Qualtrics Power BI Connector

A signed Power Query custom connector that brings Qualtrics survey response data directly into Power BI Desktop and the Power BI Service.

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Qualtrics API Docs  ·  Report a Bug  ·  Request a Feature

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Table of Contents

• About the Project
  • Features
  • Built With
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
• Usage
  • Choosing a Data Center
  • Connector Behavior
• Scheduled Refresh (Power BI Service)
• For Developers
  • Developer Prerequisites
  • Build and Test
  • Packaging and Signing
  • Repository Layout
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• License
• Contact
• Acknowledgments

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About the Project

Qualtrics is a leading survey and experience management platform widely used across enterprise, government, and academic organizations. However, getting survey response data into Power BI requires either manual CSV exports or building custom API integrations — both of which are slow, error-prone, and hard to automate.

This connector solves that. It authenticates with the Qualtrics Response Exports API, enumerates your active surveys in a navigation table, and triggers an on-demand export when you load a survey into your report. Everything works inside the Power Query experience you already know, with no scripting required for end users.

Features

• Signed package — ships as a .pqx signed with a code-signing certificate so Power BI loads it without disabling security settings
• Data center picker — choose from nine named Qualtrics data centers (each showing the underlying URL) or enter a custom base URL
• API token authentication — uses the standard X-API-TOKEN header; credentials are stored securely by Power BI and the on-premises gateway
• Navigation table — all surveys accessible to your API token appear as selectable items in the Get Data navigator
• On-demand response export — selecting a survey triggers a full response export via the Qualtrics async export API and returns the results as a structured table
• Gateway-compatible — supports scheduled refresh through an on-premises data gateway

Built With

Component	Role
Power Query M	Connector logic
Power Query SDK	Build toolchain (MakePQX.exe)
Qualtrics Response Exports API	Data source

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Power BI Desktop (any recent version)
• A Qualtrics account with API access enabled
• A Qualtrics API token — find yours at Account Settings → Qualtrics IDs → API Token

Installation

1. Go to the latest release and download the connector file:

   • qualtrics.pqx — recommended (signed package, no security exceptions required)
   • qualtrics.mez — unsigned fallback

2. Copy the file into your Power BI custom connectors folder:

   Platform	Folder path
   Windows (current user)	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Power BI Desktop\Custom Connectors

   If the Custom Connectors folder does not exist, create it.

3. Open Power BI Desktop and navigate to File → Options → Security.

   • If you are using the signed .pqx, no changes are needed — the connector loads automatically.
   • If you are using the unsigned .mez, set Data Extensions to Allow any extension to load without validation or warning.

4. Restart Power BI Desktop.

5. Select Get Data → Online Services → Qualtrics (or search for "Qualtrics").

6. Choose your data center from the dropdown and enter your API token when prompted.

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Usage

Choosing a Data Center

The connector presents a dropdown of Qualtrics data centers with their underlying URLs shown for reference:

Display name	Base URL
Washington, DC Area Data Center	https://iad1.qualtrics.com
Dallas, TX Area Data Center	https://dfw3.qualtrics.com
San Jose, CA Area Data Center	https://sjc1.qualtrics.com
Chicago, IL Area Data Center	https://ord1.qualtrics.com
Dublin, Ireland Data Center	https://fra1.qualtrics.com
Sydney, Australia Data Center	https://syd1.qualtrics.com
Singapore Data Center	https://sin1.qualtrics.com
Canada Data Center	https://ca1.qualtrics.com
US Government Data Center	https://gov1.qualtrics.com
Other	enter a custom base URL below

If your organization is on a custom branded domain or a data center not listed, select Other and enter the full base URL (for example, https://iad1.qualtrics.com).

Not sure which data center you are on? Check Account Settings → Qualtrics IDs → Datacenter ID, or look at the subdomain in your Qualtrics browser URL.

Connector Behavior

After authenticating, the connector opens a navigator showing all active surveys accessible to your API token. Selecting a survey:

1. Calls the Qualtrics Create Response Export endpoint.
2. Polls the export progress until the file is ready.
3. Downloads and parses the response data into a Power BI table.

Each refresh re-triggers the export, so your report always reflects the latest survey responses.

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Scheduled Refresh (Power BI Service)

To enable scheduled refresh in the Power BI Service:

1. Install and configure an on-premises data gateway.
2. Copy qualtrics.pqx (or qualtrics.mez) into the gateway's custom connector folder:
   • Default: %ProgramFiles%\On-premises data gateway\CustomConnectors
3. Restart the gateway service.
4. In the Power BI Service, go to Manage gateways, find your gateway, and confirm the connector is listed under Connectors.
5. Map your dataset's data source credentials in Dataset Settings → Data source credentials.

Use the same data center and authentication settings in both Power BI Desktop and the gateway to avoid credential mismatch errors.

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For Developers

This section covers building, testing, and signing the connector from source.

Developer Prerequisites

Requirement	Notes
Visual Studio Code	Any recent version
Power Query SDK extension	Provides MakePQX.exe and the PQ test runner

After installing the extension, MakePQX.exe is available inside the extension's .nuget subfolder and is auto-discovered by the included VS Code tasks.

Build and Test

Compile the connector (creates bin/AnyCPU/Debug/qualtrics.mez):

MakePQX.exe compile

Alternatively, run the MakePQX: Compile (.mez) task in VS Code (Ctrl+Shift+B).

Evaluate interactively in the SDK:

1. Open qualtrics.query.pq.
2. Set your credentials via the Power Query SDK credential panel.
3. Click Evaluate current file in the SDK activity bar.

Example test query (qualtrics.query.pq):

let
    BaseUrl = "Washington, DC Area Data Center (https://iad1.qualtrics.com)",
    Nav = Qualtrics.Contents(BaseUrl)
in
    Nav

Packaging and Signing

The VS Code tasks in .vscode/tasks.json automate the full workflow. You can also run the steps manually:

Pack into a .pqx:

MakePQX.exe pack --mez .\bin\AnyCPU\Debug\qualtrics.mez --target .\bin\AnyCPU\Debug\qualtrics.pqx

Sign the .pqx:

$env:SIGN_PFX_PATH     = "C:\secure\path\connector-signing.pfx"
$env:SIGN_PFX_PASSWORD = "<pfx-password>"

MakePQX.exe sign .\bin\AnyCPU\Debug\qualtrics.pqx `
    --certificate $env:SIGN_PFX_PATH `
    --password $env:SIGN_PFX_PASSWORD `
    --replace

The .pfx file and its password are never committed. See certs/README.md for guidance on creating a self-signed certificate.

Verify the signature:

MakePQX.exe verify .\bin\AnyCPU\Debug\qualtrics.pqx

Expected output includes SignatureStatus: Success and Valid: true.

Repository Layout

qualtrics.pq             Main connector logic and metadata
qualtrics.query.pq       SDK interactive test query
qualtrics.proj           MSBuild packaging definition
resources.resx           Localizable UI strings
qualtrics*.png           Connector icons (16 / 20 / 24 / 32 / 40 / 48 / 64 / 80 px)
certs/                   Certificate guidance (private keys are git-ignored)
.vscode/tasks.json       VS Code build, pack, sign, and verify tasks
bin/                     Build output (git-ignored)

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Resolution
MakePQX.exe not found	Install or repair the Power Query SDK extension, or add MakePQX.exe to your PATH. The VS Code tasks auto-discover it from the extension folder.
PFX file not found during signing	Set SIGN_PFX_PATH in your environment or update the path in the VS Code task prompt.
Connector does not appear in Get Data	Confirm the file is in the correct Custom Connectors folder and that Power BI Desktop was restarted after copying the file.
DataSource.Error / 401 Unauthorized	Verify your API token is valid and that the selected data center matches your Qualtrics organization's region.
Export times out	Large surveys can take longer to export. The connector polls for up to several minutes; try refreshing again. Contact your Qualtrics administrator if exports consistently fail.
Service refresh fails	Confirm that the gateway has the connector file in its custom connectors folder, the gateway service has been restarted, and the credentials in the Power BI Service match those used in Desktop.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome. If you have a bug fix or feature idea:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m "Add your feature description"
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/your-feature-name
5. Open a pull request.

For significant changes, please open an issue first to discuss the proposal.

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License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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Contact

Ben Schram — ben@benjaminschram.com

Project repository: https://github.com/bschram/powerbi-qualtrics-connector

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Acknowledgments

• Qualtrics Response Exports API documentation
• Microsoft Power Query M documentation
• Power Query SDK for VS Code
• othneildrew/Best-README-Template — README structure inspiration
• Shields.io — badge generation

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