Fabric: Monitor Workspaces in Real Time

Key insights

• Real-Time Intelligence (RTI) is a built-in Fabric workspace monitoring option that provisions a read-only Monitoring Eventhouse, a KQL database, and an Event Stream with a single toggle in Workspace Settings → Monitoring.
  It gives immediate access to live workspace telemetry without wiring to Azure Log Analytics.
• When enabled, Fabric creates diagnostic tables such as SemanticModelLogs and EventhouseMetrics that store events and metrics for workspace items.
  These tables are read-only and designed for troubleshooting, auditing, and performance checks.
• Turn on monitoring from Settings → Monitoring and Fabric will automatically provision the Eventhouse and KQL endpoint.
  You can start querying data immediately with Kusto Query Language (KQL) to filter, join, and aggregate logs.
• Use KQL to clean and combine logs, then convert query results into a one-click Power BI report or a real-time dashboard for live visualization.
  This speeds root-cause analysis and lets teams monitor key signals in near real time.
• RTI delivers clear benefits: real-time insights, faster troubleshooting, and live dashboards without extra infrastructure setup.
  It helps operations teams detect issues sooner and track workspace performance continuously.
• RTI complements—but does not replace—Fabric/Power BI Admin APIs; it is read-only and may miss some admin-level actions or controls.
  Use RTI for observability and dashboards, and continue to use Admin APIs for management tasks that require write or control operations.

Overview: What the Video Covers

The YouTube video by Pragmatic Works demonstrates the new built-in workspace monitoring option in Microsoft Fabric, called Real‑Time Intelligence or RTI. The presenter shows how a single toggle in Workspace Settings → Monitoring provisions a read-only monitoring Eventhouse, a KQL database, and an event stream so teams can observe activity without wiring up Azure Log Analytics. Consequently, viewers get a quick tour of the tables created, examples of useful fields, and a demonstration of turning query results into live reports or dashboards.

Moreover, the video clearly positions RTI as complementary to existing Fabric and Power BI Admin APIs rather than a full replacement. It highlights scenarios where RTI makes monitoring easier, and also calls out current gaps that administrators should consider. As a result, the content serves as both a how-to and a practical briefing for teams evaluating monitoring options.

Enabling RTI Monitoring

First, the speaker walks viewers through enabling monitoring via a simple toggle under Workspace Settings → Monitoring. After turning it on, Fabric provisions a read-only monitoring surface and a few artifacts automatically, so teams avoid manual setup steps and extra configuration. This streamlined approach speeds adoption for teams that want baseline observability without the complexity of a full Azure Log Analytics integration.

However, the convenience comes with deliberate limits: the database is read-only and the environment is optimized for operational insights rather than deep administrative control. Therefore, while enabling monitoring is fast and low-friction, organizations should plan how RTI fits into their broader governance and operational workflows. In short, RTI is a quick path to visibility, but it is not intended to replace all administrative tools.

Under the Hood: Tables, KQL, and Event Streams

Once enabled, the monitoring surface populates several tables such as SemanticModelLogs and EventhouseMetrics, which capture logs and metrics for workspace items. The presenter demonstrates how to query those tables using KQL, showing examples of cleaning and combining logs to extract actionable events or usage trends. Thus, teams familiar with KQL can immediately start filtering, aggregating, and correlating events across workspace artifacts.

At the same time, the video notes challenges that teams may face when working at volume or with varied schemas. For instance, busy workspaces generate high-granularity records that require careful query design to avoid noisy results or heavy processing. Therefore, administrators should weigh how much pre-filtering, sampling, or retention planning they need to apply to keep queries performant and costs predictable.

From Queries to Reports and Dashboards

A highlight of the demonstration is the one-click capability to convert KQL query results into a Power BI report or a real-time dashboard. With a single action, viewers see data materialize into visuals, which helps teams quickly create operational dashboards for live monitoring. Consequently, this removes a common friction point where analysts had to export query results and manually build reports.

Nonetheless, the video also points out limitations in dashboarding and report interactivity compared with fully custom solutions. While the one-click conversion speeds delivery, it may not cover all visualization needs or custom security requirements out of the box. Therefore, teams should treat the generated reports as starting points and plan additional work for tailored insights, role-based access, and longer-term reporting needs.

Tradeoffs and Operational Challenges

The video is candid about tradeoffs: RTI offers rapid setup and real-time visibility, yet it intentionally omits some administrators’ APIs and deeper control surfaces. Consequently, organizations must balance speed of insight against completeness of control, deciding when to rely on RTI versus when to continue using Power BI and Fabric Admin APIs. This balance affects operational processes such as incident response, auditing, and automated management tasks.

Operationally, teams will face practical challenges such as query complexity for non-experts, event volume management, data retention planning, and alignment with security policies. Therefore, the best approach often combines RTI for live monitoring and visualization with existing administrative APIs and centralized logging for audit and automation needs. In doing so, organizations can leverage RTI’s strengths while maintaining the controls and data fidelity they require.

Conclusion and Next Steps

In summary, the Pragmatic Works video offers a useful, hands-on tour of Microsoft Fabric’s built-in Real‑Time Intelligence monitoring. It highlights how a toggle can provision a read-only Eventhouse and KQL database, how to explore the created tables, and how to turn queries into live Power BI reports, while also noting the areas where Admin APIs still matter.

As a next step, teams should experiment with RTI in a controlled workspace, test common queries, and verify that retention and access controls meet policy needs. Ultimately, RTI can be a powerful addition to a monitoring strategy when teams understand its scope, anticipate its limits, and integrate it thoughtfully with existing administration and governance practices.

Keywords

Microsoft Fabric monitoring, real-time workspace monitoring, Fabric workspace analytics, real-time intelligence for workspaces, workspace monitoring tools, AI-driven workspace monitoring, observability for Fabric, end-to-end Fabric monitoring