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CSA Loom — the Microsoft Fabric experience for Azure tenants where Fabric isn't yet available: lakehouses, warehouses, notebooks, semantic models, Activator rules, Data Agents, across Commercial, GCC, GCC-High, and DoD IL5

Loom Dataflow Gen2 Editor — Fabric-parity spec

Comparative positioning note

This document is written from the perspective of Microsoft Azure, Cloud Scale Analytics, and CSA Loom. Any description of third-party or competing products, services, pricing, or capabilities is derived from publicly available documentation and sources believed accurate at the time of writing, and is provided for general comparison only. We do not claim expertise in, or authority over, any non-Microsoft product or service; the respective vendor's official documentation is the authoritative source for their offerings, which may change over time. Nothing here is intended to disparage any vendor — where a competing product has genuine advantages, we aim to note them honestly. Verify all third-party details against the vendor's current official documentation before making decisions.

Captured 2026-05-26 by catalog agent a30c2872e59523af4. Source: live Dataflow 1 + Dataflow 2 in casino-fabric-poc workspace + Fabric docs.

Overview

Cloud-based data transformation using Power Query M editor. No-code data prep without writing code.

UI components

Ribbon (5 tabs)

Home: Get Data (100+ connectors) · Recent Data · New Source · New Query · Combine (Merge/Append) · Delete · Parameters · Refresh · Options · Help

Add Column: Column From Examples · Custom Column · Invoke Function · Add AI Prompt Column · Standard math · Text ops · Date & Time · From Number · Conditional Column · Format

Transform: Group By · Pivot · Unpivot · Remove Duplicates · Replace Values · Run Python Script · Keep/Remove Rows · Sort · Filter · Extract · Split Column · Text→Columns · Format · Data Type · Use First Row as Headers

View: Diagram View · Data Preview · Schema View · Layout Options · Data Profiling Tools · Advanced Editor (M code)

Help: Docs · Keyboard Shortcuts · Support · Community · Submit Idea · Feedback

Layout panes

  • Queries pane (left): list, search/filter, right-click → Rename / Reference / Delete / Enable-Disable Load / Properties / Advanced Editor
  • Data Preview pane (center): tabular preview, column headers w/ filter+sort, row count, scrollable grid
  • Applied Steps pane (right): chronological transformation steps, right-click → Delete / Edit / Rename / Properties / Move
  • Schema view: column name + data type, remove/rename/change-type/duplicate/sort
  • Diagram view: visual query structure with step icons + dependency lines
  • Status bar: execution time · column count · row count · processing status · view-toggle buttons

Data destinations supported

Azure SQL DB · Azure Data Explorer · ADLS Gen2 · Fabric Lakehouse (Tables+Files) · Fabric Data Warehouse · Fabric SQL DB · Azure Synapse · Snowflake · SharePoint

Key capabilities

  • 300+ built-in transformations
  • Power Query M code editor (Advanced Editor)
  • Column profiling + data quality metrics
  • AutoSave + background publishing
  • Refresh History tracking
  • Monitoring Hub integration
  • Copilot NL assistance + AI Prompt Column generation
  • Parameter support
  • CI/CD + Git integration
  • Variable library parameterization
  • Scheduled refreshes

What Loom has today

  • Cosmos persistence of dataflow definition (v3.25)
  • 503 "Refresh runtime not yet wired" for the Refresh action

Gaps for parity

  1. Power Query editor — Loom has plain JSON textarea; needs full M editor with ribbon + applied steps + data preview panes
  2. 100+ connector picker — currently none
  3. Diagram view — visual query structure
  4. Run runtime wiring — should dispatch to ADF Mapping Data Flow when invoked
  5. AI Prompt Column / Copilot NL — not present
  6. Refresh History pane — not present

Backend mapping

  • Loom equivalent of Power Query is to author M code → translate to ADF Mapping Data Flow JSON → submit via existing ADF client
  • Connector library = ADF Linked Services library (already partially exposed via /api/adf/linked-services)

Estimated effort

4-5 sessions — Power Query editor parity is substantial UI work (ribbon, panes, M code with Monaco language plugin). MVP path: provide ribbon + connector picker + applied-steps pane, defer drag-drop visual designer.