Import Smartsheet Data into Microsoft Power Query

The API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Smartsheet (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), enables you to use Web services to connect to and query Smartsheet data. This article details how to import an OData feed of Smartsheet data into Microsoft Power Query.

Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Smartsheet OData services:

Deploy

The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.

The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.

Connect to Smartsheet

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Smartsheet, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Smartsheet by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.

Smartsheet uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to register an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.

However, for testing purposes you can instead use the Personal Access Token you get when you create an application; set this to the OAuthAccessToken connection property.

You can then choose the Smartsheet entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.

Authorize API Server Users

After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default, only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.

Connect to Smartsheet Data from Power Query

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

1. Configure the API Server to use a version of the OData protocol that is recognized by Power Query. In the API Server administration console, click Settings -> Server and change the value of the Default Version property to 3.0.

2. From the ribbon in Excel, click Power Query -> From Other Data Sources -> From OData Feed, and enter the OData URL:

   https://your-server:8032/api.rsc

3. In the next step of the wizard, define authentication credentials and set privacy levels. Select Basic authentication and enter the credentials for a user authorized to make requests. Specify the Username field and enter the user's authtoken in the Password field.

   To change the authentication scheme that Power Query will use, click Power Query -> Data Source Settings. Select the OData feed from the list and then click Edit Credential. Select the privacy level from the menu on the Data Source Settings page.

4. You can now access Smartsheet data in Power Query. In the Navigator expand the node for the OData feed, right-click a table, and click Edit to open the Query Editor. This will display the table data.