Databricks Community

fjrodriguez · 3 weeks ago

Hi all,

Is there any supported way to embed a Genie Space directly inside a Power BI report (not a classic dashboard), so users can chat with it without leaving Power BI?

I'm aware Genie Spaces support iframe embedding for external apps, but Power BI report visuals run in a sandboxed iframe without allow-same-origin, and I've read that embedding auth-gated content (like Copilot Studio agents) directly via iframe isn't supported in Power BI reports — only through a Power Apps visual.

Has anyone actually gotten a Genie Space iframe to load reliably inside Power BI (Power Apps visual, custom visual, or otherwise)? Any gotchas with cookies, CSP, or Entra ID login inside the frame?

Thanks!

Louis_Frolio · 3 weeks ago

Hi @fjrodriguez ,

Good question, and you've already spotted the core problem. Short answer: I couldn't find any internal documentation that supports embedding a Genie Space directly inside a Power BI report visual, and the sandboxing you described makes a reliable direct embed unlikely. I'd treat that path as unconfirmed at best rather than something to build on.

Here's the nuance. Databricks does support embedding a Genie Space (the docs now call these Genie Agents) as an iframe in an external app. A workspace admin has to allowlist the embedding surface, and each end user needs explicit access to both the space and the underlying data, so users who aren't already signed in get prompted to authenticate inside the frame. That last part is exactly what a Power BI report visual can't accommodate: the sandboxed iframe blocks the cookies and redirects the Entra ID sign-in needs. A blank frame or a refusal from the Entra login page is usually that boundary, and there's nothing you can do about it from the visual's side.

So the two suggestions already in this thread are the right paths, with a few qualifications:

Power Apps visual plus the Genie Conversation API, as @Satyasai suggested. This is the closest you'll get to chat inside the report, but to be clear, it's a custom integration, not an embed of the Genie UI. You'd build a small chat front end in Power Apps, typically with a Power Automate flow behind it that calls start-conversation, polls the message status, and fetches the query result. Keep tokens and authorization in the flow or a trusted backend, never in the canvas. And think hard about the auth model: if the flow authenticates as a service principal, every report user sees data through that principal's permissions, so per-user row filtering in Unity Catalog won't apply. If per-user permissions matter, you need user-based OAuth, which adds real complexity.
A Power BI button with a Web URL action that opens the Genie Space in a new tab, as @balajij8 suggested. Simplest option, fully supported, complete Genie experience, no nested login problem. The cost is that users leave the report.

And if the underlying requirement is interactive analytics with natural language rather than "must stay in Power BI," take a gander at Databricks AI/BI dashboards, which @balajij8 also mentioned. Genie is natively integrated there, no embedding gymnastics required.

My honest recommendation: start with the button to prove out demand, and invest in the Power Apps/API approach only if chat inside the canvas turns out to be a hard requirement.

References:

Embed a Genie Agent in an external app: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/genie/embed
Manage embedding and allowed destinations: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/ai-bi/admin/embed
Genie Conversation API: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/genie/conversation-api

Hope this helps.

Regards, Louis

View solution in original post

Satyasai · 3 weeks ago

Hi @fjrodriguez

you can try this,

build a lightweight chat interface inside the Power Apps visual that communicates with Databricks asynchronously via APIs and embed this power Apps in Power BI.

balajij8 · 3 weeks ago

@fjrodriguezEmbedding an auth gated Databricks Genie Space directly into a Power BI report visual generally runs into nested authentication and sandboxing constraints. You can check Databricks AI/BI dashboards instead of Power BI if interactive analytics is required. AIBI dashboards has a significantly better Databricks integration (tables, genie spaces) than other BI tools. You can use a standard Power BI button with a Web URL action that launches the Genie Space in a new tab if feasible as it guarantees full Genie conversational functionality and avoids iframe authentication failures.

Louis_Frolio · 3 weeks ago

Hi @fjrodriguez ,

Good question, and you've already spotted the core problem. Short answer: I couldn't find any internal documentation that supports embedding a Genie Space directly inside a Power BI report visual, and the sandboxing you described makes a reliable direct embed unlikely. I'd treat that path as unconfirmed at best rather than something to build on.

Here's the nuance. Databricks does support embedding a Genie Space (the docs now call these Genie Agents) as an iframe in an external app. A workspace admin has to allowlist the embedding surface, and each end user needs explicit access to both the space and the underlying data, so users who aren't already signed in get prompted to authenticate inside the frame. That last part is exactly what a Power BI report visual can't accommodate: the sandboxed iframe blocks the cookies and redirects the Entra ID sign-in needs. A blank frame or a refusal from the Entra login page is usually that boundary, and there's nothing you can do about it from the visual's side.

So the two suggestions already in this thread are the right paths, with a few qualifications:

Power Apps visual plus the Genie Conversation API, as @Satyasai suggested. This is the closest you'll get to chat inside the report, but to be clear, it's a custom integration, not an embed of the Genie UI. You'd build a small chat front end in Power Apps, typically with a Power Automate flow behind it that calls start-conversation, polls the message status, and fetches the query result. Keep tokens and authorization in the flow or a trusted backend, never in the canvas. And think hard about the auth model: if the flow authenticates as a service principal, every report user sees data through that principal's permissions, so per-user row filtering in Unity Catalog won't apply. If per-user permissions matter, you need user-based OAuth, which adds real complexity.
A Power BI button with a Web URL action that opens the Genie Space in a new tab, as @balajij8 suggested. Simplest option, fully supported, complete Genie experience, no nested login problem. The cost is that users leave the report.

And if the underlying requirement is interactive analytics with natural language rather than "must stay in Power BI," take a gander at Databricks AI/BI dashboards, which @balajij8 also mentioned. Genie is natively integrated there, no embedding gymnastics required.

My honest recommendation: start with the button to prove out demand, and invest in the Power Apps/API approach only if chat inside the canvas turns out to be a hard requirement.

References:

Embed a Genie Agent in an external app: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/genie/embed
Manage embedding and allowed destinations: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/ai-bi/admin/embed
Genie Conversation API: https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/genie/conversation-api

Hope this helps.

Regards, Louis

fjrodriguez · 2 weeks ago

Hi @Louis_Frolio , and what about inverting the relationship: a Databricks App embedding Power BI ? Rather than placing Genie inside Power BI, place Power BI inside Databricks. A Databricks App (React or Streamlit) hosts native Genie chat alongside a Power BI report embedded via the JavaScript SDK.

Databricks App using the AppKit Genie plugin (GenieChat, useGenieChat, SSE streaming, conversation persistence) or the SDK directly
Power BI Embedded in embed-for-your-organization mode (user-owns-data) with Entra ID
App registration in Entra and workspace permissions in Power BI
Hosting and application lifecycle ownership