---
title: "Test Microsoft Fabric"
description: "Test data in Microsoft Fabric — warehouses and lakehouses through their SQL endpoint, semantic models through the XMLA endpoint — and the tests across the layers that pay off"
url: "https://docs.justcat.it/how-to-guides/data-platforms/test-microsoft-fabric/"
---
# Test Microsoft Fabric


## What you can test

| Item | How CAT reaches it | Provider |
|---|---|---|
| **Warehouse** | its SQL connection string (a TDS endpoint, port 1433) | [SqlServer@2](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/data-sources/providers/sqlserver-2/ "SqlServer@2") |
| **Lakehouse** | its SQL analytics endpoint — same kind of connection string, read-only | [SqlServer@2](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/data-sources/providers/sqlserver-2/ "SqlServer@2") |
| **Semantic model** | the workspace's XMLA endpoint | [Dax@2](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/data-sources/providers/dax-2/ "Dax@2") — exactly as a Power BI workspace model, see [Test a semantic model in a workspace](https://docs.justcat.it/how-to-guides/data-platforms/power-bi/test-a-semantic-model-in-a-workspace/ "Test a semantic model in a workspace") |

Authentication is **Microsoft Entra ID only** — your account interactively, a **service principal** unattended. SQL authentication does not exist in Fabric. In CAT Studio the technologies are *MS Fabric Warehouse*, *MS Fabric Lakehouse* and *MS Fabric Semantic Model*.

## Warehouse and lakehouse

1. Copy the **SQL connection string** from the item: open the warehouse (or the lakehouse's SQL analytics endpoint) → **Settings** → *SQL connection string* → copy. It is a server name; the warehouse (or lakehouse) name is the database — give it as `Initial Catalog`/`Database`, otherwise you land in `master`.
2. A service principal with access to the item (an app registration with a secret, added to the workspace or granted on the item) — the Fabric administrator's one-time job; interactive use works with your own account and MFA.
3. The data source:


**Properties**



Name
: fabric warehouse

Provider
: SqlServer@2

Connection string
: ```
  Server=%FABRIC_SQL_ENDPOINT%;
  Database=SalesWarehouse;
  Authentication=Active Directory Service Principal;
  User Id=%FABRIC_CLIENT_ID%;
  Password=%FABRIC_CLIENT_SECRET%;
  Encrypt=True;
  ```





**YAML**


```yaml
Data sources:
- Name: fabric warehouse
  Provider: SqlServer@2
  Connection string: >
    Server=%FABRIC_SQL_ENDPOINT%;
    Database=SalesWarehouse;
    Authentication=Active Directory Service Principal;
    User Id=%FABRIC_CLIENT_ID%;
    Password=%FABRIC_CLIENT_SECRET%;
    Encrypt=True;
```




A lakehouse is the same data source with its own endpoint and name; its SQL endpoint is read-only, which is all a test needs. Interactive: `Authentication=Active Directory Interactive` and no user/password — you are prompted, MFA included, not for schedulers.

## The tests that pay off

Fabric stacks its layers in one workspace, and a CAT project sees all of them at once:


**Properties**


**Data sources**


Name
: lakehouse

Provider
: SqlServer@2

Connection string
: %FABRIC_LAKEHOUSE_CONNECTION_STRING%





Name
: warehouse

Provider
: SqlServer@2

Connection string
: %FABRIC_WAREHOUSE_CONNECTION_STRING%





Name
: sales model

Provider
: Dax@2

Connection string
: %FABRIC_MODEL_CONNECTION_STRING%




**Tests**


Name
: Warehouse orders equal the lakehouse

Suite
: Lakehouse vs warehouse

First data source
: lakehouse

First query
: SELECT order_id, amount FROM dbo.orders ORDER BY order_id

Second data source
: warehouse

Second query
: SELECT order_id, amount FROM sales.orders ORDER BY order_id

Expectation
: sets match

Key
: order_id





Name
: Model sales per year equal the warehouse

Suite
: Model vs warehouse

First data source
: sales model

First query
: ```
  EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS('Date'[Year], "Sales", [Total Sales])
  ORDER BY 'Date'[Year]
  ```

Second data source
: warehouse

Second query
: SELECT YEAR(order_date), SUM(amount) FROM sales.orders GROUP BY YEAR(order_date) ORDER BY 1

Expectation
: sets match

Key
: 1

Tolerance
: 0.01





**YAML**


```yaml
Data sources:
- Name: lakehouse
  Provider: SqlServer@2
  Connection string: "%FABRIC_LAKEHOUSE_CONNECTION_STRING%"
- Name: warehouse
  Provider: SqlServer@2
  Connection string: "%FABRIC_WAREHOUSE_CONNECTION_STRING%"
- Name: sales model
  Provider: Dax@2
  Connection string: "%FABRIC_MODEL_CONNECTION_STRING%"

Tests:
- Name: Warehouse orders equal the lakehouse
  Suite: Lakehouse vs warehouse
  First data source: lakehouse
  First query: SELECT order_id, amount FROM dbo.orders ORDER BY order_id
  Second data source: warehouse
  Second query: SELECT order_id, amount FROM sales.orders ORDER BY order_id
  Expectation: sets match
  Key: order_id

- Name: Model sales per year equal the warehouse
  Suite: Model vs warehouse
  First data source: sales model
  First query: |
    EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS('Date'[Year], "Sales", [Total Sales])
    ORDER BY 'Date'[Year]
  Second data source: warehouse
  Second query: SELECT YEAR(order_date), SUM(amount) FROM sales.orders GROUP BY YEAR(order_date) ORDER BY 1
  Expectation: sets match
  Key: 1
  Tolerance: 0.01
```




Add the source system outside Fabric as a fourth data source and the chain is complete: source → lakehouse → warehouse → semantic model, each step a test. Smoke tests on every table, and tests generated from `INFORMATION_SCHEMA` of the warehouse ([Generate tests from metadata](https://docs.justcat.it/how-to-guides/organize-and-run-tests/generate-tests-from-metadata/ "Generate tests from metadata")), round it off.

## Where CAT runs

Outside Fabric: your machine, a build agent, a scheduler — any CAT tool. CAT needs a .NET runtime on the machine it runs on, and a Fabric notebook does not let you install one; it also would not see the source systems the best tests compare against. (Running inside Databricks *is* possible — [CAT in Databricks notebooks](https://docs.justcat.it/how-to-guides/data-platforms/cat-in-databricks-notebooks/ "CAT in Databricks notebooks") — and still usually not the right place.)

## Related

* [Test a semantic model in a workspace](https://docs.justcat.it/how-to-guides/data-platforms/power-bi/test-a-semantic-model-in-a-workspace/ "Test a semantic model in a workspace") — the Fabric semantic model, step by step.
* [SqlServer@2](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/data-sources/providers/sqlserver-2/ "SqlServer@2") · [Dax@2](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/data-sources/providers/dax-2/ "Dax@2") — the providers, all connection-string forms.
* [Work with secrets](https://docs.justcat.it/how-to-guides/organize-and-run-tests/work-with-secrets/ "Work with secrets") — the service principal's secret.