The data feed refresh rate is the interval at which your data is updated. You can select an alternate refresh rate for any number of data feeds in your account as long as your selection fits into your current plan limit. To attain more frequent refresh rates, you can upgrade to a different plan.
This article includes:
Automated refresh
Data feeds are automatically added to the refresh queue based on their specified refresh frequency rate. When refreshed, the data in the data feed and in its associated metrics is automatically updated.
Note: Data feeds that are connected to data from uploaded files cannot be set to automatically refresh. If the data in the file changes and you want the data feed to include the new data, you must manually re-upload the file.
The time it takes for a data feed to refresh depends on:
- The number of data feeds already in the queue.
- The number of data feeds in your account being refreshed simultaneously.
- The time it takes for the source system to respond to the query defined in the data feed.
- Whether or not the refresh needs to be deferred in order to avoid exceeding the API limits for the service.
Note: Data feeds are refreshed on a first-in-first-out order of priority. This ensures that resources are made available to active users. The only exception is deferred refreshes. When a refresh is deferred past the scheduled refresh time frame, the deferred refresh request is automatically added to the front of the queue.
Changing the refresh frequency rate for data feeds
To change the refresh frequency rate for a data feed:
- In the left navigation sidebar, click Data Feeds to open your list of data feeds.
- Select the data feed whose refresh rate you want to change.
- Click the
Edit button in the upper-right corner of the open data feed. - Under Queue for refresh, click the drop-down and select a different refresh frequency rate from the list of available options. (See below.)
Note: The choices available to you depend on your pricing plan. If you want to access more frequent refresh rates, click Upgrade to move to a different plan. Refresh rate options also depend on the service you're connecting to. For example, QuickBooks data feeds can be refreshed every 4, 12, or 24 hours. - Click Save data feed.
Changing the refresh frequency rate for instant and custom metrics
You update the refresh frequency rate for instant and custom metrics from within their associated data feed.
Note: When you add instant metrics, we create your data feeds for you. To ensure the integrity and accuracy of your instant metrics, note that the underlying data in these data feeds is managed by PowerMetrics and cannot be edited. However, you can update their refresh frequency rate.
To change the refresh frequency rate for an instant or custom metric:
- Click Metrics in the left navigation sidebar.
- In your list of metrics, select an instant or custom metric. The metric overview opens in view mode.
Note: This action is not applicable to instant (calculated) metrics and calculated metrics. - Click the Edit button at the top of the page.
- Beside Data feed, click the 3-dot menu and then click Open data feed in new tab.
The data feed opens in view mode. - Click the Edit button at the top of the data feed page.
- Under Queue for refresh, click the drop-down beside your current refresh frequency rate and select a different one from the list of available options.
Note: The choices available to you depend on your pricing plan. If you want to access more frequent refresh rates, click Upgrade to move to a different plan. Note that this change will also impact related instant metrics that use the same service. - Click Save data feed.
Manual refresh
As mentioned above, data feeds refresh automatically based on a schedule but you can also manually queue data feeds to be refreshed outside of that schedule. Doing so can help you see updates to your metrics between automatic refreshes and troubleshoot refresh errors.
Manually queuing for refresh forces the data feed to refresh and resets the automatic refresh counter. For example, if your plan includes a refresh frequency rate of every 4 hours and you manually refresh it 2 hours after it was last auto-refreshed, it will refresh automatically again 4 hours after the manual refresh.
There are a few ways to manually queue data feeds for refresh:
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From your list of data feeds, select one or more data feeds for manual refresh by clicking Data Feeds in the left navigation sidebar to display your list of data feeds, selecting the checkbox(es) beside the name(s) of the data feed(s) you want to add to the refresh queue, and clicking the
Queue for refresh button on the top-left of the page. -
From an open data feed, in edit mode, queue the data feed for refresh by clicking the link under Last refreshed in the right-side panel.
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From an open data feed, in edit or view mode, queue the data feed for refresh by clicking the Queue for refresh button in the toolbar (it’s also accessible from the 3-dot menu when in view mode) and selecting Queue for refresh from the drop-down menu. Note: This is the method described in the following procedure as it includes some additional features for those with edit access to the data feed.
To manually queue a data feed for refresh:
The drop-down menu that's described below is only available to those with edit access to the data feed. View-only users can still queue the data feed for refresh by clicking the “Queue for refresh” button.
In an open data feed with a refresh status of "OK":
- Click the Queue for refresh button in the toolbar and select Queue for refresh from the drop-down menu.
In an open data feed with a refresh status of "Failed refresh":
- Click the Queue for refresh button in the toolbar and select either the Queue for refresh or the View refresh errors option from the drop-down menu.
Go to the “Viewing data refresh error information” section of this article for details.
In an open data feed with a refresh status of "Disabled":
- Click the Queue for refresh button in the toolbar. If the data feed doesn't successfully refresh, select the View refresh errors option from the drop-down menu to investigate.
Go to the “Viewing data refresh error information” section of this article for details.
Note: If the data feed is connected to data in an uploaded file, then manual (and auto) queuing for refresh is not applicable. Learn how to update data feeds for locally uploaded files here.
Data refresh failures
There are various reasons why data feeds can fail to refresh and actions you can take to get them up and running again.
This section includes:
- About data refresh intervals
- Finding data feeds that have refresh errors
- Viewing data refresh error information
- Understanding data refresh errors
- Troubleshooting refresh failures
About data refresh intervals
PowerMetrics attempts multiple times to connect to your data before disabling refresh. Refresh intervals are designed to make sure the maximum amount of time is given to retrieving new data and to enable errors to be cleared.
We attempt to refresh your data using the following intervals:
- After one refresh failure, PowerMetrics attempts to refresh again every 5 minutes until successful.
- After three refresh failures, PowerMetrics attempts to refresh again every 30 minutes until successful.
- After five refresh failures, PowerMetrics attempts to refresh again every 6 hours until successful.
- After 20 refresh failures, the data feed is disabled.
Finding data feeds that have refresh errors
The fastest way to see which data feeds have refresh errors is via the Status filter:
- In the left navigation sidebar, click Data Feeds to open your list of data feeds.
- In the Status filter, click the drop-down and select In error. (See below.)
The list now displays all of the data feeds that are currently experiencing refresh issues.
The refresh status for each data feed also displays in your list. If there are issues with refreshing your data, you'll see an error overlay and refresh status of “Failed refresh” or “Disabled”. (See below.)
You can also identify metrics that are associated with in-error data feeds. An error state will display as an overlay on the icon for each affected metric (in the metric overview, on a dashboard, and in Explorer) In each case you can click on the error icon for guidance on resolving the issue. See an example below of a LinkedIn Ads Campaigns overview page, where the metric is in an error state.
Viewing data refresh error information
If you have edit access to a data feed that’s in an error state, you can view information about the refresh error to help troubleshoot the issue.
To view data feed refresh errors:
- In an open, failing data feed, click the Queue for refresh button in the toolbar and select View refresh errors from the drop-down menu. The number (in brackets) after “View refresh errors” indicates how many refresh errors have occurred in the last 60 days.
Note: If you see "View refresh errors [1]" this may be referring to a refresh error from > 60 days ago, as we store the most recent refresh error indefinitely.
Note: With the data feed in view mode, you can also access refresh errors by clicking the About tab and then clicking View refresh errors at the bottom of the right-side panel. Up to 20 of the most recent refresh attempts are listed in the “Refresh errors” dialog. If there have been more than 20 refresh attempts, you can see them by clicking “Show more”.
- The Refresh errors dialog opens, where you’ll find the following information:
- Refresh Time: The last date and time a refresh was attempted for the data feed.
- Source: The type of the most recent refresh attempt, either “auto refresh” for scheduled refreshes made automatically by the system or “manual refresh” for refreshes requested by the user.
- Result: The type of error.
- Duration: The length of time it took to refresh the data feed (the last time it was successfully refreshed).
- The service responded with the following message: An explanation for why the data feed is failing to refresh. For example, “The refresh for the token you passed has expired.” This example is a common error state. If you see it, you can go to this article to learn more about OAuth authentication or this article to learn how to manage your account connections and re-authorize a token.
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Copy error: Click this link to copy the error message so you can make a note or share it with others.
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Explain error: If the AI Assistant is enabled, you can click Explain error to see a user-friendly, AI-generated explanation. (See an example below.)
- When you’re done investigating, click Close.
Understanding data refresh errors
If you see one of the following refresh errors, it means the data feed is having a problem refreshing:
- Disabled due to connection not found: Indicates a data feed has been deleted or is no longer shared with you.
- Warning (one or more refresh failures) OR This data feed has failed to refresh one or more times: Indicates we’ve tried unsuccessfully to refresh the data feed between 1 and 19 times. See the troubleshooting section for more information.
- Disabled due to multiple refresh failures OR This data feed is disabled due to multiple refresh failures: Indicates we’ve tried unsuccessfully to refresh the data feed 20 times. See the troubleshooting section for more information.
Troubleshooting refresh failures
Note that service API limits can impact queue refresh times:
- Some APIs, like Google Analytics, impose a limit on the number of requests per profile, number of concurrent requests per profile, and the number of tokens per user account. For more information on the Google Analytics API, see Limits and Quotas on API Requests. Issues are most commonly seen when you have a large number of queries set to refresh in close succession. PowerMetrics monitors the number of API calls for each OAuth token and profile. PowerMetrics may defer a new refresh request from executing for a short period of time in order to prevent an account from violating an enforced limit. To help avoid this issue, when setting data feed refresh rates, make sure the rate complies with limitations set by the service you’re connecting to.
Here are some possible causes of data refresh failure:
- OAuth tokens for some services expire and must be reauthorized on a regular basis. For example, a Facebook OAuth token must be reauthorized every two months. Learn more about OAuth authentication. Learn more about managing your account connections.
- Some APIs impose a limit on the size of file you can upload.
- Some data feeds, such as SQL data feeds inside your firewall, require you to add the PowerMetrics dashboard IP addresses to your allow list. For more information, see Allow list IP addresses.
- API limits can affect the refresh interval for services. For example, due to the API limits set by Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, the shortest refresh interval that can be selected for these services in PowerMetrics is every 15 minutes.
- A query might be incorrect. For example, a Google Analytics query returns a "Connection Service" error if there is a line break at the end of a query.
- A file name might be incorrect. For example, if a file in Dropbox has been replaced with a file using a different file name.
- To ensure all of our customers experience optimum performance, we apply fair use limits. As such, there’s a maximum number of rows of data that can be ingested when creating and refreshing metrics. Most customers don’t approach these limits but, if you do, the ability to refresh your data may be impacted.