Add one visual, map three fields, and see the paths your work actually follows. Your report and process data stay in Power BI and are not sent to us.
Open Threadseer on Microsoft Marketplace, or find it directly in Power BI. In Power BI Desktop or a report you can edit in Power BI Service, open the Visualizations menu, select Get more visuals, and search AppSource for Threadseer by Wittenauer Software LLC. Select Add, then select the Threadseer icon to place it on the report canvas.
Add Case ID, Activity, and Timestamp. Apply any Power BI filters that should define the data you want to analyze.
Select Analyze this selection. Threadseer loads the complete filtered dataset, builds the process, and opens the workspace.
Threadseer does not require a separate platform, Threadseer account, Python runtime, or preprocessing application. Power Query is optional when your source data needs reshaping.
Use report theme colors or choose the visual's accent, workspace background, text and process path colors in the Format pane. Invalid color settings fall back to the existing default colors. Formatting changes preserve the analyzed snapshot; they do not recalculate the process.
Your Power BI administrator can restrict custom visuals or provide them through an organization library. If you cannot find or add Threadseer, check those settings with your administrator and confirm that you are using the intended Microsoft work account. See Microsoft's visual installation guide for the available import options.
Community does not need a Professional license. For larger analyses, follow the Professional purchase and license-assignment guide.
Each row should represent one event in a case, such as an order update, ticket status, or claim step. Your column names can be different from Threadseer's field names.
| Required field | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Case ID | Connects events that belong to the same order, ticket, claim, or other case. | Order ID, Ticket Number |
| Activity | Names the step that happened. | Approved, Shipped |
| Timestamp | Places the events in time order. | Status Changed At |
If your milestones are stored in separate date columns, use Power Query to unpivot them so each milestone becomes a row. Use precise timestamps when sequence matters. When events share the same timestamp, Threadseer uses their source-row order and reports the condition in Data Quality.
| Optional field | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Activity Category | Category labels and colors on the process map. |
| End Timestamp | Separate processing-time and queue-wait measures. Without it, Threadseer does not guess which kind of delay occurred. |
| Event / Row ID | A direct connection to an individual Power BI source row when one is available. It does not change the calculations. |
| Resource | People, teams, or other resource context for investigation. It is not proof of utilization or capacity. |
| Outcome | Outcome-rate comparisons. |
| Value or Cost | Value and cost summaries. Threadseer uses the Power BI field's format for mapped-value labels and tooltips, including currency, decimals, percentages, and negative-number formats. |
| Additional Dimensions | Comparisons using up to three extra business fields, such as location, product, or priority. |
Use unsummarized event fields, including numeric Additional Dimensions. If Threadseer reports an assigned field is unavailable, reassign it and choose Don't summarize where applicable. If it remains unavailable, add a fresh visual and map the required fields again. These steps do not start analysis; choose Analyze when the input is ready.
Clock labels show average elapsed time between activities. This is not necessarily waiting or active work. Use the question mark beside Edge labels for definitions, or choose frequency, case percentage or median time.
Standard remains the default map. Optionally map Hierarchy 1 through Hierarchy 3 from highest to lowest; omitted levels are skipped. Activity Category is the final optional group before Activity, for up to four parent levels in total. Threadseer validates one parent per child; inconsistent hierarchy data shows a warning without breaking Standard.
Choose View: Hierarchy and Expand subprocess to open groups inside the chart. Up to eight adjacent or nested groups can be open; breadcrumbs and collapse controls take you back. A group entry combines consecutive events in one group; leaving and returning counts as another entry. At the activity level, entries count individual activity occurrences, including consecutive repetitions. Both modes use the same variant and coverage selections.
Select map cards or lines to highlight paths, and select them again or click empty canvas to clear. Dragging pans without clearing. Hover details wait half a second; keyboard focus and touch details are immediate. Explicit variant and case controls still filter the report.
Analyze the data and arrange the map, then Add or Update a Power BI bookmark. Keep Data enabled and include Threadseer in All visuals or Selected visuals. Bookmarks restore the active tab, Standard or Hierarchy mode, map options, selected variants, expanded groups and pan/zoom. Update older bookmarks to capture this state.
Saving the report also records the current analysis tab for restoration with matching input. A bookmark with Data disabled leaves the current tab unchanged. If Power BI supplies changed data, choose Analyze or Reanalyze before using data-dependent exploration.
A bookmark saves exploration settings, not the event log. If the analyzed data differs, Threadseer restores safe view options and explains why saved selections, expansions and zoom were not applied. Use Analyze or Reanalyze for changed data. Other tabs' searches, sorting, tooltips and scroll position are not captured.
Choose Analyze or Reanalyze to analyze a new or changed selection. Resizing the visual, changing formatting, or moving between views does not start a new analysis.
When Power BI recreates the visual, Threadseer can automatically rebuild your last explicitly requested analysis if the data and mapped fields are unchanged. This restoration still respects your current license and data-capacity limits. A new or changed selection requires you to choose Analyze.
The compact header keeps Process Explorer and your Community or Professional badge together. Hover over or focus Snapshot details (the information button beside the title) to see when the displayed analysis was created.
After you change a mapped field or Power BI filter, Selection changed shows the row count for the displayed snapshot alongside the new selection's row count. The previous results stay visible until you choose Analyze new selection. Selections you make inside Threadseer narrow the current results without rebuilding the full analysis.
If Power BI cannot load the entire filtered dataset, Threadseer stops instead of analyzing partial data. Read-only dashboard tiles may receive only the first part of a larger selection; when that happens, open or refresh the source report to load and analyze the complete selection.
When you make Threadseer smaller, use the scrollbar inside the visual to reach the remaining controls and results. Wide tables and navigation can scroll horizontally. Resizing preserves your analysis.
Use explicit variant and case selections to filter other report visuals to the contributing cases. Process Map cards and lines highlight related paths locally. Existing report filters still apply. Clear the outlined selection to remove Threadseer's report filter. Report authors should enable the desired visual interactions.
Adding or removing variants updates the selected cases while retaining the complete analyzed snapshot. The report-filter status shows when Power BI has applied the selection. Clear removes Threadseer's case filter while keeping filters set elsewhere in your report.
Process Map shows the activities and paths cases follow. Variants ranks the most common routes. Compare places two observed routes side by side. Conformance compares complete case routes with paths you mark as Accepted.
Drivers shows where queue wait, processing time, or rework is concentrated. Bottlenecks summarizes delay evidence. Rework finds repeated steps and return loops. Improve explores regularity, handoffs, resources, and shortcuts without making causal, staffing, compliance, or return-on-investment claims.
Cases traces results back to matching cases and a selected timeline. Data Quality explains excluded, normalized, and retained input conditions so data problems remain visible.
Mark observed paths as Accepted and choose one accepted path as Primary. A case conforms only when its complete activity sequence exactly matches an Accepted path. Primary changes the visual emphasis; it does not change the score.
The map distinguishes Primary, accepted-only, shortcut, repetition, unexpected-path, and deviation evidence. You can zoom, fit, pan, and use the keyboard to inspect it. Paths saved from another filter context remain manageable even when the current data contains no matching cases. Deviation details link back to contributing cases and Driver Analysis.
See Plans & Pricing and Known Issues and Limits for the complete boundaries.