Do I really need the personal mode gateway to refresh a custom data connector?

[RobHess05]

I built a custom data connector as shown in the Microsoft TripPin walk thru, which communicates with a REST API using basic authentication. 

I followed all the instructions, and I was able to successfully schedule my refresh with the personal gateway:  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/samples/trippin/9-testconnection/readme

Is there a reason why we can’t sue the standard gateway?  They both seem to support custom connectors.

Do we even need a gateway?  All of the data is available from a public facing API, and the concept of spinning up a physical server to refresh the data doesn’t make any sense to me.

I hoped that the certification process would make this possible, but it wasn’t stated.  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/connectorcertification

I’m looking forward to some guidance from the community, because our custom connector can help a lot of our clients.

Thank you for reading.

[GilbertQ]

Hi @RobHess05 

There are differences between the Personal and standard gateways where some functions/custom data connectors are only supported by the personal gateway.

Here are more details: Use personal gateways in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Docs

[RobHess05]

Thank you for your response @GilbertQ  .  Can you confirm the gateway is a MUST for custom connectors, or does the certification process support a server-less path?

[v-deddai1-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @RobHess05 ,

Yes , it is mut for custom connectors, Only if you add the custom connector to gateway, you can select and use custom connector in power bi service. For more details, please refer to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-gateway-custom-connectors

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Best Regards,

Dedmon Dai