What's new and planned for Fabric Developer Experiences in Microsoft Fabric
Important
The release plans describe functionality that may or may not have been released yet. The delivery timelines and projected functionality may change or may not ship. Refer to Microsoft policy for more information.
A core investment area in Microsoft Fabric is around our unified experiences across the platform. This includes shared user experiences for navigating around the product, managing content in workspaces, and developer tools for managing your projects. We plan to invest in areas to make it easier to get started building your projects, smooth out the collaboration experiences, and improve your ability to monitor and deploy projects.
Investment areas
Fabric Core REST API generally available
Estimated release timeline: Q2 2024
Release Type: General availability
Fabric Core REST APIs are now generally available. This marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Microsoft Fabric, a platform that has been meticulously designed to empower developers and businesses alike with a comprehensive suite of tools and services. The Core REST APIs are the backbone of Microsoft Fabric, providing the essential building blocks for a myriad of functionalities within the platform. They are designed to improve efficiency, reduce manual effort, increase accuracy, and lead to faster processing times. These APIs help scale operations more easily and efficiently as the volume of work grows, automate repeatable processes with consistency, and enable integration with other systems and applications, providing a streamlined and efficient data pipeline. The Microsoft Fabric Core REST APIs cover a broad spectrum of functionalities, including: Workspace management: APIs for handling workspace operations, including permission management. Item management: APIs enabling the creation, retrieval, update, and deletion of items, with upcoming plans for enhanced support in data source discovery and granular permissions management. Item defintion: Ability to create, retrieve, and update definitions for various items such as Semantic Model, Report, Notebook, SJD, and Data Pipeline. With these APIs, developers can exercise precise control over their deployment processes by effortlessly adjusting parameters such as semantic model configurations or report themes before publishing. Leveraging Microsoft Fabric REST APIs facilitates seamless project deployment through REST API calls. Additionally, the APIs offer functionalities for job and tenant management, streamlining operations within the platform. For developers eager to explore the details of Microsoft Fabric Core APIs, comprehensive documentation is readily available. This documentation includes usage guidelines, illustrative examples, and articles housed in a centralized repository for easy accessibility and discoverability.The documentation is continuously updated to reflect the latest features and improvements, ensuring that developers have the most current information at their fingertips. To learn more, see Fabric REST API docs
Power BI Embedded over Direct Lake
Estimated release timeline: Q2 2024
Release Type: Public preview
Power BI Embedded over Direct Lake mode semantic models is enabled, including full automation based on Fabric REST APIs. This allows ISVs to deploy and manage a solution, based on Direct Lake semantic models, to a very large number of their customer tenants. Direct Lake mode is a groundbreaking new engine capability to analyze very large datasets in Power BI. The technology is based on the idea of loading parquet-formatted files directly from a data lake, without having to query a Warehouse or SQL analytics endpoint, and without having to import or duplicate data into a Power BI semantic model. This native integration brings a unique mode of accessing the data from the Warehouse or SQL analytics endpoint, called Direct Lake. Direct Lake provides the most performant query and reporting experience. Direct Lake is a fast path to load the data from the data lake straight into the Power BI engine, ready for analysis. In traditional DirectQuery mode, the Power BI engine directly queries the data from the source for each query execution, and the query performance depends on the data retrieval speed. DirectQuery eliminates the need to copy data, ensuring that any changes in the source are immediately reflected in query results. In Import mode, the performance is better because the data is readily available in memory, without having to query the data from the source for each query execution. However, the Power BI engine must first copy the data into the memory, at data refresh time. Any changes to the underlying data source are picked up during the next data refresh. Direct Lake mode eliminates the Import requirement by loading the data files directly into memory. Because there's no explicit import process, it's possible to pick up any changes at the source as they occur. Direct Lake combines the advantages of DirectQuery and Import mode while avoiding their disadvantages. Direct Lake mode is the ideal choice for analyzing very large datasets and datasets with frequent updates at the source.
Git integration - enhanced branching capabilities
Estimated release timeline: Q2 2024
This update to Fabric Git integration introduces enhanced branch-related capabilities, providing users with a seamless method to work in isolation, an essential aspect of any workflow. This release encompasses several improvements to the connection between Fabric and Git branches:
- Branching Out to New Workspace: Users can effortlessly branch out to new work environments with just a few clicks. This feature facilitates the creation of a new workspace synced with a corresponding new branch, ready for developers to begin their work. Once tasks are completed, merging back can easily be done via the existing Git workflow. This ensures isolation and streamlines the developers' work process.
- Contextual Workspace Navigation: To streamline navigation between related workspaces, a "related branches" section is added to the source control pane. This area displays any connected workspaces sharing the same Git connection, allowing users to seamlessly transition between them. This functionality enhances workflow continuity and aids in maintaining context within Fabric.
- Improved Source Control Pane Structure: The Git source control pane is redesigned for enhanced usability. It will feature separate tabs for managing changes and updates, branch-related actions and navigation, and additional tabs planned for future updates. This restructuring aims to simplify interaction with the source control pane, providing users with a more intuitive experience.
.NET SDK for Fabric REST APIs
Estimated release timeline: Q2 2024
Release Type: Public preview
The Fabric REST API provides developers with programmatic access to manage and interact with Microsoft Fabric resources. It enables developers to automate a wide array of tasks, including data integration, data warehousing, big data analytics, deployment process automation, new tenant provisioning, and more. The .NET SDK is a wrapper library that simplifies the communication with the Fabric REST API and handles the authentication, serialization, and error handling for you. The .NET SDK for Fabric REST API exposes the following endpoints: • Capacities: List capacities • Workspaces: Create, update, delete, or list Microsoft Fabric workspaces. • Items: Create, update, delete, or list Microsoft Fabric items. • Git: Commit to Git, Connect and Disconnect workspace to Git and update workspace from Git. • Long running operations: get operation status and get operation result. • OneLake shortcuts: Create, delete and get shortcut
Instant and summarized help answers in the Fabric Help Pane
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: General availability
A search experience that considers the user intent (search keywords) to propose ML powered instant answers and self-help resources in the help pane
Improved discoverability of the Help Pane in the product
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: General availability
Through user feedback, we heard that users do not know where to get help in product. Through this feature, all Fabric users will be able to navigate to to the help pane from error messages, support page, and the global search boxto get contextual help.
Fabric Core REST APIs support Service Principal
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: General availability
Enablement of Service Principal support in Microsoft Fabric REST API is a pivotal enhancement for the automation of customers deployment and management of environments.The ability to manage principal permissions for Fabric workspaces, as well as the creation and management of Fabric artifacts like eventhouse and lakehouse, is crucial for the automation of provisioning workflows. By end of May 2024, following MS Build conferance, Service Principal will already be supported by few automation scenarios, such as Fabric Workspace management, Power BI Report management, Power BI Semantic Models management and Fabric Capacity Management. By the end of 2024, all Fabric automation scenarios will support Service Principal.
Folders in workspaces
Estimated release timeline: Q1 2024
Introducing folders in the workspace allows you to better organize and find items. The preview of this feature provides the organizational capabilities of folders. Subsequent updates address folder-related permission management scenarios.
Fabric workload developer kit
Estimated release timeline: Q2 2024
Release Type: Public preview
This feature now extends to additional workloads and offers a robust developer toolkit for designing, developing, and interoperating with Microsoft Fabric using frontend SDKs and backend REST APIs. Introducing the Microsoft Fabric Workload Development Kit.
The Microsoft Fabric platform now provides a mechanism for ISVs and developers to integrate their new and existing applications natively into Fabric’s workload hub. This integration provides the ability to add net new capabilities to Fabric in a consistent experience without leaving their Fabric workspace, thereby accelerating data driven outcomes from Microsoft Fabric.
By downloading and leveraging the development kit, ISVs and software developers can build and scale existing and new applications on Microsoft Fabric and offer them via the Azure Marketplace without the need to ever leave the Fabric environment.
The development kit provides a comprehensive guide and sample code for creating custom item types that can be added to the Fabric workspace. These item types can leverage the Fabric frontend SDKs and backend REST APIs to interact with other Fabric capabilities, such as data ingestion, transformation, orchestration, visualization, and collaboration. You can also embed your own data application into the Fabric item editor using the Fabric native experience components, such as the header, toolbar, navigation pane, and status bar. This way, you can offer consistent and seamless user experience across different Fabric workloads.
Enable users to adjust list column width in workload home, browse and workspace view
Estimated release timeline: Q2 2024
Release Type: General availability
Currently the columns in Fabric workload home, browse and workspace page cannot be expanded to display full object name. The maximum width allowed for the name column is determined by the screen width.
This feature improves the column width resizing experience and allow users to set up unlimited column width. And at same time, ensure a non-broken experience of the table and other columns.
Add job capacity information in Monitoring Hub
Estimated release timeline: Q2 2024
Release Type: General availability
Add Capacity name in monitoring hub and support filter.
Currently only PBI artifacts have the capacity column as optional. But because more and more users are asking for the capacity info. Plus capacity plays a signification role on Fabric for customer billing. We should make capacity a common column for all the item types.
GitHub and GitHub Enterprise support
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Fabric Git integration is broadening its compatibility by adding support for GitHub as a provider. Given GitHub's widespread adoption as a leading source control tool, this expansion will grant organizations relying on GitHub the opportunity to harness Fabric Git integration, ensuring synchronization between their fabric workspaces and Git repositories. GitHub will come in the addition to the existing Azure DevOps support, offering all of the same familiar tools and capabilities. Developers will have the ability to connect to GiHub using their personal access tokens, ensuring a precise connection for each developer. GitHub Enterprise Cloud will also be supported, excluding the use of specific allowed IP adresses and private links.
Improve '+New' experience in workspace: Item grouped by JTBD
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: General availability
Current the +New dropdown in workspace is a long and flat list. We kept getting feedback from customers that they expect items to be grouped by JTBD so that they can easily find them. We also add the capability to let user favourite the item types for quick create.
Workspace filters/search support nested folders
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: Public preview
This feature provides user capability to filer/search by keyword in entire workspace or entire folder including all its children.
Lakehouse interactive tutorial
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: Public preview
Provide interactive tutorial for lakehouse to help users get started on Fabric.
Recommend task flow for Power BI workspaces
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: Public preview
Recommend a task flow for Power BI existing workspace to help users adopt the feature. According to user research learnings this is a game changer.
Unified Fabric developer homepage
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: Public preview
We have been hearing continously feedback from customers that the 'expereince segmented UI' doesn't make sense to them. We will unify the experience homepage to be one developer homepage.
Request access flow for a Fabric item
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: Public preview
This feature enables users to request access to an artifact, enable receivers of requests to view all requests and approve/deny. This is critial for driving user growth and retention.
Deployment pipelines new UI
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
As Deployment pipelines evolve into a platform tool (fabric’s), it necessitates modifications in its current design to accommodate Fabric from various angles such as UX alignments, scalability, and advanced features, among others. The new UI of Deployment pipelines introduce a fresh user interface for the creation process and the pipeline’s main page, along with some UX improvements. There’s also a shift in the deployment operation where instead of deploying to the next stage, you’re now deploying to your current stage. Other than that, all functionalities have stayed the same so anything you can do in the original UI you can do with the new UI.
Fabric APIs Phase II
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: General availability
In line with Fabric alignment, we are finalizing the public APIs for the Deployment pipelines on the Fabric platform, following the initial batch of APIs released in May 2024. While the May release provided the ability to retrieve existing deployment pipeline details and stages, the upcoming release will introduce APIs for their modification, workspace addition/removal, access control, and administrative tasks. The complete list is provided below.
Add Deployment Pipeline Role Assignment Delete Deployment Pipeline Role Assignment Get Deployment Pipeline Role Assignments Create Deployment Pipeline Delete Deployment Pipeline Update Deployment Pipeline Assign Workspace To Stage Unassign Workspace From Stage
- Add deployment options to Deploy API
Get Deployment Pipeline Operation Get Deployment Pipeline Operations Admin: List Deployment Pipelines Admin: Add Deployment Pipeline Role Assignment Admin: Delete Deployment Pipeline Role Assignment Admin: Get Deployment Pipeline Role Assignments
Git integration folders support
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Folder support with Git integration will empower users to uphold their folder structure consistently across both the Fabric workspace and the connected Git repository. Modifications to workspace folders containing Fabric items will be accurately mirrored in both platofrms, facilitating seamless synchronization between Git and Fabric, even when handling intricate folder hierarchies.
Git integration change review
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Change Review with Git integration will provide developers with the capability to evaluate modifications just prior to committing them to Git or updating them from Git to the workspace. This will allow developers to inspect alterations within the source control pane, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of the impending changes and ensuring their accuracy.
Microsoft Fabric ARM APIs
Estimated release timeline: Q3 2024
Release Type: Public preview
Deliver a user-friendly, standardized API for Microsoft Fabric's Azure resources using Azure ARM APIs. Ensuring ease of use for developers to automatically create update and delete the Microsoft Fabric Capacities.
Shipped feature(s)
Parent-child items in workspaces
Shipped (Q4 2023)
Some Fabric items have children items such as Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, etc. This feature enables you to easily view the parent-child items relationship in workspace UI and also makes the items list cleaner.
Persistent filters in workspaces
Shipped (Q1 2024)
Currently, the workspace filters aren't persistent. You must reapply filters each time upon returning to the workspace. We heard your feedback and plan to enable persistent filters for improved navigation.
Customizable left navigation bar
Shipped (Q1 2024)
We learned from you that the frequently used capabilities vary for everyone based on their roles and job to be done during a certain period time. To better improve productivity, we plan to make the left navigation bar customizable. You can pin or unpin an entry point on the left navigation bar according to your own preferences.