What exactly is a Fabric App? How is it different from building your own web app? Why TypeScript instead of Power BI reports? And when is it going to be Generally Available?

In this episode of Fabric Insider, I sit down with Sachin Patney — Product Manager for Fabric Apps and Rayfin at Microsoft — for the deepest and most comprehensive conversation about Fabric Apps and Rayfin we have had on this series yet. With a live demo included.

If you have been curious about Rayfin — what it really is, how it works, how it is priced, and where it is going — this episode answers everything.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:06 Who is Sachin Patney
1:37 What is Rayfin, in plain terms
3:34 What makes Fabric Apps unique compared to building it yourself
7:47 Why TypeScript, not PBIR
9:04 How pricing works: Fabric CUs explained
10:14 Getting started: CLI or portal
11:28 Live demo: creating a new Rayfin project
15:04 The file structure explained
17:10 Authentication and future identity providers
19:13 A more comprehensive demo: the lead tracker app
21:22 Fabric App vs Power Apps: what's the difference
23:35 Templates: what they are and how to build your own
26:23 Data App licensing: no Power BI license required
28:06 Live demo: Data App with cross filtering
29:25 Custom domains and future hosting flexibility
31:20 What it looks like in the Fabric workspace
35:05 When is GA
35:38 What is coming: OIDC, storage, functions, observability
39:28 Live demo: functions in action with a chat app
42:44 How to reach Sachin and the team
44:01 Closing thoughts



📌 What we cover in this episode:
🏗️ What is a Fabric App — the full definition explained
🔍 What makes Fabric Apps different from building your own web app?
🔤 Why is the frontend TypeScript and not PBIR or Power BI reports?
💰 How does the pricing model work for Fabric Apps?
🌐 Custom domains — can you use your own domain for a Fabric App?
🏢 Are Fabric Apps only for internal company use — or can they be external-facing?
📁 The project file structure explained — what is inside a Rayfin project
📋 What are templates for — and how do you use them?
✍️ Can you create your own custom Rayfin templates?
🎬 Live demo — building and deploying a Fabric App
🗺️ Future capabilities on the roadmap
📅 When can we expect General Availability?

🎙️ Fabric Insider Series — direct conversations with Microsoft product team members on what is new, what is coming, and what matters most in Microsoft Fabric and Power BI.

🔗 Sachin Patney on LinkedIn: LinkedIn: spatney

📺 Full Fabric Insider Playlist: Fabric Insider - 2026

🎧 Fabric Insider on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4eJrCr5...

📚 Fabric Insider Blog Series: https://radacad.com/category/fabric-i...

💡 Power BI / Fabric Ideas: https://ideas.fabric.microsoft.com
💬 Microsoft Fabric Reddit: Reddit: MicrosoftFabric

📌 Previous Fabric Insider Episodes:
🎙️ Ep. 1 — Wilson Lee: Fabric Mirroring, Copy Job & SAP Integration
🎙️ Ep. 2 — Zoe Douglas: Power BI Visualization Updates & Roadmap
🎙️ Ep. 3 — Miguel Escobar: Power Query, Dataflows & What's Next
🎙️ Ep. 4 — Santhosh Kumar Ravindran: Fabric Spark Performance & Custom Live Pools
🎙️ Ep. 5 — Christian Wade: What's Hot and New for Power BI Semantic Models
🎙️ Ep. 6 — Yitzhak Kesselman: Real-Time Intelligence & Fabric IQ
🎙️ Ep. 7 — Rie Merritt: Everything About the Microsoft MVP Program
🎙️ Ep. 8 — Hasan Abo-Shally: Fabric MCP Servers, CLI & AI Agents
🎙️ Ep. 9 — Wee Hyong Tok: Data Integration, Migration & Future of ETL
🎙️ Ep. 10 — Mohammad Ali: The Next Evolution of Power BI

📖 Related resources on RADACAD:

🔗 What is Rayfin — Build and Deploy Your First Fabric App: What is Fabric App or Rayfin and Why You S...
🔗 Rayfin Data App — TypeScript + Semantic Model + GitHub Copilot: The Future of Power BI Reporting Is Here —...

🔗 What is Microsoft Fabric: https://radacad.com/what-is-microsoft...
🔗 RADACAD Blog: https://radacad.com/blog/

🌐 RADACAD Website: https://radacad.com
🔗 Corporate Training: https://radacad.com/corporate-training/
🔗 Power BI Training: https://radacad.com/power-bi-training/
🔗 Microsoft Fabric Training: https://radacad.com/microsoft-fabric-...

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