Mike H on 16 Nov 2022 15:09:58
Problem: Utilization of the R Visual in Power BI is a powerful tool, however, it's true potential is significantly limited in the Power BI Service because it only supports a fraction of the available R Packages. Nothing is more frustrating that building the perfect R-Visual that works in Power BI Desktop only to find it doesn't work when you publish it to the Power BI Service because an R Package you are using isn't supported/approved.
Microsoft currently maintains a list of supported R Packages in the Power BI Service here Learn which R packages are supported - Power BI | Microsoft Learn. However, if the R package you need isn't on the list, the only recourse is to submit an "Idea" to the vast abyss that is the Power BI Idea forum and hope for the best? This is certainly not a process you can plan around.
Solution: Create a more streamlined process to get an R-package approved, particularly if it meets all the requirements listed in the documentation here (publicly published to CRAN, open source, no client-server queries etc.). In fact, if the package meets all requirements, why can't it just be supported by default (rather than individually approved)?