DAX API

Connect Microsoft Power BI to Cube natively using the DAX API for superior feature support over the SQL API.

DAX API

The DAX API enables Cube to connect to Microsoft Power BI. It derives its name from data analysis expressions, a query language for Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services.

Unlike the SQL API, it provides a native experience and superior support for Power BI features.

Available on Enterprise plan.

Read below about the DAX API configuration, authentication, and using it with Power BI.

See the DAX API reference for the list of supported DAX functions.

Configuration

Please contact the customer success team in Cube Cloud so we can guide you through the configuration.

To enable or disable the DAX API on a specific deployment, go to Settings in the Cube Cloud sidebar, then Configuration, and then toggle the Enable DAX API option.

Date hierarchies

By default, the DAX API exposes all time dimensions as date hierarchies in Power BI. You can set the CUBEJS_DAX_CREATE_DATE_HIERARCHIES environment variable to false to disable this behavior.

Note that each date hierarchy will include additional columns, suffixed by _year, _quarter, _month, _day. If the data model has other members with names that follow this pattern (e.g., a time dimension named date and another dimension named date_year in the same cube or view), that would cause a conflict.

Authentication

The DAX API supports Kerberos and NTLM authentication methods.

While NTLM can be used for testing purposes, we strongly recommend configuring Kerberos for production environments.

Data modeling

The DAX API only exposes views, not cubes.