Interactive and background operations

Power BI divides operations into two types, interactive and background. This article lists these operations and explains the difference between them

Interactive operations

On demand requests and operations that can be triggered by user interactions with the UI, such as data model queries generated by report visuals, are classified as interactive operations. They’re usually triggered by user interactions with the UI. For example, an interactive operation is triggered when a user opens a report or clicks on a slicer in a Power BI report. Interactive operations can also be triggered without interacting with the UI, for example when using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or a custom application to run a DAX query.

Background operations

Longer running operations such as semantic model or dataflow refreshes are classified as background operations. They can be triggered manually by a user, or automatically without user interaction. Background operations include scheduled refreshes, interactive refreshes, REST-based refreshes, XMLA-based refresh operations, and report subscriptions. Users aren't expected to wait for these operations to finish. Instead, they might come back later to check the status of the operations.

Operation list

The table below lists the Power BI operations. It provides a short description for each operation and identifies the operation's type.

Operation Description Workload Type
Artificial intelligence (AI) AI function evaluation AI Background
Background query Queries for refreshing tiles Semantic models Background
Dataflow DirectQuery Connect directly to a dataflow without the need to import the data into a semantic model Dataflows Interactive
Dataflow refresh An on demand or scheduled background dataflow refresh, performed by the service or with REST APIs Dataflows Background
Semantic model on-demand refresh A background semantic model refresh initiated by the user, using the service, REST APIs or public XMLA endpoints Semantic models Background
Semantic model scheduled refresh A scheduled background semantic model refresh, performed by the service, REST APIs or public XMLA endpoints Semantic models Background
Full report email subscription A PDF or PowerPoint copy of an entire Power BI report, attached to an email subscription Report Interactive
Interactive query Queries initiated by an on-demand data request from a user. For example, loading a model when opening a report, user interaction with a report, or Power BI report snapshots. Semantic models Interactive
PublicApiExport A Power BI report exported with the Export report to file REST API Report Background
Render A Power BI paginated report exported with the Export paginated report to file REST API Paginated report Background
Render A Power BI paginated report viewed in Power BI service Paginated report Interactive
Web modeling read A data model read operation in the semantic model web modeling user experience Semantic models Interactive
Web modeling write A data model write operation in the semantic model web modeling user experience Semantic models Interactive
XMLA read XMLA read operations initiated by the user, for queries and discoveries Semantic models Interactive
XMLA write A background XMLA write operation that changes the model Semantic models Background