Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about the BI Pixie Workload. Click any section below to jump directly to it.
Contents
- BI Pixie in Microsoft Fabric
- General
- Getting Started
- Add Pixies
- Data and Privacy
- Plans and Billing
- Dashboard and Analytics
- Team and Collaboration
- Troubleshooting
1. BI Pixie in Microsoft Fabric
What's the difference between BI Pixie in Microsoft Fabric and other ways to use BI Pixie?
BI Pixie is the same product — same Pixies, same dashboards, same telemetry data, same subscription. BI Pixie in Microsoft Fabric provides a native experience inside the Fabric portal so you can track engagement on your Power BI reports without leaving Fabric. Everything you do in the BI Pixie item is backed by the same service and stores data in the same way.
Do I need a separate subscription for the Fabric Workload?
No. A single BI Pixie subscription covers every BI Pixie product. Subscribe once — through the Azure Marketplace SaaS offer or at the BI Pixie subscription portal — and your entitlement applies to every BI Pixie item in your tenant.
Where is my telemetry data stored?
Telemetry is stored in your Fabric capacity's region via OneLake. Your data stays inside Microsoft Fabric's data plane, governed by the same residency boundaries as your other Fabric items. See Data Management for retention controls and OneLake Integration for storage details.
Is BI Pixie certified by Microsoft?
The BI Pixie Workload is currently submitted for Microsoft Fabric workload certification. The product runs on Azure with enterprise-grade security: dedicated per-tenant storage, encryption at rest and in transit, identity-based access control via Microsoft Entra ID, and OneLake-resident telemetry. For our current attestation status, contact support@bipixie.com.
Does BI Pixie support OneLake shortcuts?
Yes. Telemetry written by BI Pixie lives in OneLake and can be exposed to other Fabric items (lakehouses, semantic models, notebooks) via OneLake shortcuts. See OneLake Integration for the full integration story, including sensitivity labels and lineage participation.
Can I add BI Pixie at the tenant level or only per workspace?
Both. A Fabric tenant administrator adds BI Pixie to the tenant via Workload Hub (see Add BI Pixie to Your Tenant). Once added, individual workspace users with a permitted role create BI Pixie items in their workspaces as needed — no per-workspace setup step.
2. General
What is BI Pixie?
BI Pixie is a telemetry and intelligence platform for Power BI, available natively inside Microsoft Fabric. It adds invisible tracking elements called Pixies to your published Power BI reports to capture user engagement data: page views, visual clicks, filter selections, bookmark navigation, tooltip views, drill-through actions, NPS surveys, and feedback responses.
How does BI Pixie work?
BI Pixie adds tiny, native Power BI visuals and hidden measures to your reports through the Microsoft Fabric API. These Pixies detect interactions and send events to BI Pixie's hosted infrastructure. You analyze the collected data using the BI Pixie Dashboard, a Power BI template app.
Do I need to install anything in my Azure or Power Platform environment?
No. BI Pixie is a fully hosted service. A Fabric tenant administrator enables the BI Pixie Workload from Workload Hub, and from that point on, workspace users create BI Pixie items directly in Microsoft Fabric. There is nothing to install or deploy in your Azure environment.
What Power BI interactions does BI Pixie track?
BI Pixie can track page views, visual clicks, slicer/filter selections, bookmark navigation, tooltip views, drill-through actions, link clicks, feedback responses, and survey answers. You can enable or disable each interaction type individually in Tracking Setup.
What exactly is a "Pixie"?
A Pixie is a 1x1 pixel native Power BI table visual placed in the corner of a report page, along with hidden DAX measures stored in the semantic model. Pixies are invisible to report consumers and grouped under a { BI Pixie } label in the Selection pane and Data pane for easy identification by your BI team.
How is BI Pixie different from the native Power BI usage metrics?
Power BI's built-in usage metrics show page-level views and a list of users. BI Pixie goes much deeper: it tracks visual-level clicks, filter and slicer selections, bookmark navigation, tooltip views, drill-through actions, link clicks, and user feedback responses. It also lets you embed NPS surveys, analyze heatmaps of visual interactions, and track Row-Level Security context. BI Pixie gives you a complete picture of how your audience interacts with reports, not just whether they opened them.
Does BI Pixie work with Power BI Embedded?
Yes. Pixies track interactions in reports viewed through Power BI Embedded scenarios. Events are captured whenever a user interacts with a report served from Power BI Service, regardless of how it is embedded.
3. Getting Started
How do I start using BI Pixie?
A Fabric tenant administrator adds BI Pixie via Workload Hub (see Add BI Pixie to Your Tenant). Once added, open a Fabric workspace where you have Contributor, Member, or Admin role, click Create, choose BI Pixie, and the BI Pixie item opens. From there, follow the Getting Started guide.
What type of account do I need?
You need a Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) work or school account — the same account you use to sign in to Microsoft Fabric and Power BI Service. Personal Microsoft accounts (outlook.com, hotmail.com) are not supported.
How long does setup take?
Most users complete the full setup in under 10 minutes: create a BI Pixie item, choose reports from your workspace, and click to add Pixies. Events start appearing within seconds of interacting with a tracked report.
Can I try BI Pixie before buying?
Yes. The Free tier gives you access to Pro-level features so you can evaluate the full capabilities of BI Pixie before choosing a paid subscription.
What permissions does BI Pixie need?
BI Pixie operates inside Microsoft Fabric using your existing workspace permissions. It needs read/write access to the items in workspaces where you create BI Pixie items so it can read report definitions, add Pixies, and save the updated reports back. Tenant administrators may also need to grant the workload's required Fabric API consent — see Add BI Pixie to Your Tenant.
4. Add Pixies
How are Pixies added to my reports?
BI Pixie reads your report and semantic model definitions through the Fabric API, scans each page and visual, inserts invisible Pixie elements, and writes the updated definitions back. You can choose to have BI Pixie auto-save directly to your workspace or download the updated files and publish them yourself. See Add Pixies to Your Reports for the full walkthrough.
Will Pixies affect my report performance?
No. Pixies are 1x1 pixel visuals and lightweight DAX measures. They add negligible overhead to report rendering and do not query your data sources.
Can my report consumers see the Pixies?
No. Pixies are invisible to end users viewing the report in Power BI Service. They are only visible to report authors in the Selection pane and Data pane of Power BI Desktop, grouped under a clearly labeled { BI Pixie } folder.
Do I need to update Pixies after editing my reports?
Yes. We recommend updating Pixies after any change to the report definition that goes to production. Use the Update Pixies action from the Managed Reports view. See below for the full list of changes and their impact.
What happens if I change my report and don't update the Pixies?
When you change a report definition and publish it to production without updating Pixies, the Pixies are based on the old definition and may miss new elements or show stale information in the BI Pixie Dashboard. You do not need to update Pixies after a data refresh — refreshes only update the data, not the report definition. Here is what happens for each type of change:
| Report Change | Impact Without Updating Pixies |
|---|---|
| New pages added | No usage data captured for the new pages. |
| Pages deleted | Dashboard will show unused pages that no longer exist in the report. |
| New visuals added | No usage data for the new visuals. Heatmaps will not include them. |
| Different fields in existing visuals | No auditing of the newly selected data. |
| Visuals moved or resized | Heatmap will show the old location of the visual in the Dashboard. |
| Visual type changed | Heatmap will display the old visual type in the Dashboard. |
| Visuals renamed | Dashboard will show the old names of the visuals. |
| New slicers added | Slicer interactions will not be captured. |
| Bookmarks changed | New or modified bookmarks will not be tracked. |
| Buttons, images, or tables with hyperlinks changed | Link clicks will not be captured for the new or updated hyperlinks. |
To avoid these gaps, open the Reports tab, open the action menu for the changed report, and select Update Pixies after each deployment to production.
Does BI Pixie work with Power BI Desktop?
BI Pixie tracks reports that are published to Power BI Service. Events are only captured when users interact with reports in Power BI Service (or embedded scenarios). Opening a report in Power BI Desktop does not send events to BI Pixie.
Can I use BI Pixie with Power BI Deployment Pipelines?
Yes. The recommended workflow is: keep original reports in the Development stage, deploy to Test, create a BI Pixie item in the Test workspace and add Pixies there, verify the Pixies are firing, then deploy from Test to Production.
Can I remove Pixies from a report?
Yes. Use the Remove Pixies action on the Add Pixies tab to clean all Pixies from selected reports. This stops tracking for those reports. Removing Pixies is available even when your subscription has expired.
5. Data and Privacy
Where is my data stored?
Telemetry is stored in your Fabric capacity's region via OneLake. Each BI Pixie item writes to a dedicated, isolated container governed by Fabric's data residency model. See OneLake Integration for details.
Is my data encrypted?
Yes. All data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Access is controlled through Microsoft Entra ID identities and Fabric workspace roles.
Does BI Pixie access my actual report data?
No. BI Pixie reads report definitions (layout, visual metadata, and DAX measures) to add Pixies. It does not access, read, or store your underlying business data. The only data BI Pixie collects is interaction telemetry (what users clicked, when, and on which page).
Can I delete user data?
Yes. The Data Management view provides self-service tools to search for, preview, and permanently delete data for specific users, specific reports, or specific event files. This supports GDPR data subject access requests (DSARs).
How long is my data retained?
You choose your retention period in Data Management. Options range from 7 days to 1,095 days (3 years) depending on your subscription. Events older than the retention period are automatically deleted during a daily cleanup.
Is BI Pixie GDPR compliant?
BI Pixie provides the tools you need for GDPR compliance: configurable data retention, self-service data search and deletion, isolated per-customer storage, encryption, and identity-based access control. Certain data collection settings (user identity, data selections) require explicit consent before they can be enabled.
Can I track users without collecting personal data?
Yes. By default, user identity tracking is turned off. With identity tracking disabled, BI Pixie captures engagement data in aggregate (page views, clicks, filters) without associating events with individual users.
6. Plans and Billing
What subscription tiers are available?
BI Pixie offers Free, Standard, Pro, and Enterprise tiers. Each has different limits for tracked reports, billed sessions, data retention, and feature access. Visit the Pricing page for current details, and see Licenses for tier-by-tier feature notes.
What's included in the Free tier?
The Free tier includes up to 3 reports, 2,000 billed sessions, and access to Pro and Enterprise tier features for evaluation. No credit card required to start.
What is a "billed session"?
A billed session represents one unique user viewing one report in one day. For example, if a user opens the same report three times in a day, that counts as one billed session. If they open two different reports, that counts as two billed sessions. Your total is calculated over a rolling 30-day window. You can see your current count on the Account view under Plan & Usage.
What happens when I reach my session limit?
Your cost is always fixed. Reaching the session limit will never result in additional charges. Workspace admins choose what happens at the limit: either "Preserve existing data" (stops collecting new events until your rolling count drops below the limit) or "Keep collecting" (continues tracking by removing the oldest data first). See Account for details.
Can I change my subscription?
Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately — you get instant access to the higher tier's features and limits. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing cycle. Manage your subscription at the BI Pixie subscription portal.
How does proration work when I upgrade?
When you upgrade mid-cycle, you're credited for the unused portion of your current subscription and charged the prorated cost of your new tier for the remainder of the billing period. From the next cycle onward, you're billed at the full new rate. You only pay for what you use.
Will I ever be charged more than my subscription price?
No. BI Pixie subscriptions have fixed pricing. If you reach your session or report limits, tracking behavior adjusts according to your chosen policy, but your bill stays the same.
What happens when my subscription expires?
When a subscription expires, adding and updating Pixies is disabled and some features in the BI Pixie item are shown in a limited state. You can still remove Pixies from reports and open the BI Pixie item. Renew at the BI Pixie subscription portal to restore full access.
Can I purchase BI Pixie through Azure Marketplace?
Yes. BI Pixie is available on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This lets you use existing Azure commitments and consolidate billing on your Azure invoice. You can also switch billing providers later.
Do you offer annual billing?
Yes. Annual billing is available and saves you the equivalent of two months compared to monthly billing.
7. Dashboard and Analytics
What is the BI Pixie Dashboard?
The BI Pixie Dashboard is a Power BI template app available on Microsoft AppSource. It connects directly to your BI Pixie data and provides pre-built reports for analyzing user adoption, engagement, satisfaction, performance, and more.
How do I install the BI Pixie Dashboard?
Install it from Microsoft AppSource or use the link from the Overview view of the BI Pixie item. During setup, you will need your SAS Token from the Account view (or the Licenses view expanded card). The Data Lake URL is pre-filled by the install ticket. See Set up BI Pixie Dashboard for step-by-step instructions.
How often is the dashboard data refreshed?
You configure the semantic model refresh schedule in Power BI Service, just like any other dataset. Your daily refresh count is limited by your subscription and shown on the Account view under Data Refreshes.
Can I build my own reports on top of BI Pixie data?
Yes. The BI Pixie Dashboard template app installs a semantic model in your workspace. You can build additional Power BI reports on top of that semantic model or connect to the underlying telemetry in OneLake — see OneLake Integration.
Can I share the BI Pixie Dashboard with my team?
Yes. The BI Pixie Dashboard is installed as a Power BI app in your workspace. You can share it with other users in your organization using standard Power BI sharing and permissions, just like any other Power BI report.
8. Team and Collaboration
Can multiple people use the same BI Pixie item?
Yes. Access to a BI Pixie item is governed by the Fabric workspace it lives in. Anyone with a workspace role on that workspace can use the BI Pixie item according to their role. See Team Access for the role-by-role breakdown.
How are roles managed?
BI Pixie uses your Microsoft Fabric workspace roles directly. Admins, Members, and Contributors can manage BI Pixie items in their workspace; Viewers have read-only access to BI Pixie items shared with them. There is no separate BI Pixie team registry to maintain. To add or change access, follow Microsoft's workspace access guide.
Can I control which reports each team member sees?
On Enterprise, you can divide a single subscription into multiple licenses and assign workspace users to specific licenses. Each license has its own allocation of reports and end users, so members only see telemetry relevant to their scope. See Licenses for details.
What if I need finer-grained control than Fabric roles offer?
Fabric workspace roles are the source of truth for who can use a BI Pixie item. If you need scope-level isolation (for example, separating Marketing data from Finance data), use Enterprise License Assignment alongside workspace roles.
9. Troubleshooting
I added Pixies but no events are appearing. What should I do?
- Make sure you are viewing the report in Power BI Service, not Power BI Desktop. Events are only captured from the service.
- Interact with the report (navigate pages, click visuals, apply filters) and then use the Test Events tab to check for recent events.
- Events typically appear within seconds, but there can be a short delay.
- Verify the report appears on the Reports tab with a "Pixies added" status.
My BI Pixie Dashboard is not loading data.
- Verify the SAS Token credential on the semantic model matches the latest Token shown on the Account view (or the Licenses view expanded card). See Dashboard Data Source for how to update the credential in Power BI.
- Check that the semantic model refresh is configured and has completed successfully.
- Review the Data Refreshes count on the Account view to confirm you have not exceeded your daily refresh limit.
I cannot add more reports. I am at my subscription limit.
- Check report usage on the Overview view or the Account view.
- Release unused report slots by removing Pixies from reports you no longer need to track on the Reports tab.
- Consider upgrading your subscription for a higher report limit.
My data refresh is blocked.
- The Overview view shows an estimated time when refreshes will be restored.
- This happens when the daily refresh limit is reached. Wait until the limit resets or upgrade your subscription for a higher refresh allowance.
A long-running job appears stuck.
- Open the Microsoft Fabric Monitoring Hub to see the job's current status, retries, and error details.
- Use the retry action if available, or contact support@bipixie.com.
Events are appearing with a delay. Is this normal?
Events typically appear within a few seconds of interacting with a report. Occasional short delays (up to a minute) are normal during high-traffic periods. If events consistently take longer or do not appear at all, check that the report has Pixies added and that you are viewing it in Power BI Service (not Power BI Desktop).
I have a question that is not answered here.
Check the Contact Support page for ways to reach us, or email support@bipixie.com directly.