If you see an error when refreshing your Tugger data in Power BI Desktop or Power BI Service, the cause is usually related to credentials, connectivity, or data source settings. Work through the sections below based on where the error occurs.
Refresh errors in Power BI Desktop
"The credentials provided are invalid" or authentication errors
Your Tugger report credentials may have changed or been entered incorrectly.
- In Power BI Desktop, go to File > Options and Settings > Data source settings
- Find the Tugger OData entry in the list
- Click Edit Permissions, then click Edit under Credentials
- Select Basic on the left
- Re-enter your Username and Password from Tugger's Report Setup page (use the copy buttons to avoid errors)
- Click Save, then try refreshing again
If you've recently regenerated your credentials in Tugger, you'll need to update them here. See Regenerating Report Credentials.
"Unable to connect" or timeout errors
Power BI can't reach the Tugger data service.
- Check your internet connection
- Check whether your company firewall or VPN is blocking outbound connections to
*.tuggerapp.com - Try again in a few minutes. Occasional connectivity issues can be temporary
"The OData feed URL has changed" or URL mismatch
The OData URL in your report doesn't match the current URL in Tugger.
- In Power BI Desktop, go to Home > Transform data > Edit parameters
- Compare the OData URL with the one on your connector's Report Setup page in Tugger
- If they differ, update the URL in Power BI, click OK, then refresh
"Access to the resource is forbidden"
This usually means the credentials are valid but don't have access to the requested data.
- Check you're using the credentials for the correct connector (each connector has its own username and password)
- If you have multiple connectors, make sure the OData URL and credentials are from the same connector
Data source settings are corrupted
If refresh keeps failing and none of the above helps, clearing and re-entering your credentials can fix corrupted settings.
- In Power BI Desktop, go to File > Options and Settings > Data source settings
- Find the Tugger OData entry and click Clear Permissions
- Click Delete to remove the entry entirely
- Close the dialogue
- Click Refresh in the Home ribbon
- Power BI will prompt you to enter credentials fresh. Select Basic, enter your Username and Password, and make sure the dropdown matches the Tugger URL
Refresh errors in Power BI Service (online)
Scheduled refresh fails
If your scheduled refresh is failing in Power BI Service:
- Go to Power BI Service
- Open your Workspace and find the dataset (not the report)
- Click the Settings icon (gear) or hover over the dataset and click Schedule refresh
- Under Data source credentials, click Edit credentials
- Set the authentication method to Basic
- Re-enter your Tugger Username and Password
- Click Sign in
Common causes of scheduled refresh failures:
- Credentials have been regenerated in Tugger but not updated in Power BI Service
- The authentication method is set to something other than Basic (e.g. Anonymous or OAuth)
- The gateway connection settings are incorrect
"You need a gateway" message
Tugger's OData feed is a cloud data source and should not require a gateway. If Power BI Service asks for one:
- Check that the OData URL starts with
https://and matches the URL from Tugger's Report Setup page - Make sure the data source credentials are set to Basic authentication, not Windows or other types
- If the issue persists, try removing and re-adding the credentials in the dataset settings
Manual refresh works but scheduled refresh fails
If you can manually refresh the dataset but the scheduled refresh fails:
- Check the refresh schedule is actually turned on (it's off by default)
- Make sure the refresh time doesn't conflict with your Tugger sync schedule. If your Tugger sync runs at 08:00 UK time, schedule Power BI to refresh at 09:00 or later
- Check the refresh history for specific error messages: go to the dataset settings and look for Refresh history
Checking refresh history
Power BI Service keeps a log of refresh attempts:
- In your Workspace, click on the dataset
- Click Refresh history (or find it in the dataset settings)
- Review the status and error details for recent refreshes
This can help pinpoint whether the issue is with credentials, connectivity, or something else.
Still having trouble?
- Make sure Power BI Desktop is updated to the latest version
- Try opening a fresh copy of the report template from Tugger and entering your credentials from scratch
- Contact the Tugger team with details of the error message and we'll help you get it resolved
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