Understanding Power BI “Last Refresh” Behavior for ALM Data Ingestion

Problem Statement:
Administrators may notice that “Last Refresh” timestamp shown in Power BI not getting updated. Although they see the latest data being exported in the data set. 

This giving the impression that integration may not working as expected or expected data may not flowing.

Brief Description:
Adobe Learning Manager (ALM) writes data directly into the dataset using the Power BI REST API and does not trigger a Power BI refresh operation. 
Because no refresh operation occurs, Power BI does not update the Last Refresh timestamp

If the dataset contains the new records but the Power BI “Last Refresh Date” does not change, then ALM has successfully exported the data.
This is known behavior for dataset ingestion via Power BI REST APIs. and If more details needed on Power BI’s refresh timestamp, Power BI Support can assist.

Why the “Last Refresh” Timestamp Does Not Update

Power BI shows the Last Refresh Date only when:

• A manual refresh is performed in Power BI, or
• A scheduled refresh runs inside Power BI Service.

However:

• ALM uses the Power BI REST API to push data directly into the dataset.
• This operation does not count as a Power BI refresh.
• As a result, Power BI does not update the dataset’s refresh timestamp, even though new rows appear in the tables.

How to Confirm ALM Export Success

ALM exports are successful if:

• New records appear in the dataset tables,
• Even though the “Last Refresh” date remains unchanged.

This is the correct and expected behavior for direct ingestion through REST APIs.