help/integrations/odata-feed). Tableau is in [Connect Tableau](https://backed.giving/developers/guides/tableau.md).