Triggering Power Automate Flows Directly from Power BI Reports

Power BI is excellent at visualizing insights, but insights often need action. That’s where the Power Automate visual comes in.

With this visual, report consumers can trigger instant Power Automate flows directly from a Power BI report, using the data and filters already applied on the page. No switching tools. No exporting data. Just click and act.

This blog walks through how the Power Automate visual works, how to configure it, and what to consider before rolling it out.

Understanding Power Automate Visuals –

The Power Automate visual adds a button to your Power BI report. When clicked, it runs an instant cloud flow.

Key capabilities:

• a.Trigger flows directly from reports
• b. Pass report data as dynamic inputs
• c. Respect report filters and slicers
• d. Run actions like approvals, emails, SharePoint updates, or integrations

From a user’s perspective, it feels like a native action button inside Power BI.

Adding the Power Automate Visual

In Power BI Desktop

One can add the visual in two ways:

• -> From the Visualizations pane, select the Power Automate icon

• -> Or from the Insert ribbon → Power Platform → Power Automate

Once added, the visual appears on the report page with built-in instructions.

In Power BI Service

The process is identical:

• -> Select the Power Automate icon
• -> The visual is added to the current report page

One can resize or reposition the button like any other visual.

Choosing the Flow Environment

Before creating or attaching a flow, select the environment where the flow will live.

The environment picker:

• a. Shows environments where you have a security role
• b. Includes environments where you own at least one flow

Choosing the right environment upfront avoids permission and governance issues later.

Making the Flow Data-Contextual

One of the most powerful features of the Power Automate visual is data context.

How it works

• a. You drag fields from your model into the Power Automate Data region
• b. These fields become dynamic inputs for the flow
• c. The values reflect the current report filters and slicers

Example:

• a. If a user filters Region = “West”
• b. The flow receives only “West” as input
• c. If multiple regions are selected, all selected values are passed

This makes flows responsive to how users are interacting with the report.

Creating or Editing the Flow

Editing from Power BI Desktop or Service

With the flow selected, add any data fields to the Power Automate Data region, to use as dynamic inputs for the flow.

Select More options (…) > Edit to configure the button.

In edit mode of the visual, either select an existing flow to apply to the button, or create a new flow to apply to the button.

One can start from scratch or start with one of the built-in templates as an example. To start from scratch, select New > Instant cloud flow.

Select New step.

Here, one can choose a subsequent action or specify a Control if you want to add more logic to determine the subsequent action.

Optionally, one can reference the data fields as dynamic content if they want the flow to be data contextual. This example uses the Region data field to create an item in a SharePoint list. Based on the end-user’s selection, Region could have multiple values or just one.

After you configure your flow logic, name the flow, and select Save.

Select the arrow button to go to the Details page of the flow you created.

Here’s the Details page for a saved flow.

Select the Apply button  to attach the flow you created to your button.

Formatting the Button

The Power Automate button is fully customizable:

• 1. Button text
• 2. Font size and color
• 3. Background color
• 4. Border and layout options

This allows the button to match your report’s design and UX standards.

Test the flow

After the flow is applied to the button, we need to test it before you share the flow with others. These Power BI flows can only run in the context of a Power BI report. Thus one can’t run these flows in a Power Automate web app or elsewhere.

If the flow is data contextual, make sure to test how the filter selections in the report affect the flow outcome.

1. To test the flow in edit mode of the report, select “Back to report”, then press Ctrl while you select the button to run the flow. The button text indicates that the flow is triggered.
   
   
2. To check if the flow ran successfully, select the More commands (…) menu > Details in the triggered flow:
   
   
3. On the Details page, we can check the run history and status for the flow:

Sharing the Flow with Report Users

When the flow runs successfully, it can be shared concerned personas of the report.

1. Select Edit in the Run only users section:

2. Specify which users or groups you want to give run access to:

Give users edit access

Alternatively, you can give any users edit access to the flow, not just run permissions.

• a. Select Share, and specify the users or groups that you want to add as an owner:

Considerations and Limitations

Before adopting the Power Automate visual, keep these points in mind:

• a. Only button-based execution is supported (no manual inputs)
• b. Not supported in:
  • 1. Embedded analytics
  • 2. Publish to Web (public reports)
  • 3. Export scenarios
• c. Maximum of 1,000 records per execution
• d. Flow must be created from within Power BI, not directly in Power Automate
• e. Selected data fields are only sent if they are used in the flow
• f. Not supported in Azure Government (GCC / GCC High) tenants
• g. Users must have permission to run the flow

These constraints help maintain performance, security, and governance.

When to Use the Power Automate Visual

This pattern works best when you want to:

• a. Turn insights into immediate action
• b. Let users trigger workflows without leaving Power BI
• c. Automate operational tasks from reports
• d. Respect existing security and filter context

In short, it bridges the gap between analysis and execution.

Final Thoughts

The Power Automate visual transforms Power BI from a read-only analytics tool into an interactive action surface:

Analyze → Filter → Click → Automate

When used thoughtfully, it empowers users to act on insights at the exact moment they discover them — without breaking their flow.

We hope you found this blog useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com