pbi-enterprise-cli 4.0.0

Power BI one-stop-shop platform — CLI for AI-driven Power BI development

pbi-cli

Full-stack Power BI automation from the command line — semantic model management, report authoring, governance enforcement, DAX testing, deployment pipelines, and 30 Claude Code skills.

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What it does

pbi-cli gives you a single pbi command that covers every layer of Power BI development — no clicking through the Desktop UI, no manual file editing, no proprietary tooling dependencies.

Area	Commands
Semantic model	pbi model — tables, columns, relationships, lint, lineage
DAX measures	pbi measure — add, update, delete, AI-generate
DAX testing	pbi dax — query, validate, YAML unit-test suites
Source profiling	pbi source — SQL, Excel, CSV, REST APIs → star-schema scaffold
Report authoring	pbi report — pages, bookmarks (PBIR GA format)
Visuals	pbi visual — 17 visual types, colour-scale & data-bar formatting
Layout	pbi layout — shelf-packing auto-layout, named templates
Themes	pbi theme — generate WCAG-compliant themes from a brand colour
Filters	pbi filter — relative-date, TopN, basic value filters
Governance	pbi govern — built-in rules + BPA + custom plugin system, --fail-on CI gate
Security (RLS)	pbi security — role add/delete/test
Partitions	pbi partition — add, refresh, delete
Deployment	pbi deploy — snapshot, diff, push via XMLA
Snapshots	pbi snapshot — create, list, restore, diff — model rollback
Environments	pbi env — named connections, use, diff, promote (dev→prod)
TMDL	pbi database — export / import TMDL snapshots
Docs	pbi docs — markdown/Confluence data dictionary, audit log
Diagnostics	pbi doctor — check pythonnet, optional deps, platform
Watch mode	pbi watch — re-run governance + DAX tests on file change
REST API	pbi server — authenticated FastAPI server for pipeline integration
Skills	pbi skills — install, list, check 30 Claude Code Power BI skills

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Backends

The same CLI works against three backends — swap with --backend:

Backend	When to use
desktop (default)	Local Power BI Desktop open with a .pbip project
xmla	Power BI Premium or Microsoft Fabric — no Desktop required
mock	CI pipelines, unit tests, demos — zero infrastructure

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Installation

Base install (semantic model, governance, DAX, report authoring):

pip install pbi-enterprise-cli

Optional feature groups:

pip install "pbi-enterprise-cli[ai]"       # Claude AI measure generation
pip install "pbi-enterprise-cli[xmla]"     # XMLA auth (MSAL)
pip install "pbi-enterprise-cli[sources]"  # SQL / Excel / REST profiling
pip install "pbi-enterprise-cli[viz]"      # WCAG theme validation, screenshots
pip install "pbi-enterprise-cli[server]"   # Authenticated FastAPI REST server
pip install "pbi-enterprise-cli[all]"      # Everything

Requirements: Python 3.10+. The desktop and xmla backends require Windows and the AMO .NET assemblies (installed with Power BI Desktop).

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Quick Start

# Check your setup
pbi doctor

# Connect to open Power BI Desktop and inspect the model
pbi model tables
pbi model relationships
pbi measure list

# Run governance checks (exit code 3 on errors — CI safe)
pbi govern check --fail-on error

# Auto-fix safe violations (PascalCase, missing format strings, etc.)
pbi govern fix --auto

# Add a measure
pbi measure add \
  --table Sales \
  --name "Total Revenue" \
  --expression "SUM(Sales[Revenue])" \
  --format-string "#,0.00" \
  --description "Net revenue after discounts"

# Run DAX unit tests
pbi dax test --suite tests/fixtures/measures/sales_suite.yaml

# Profile a SQL source and scaffold a star-schema model
pbi source profile --source "mssql://server/SalesDW" --output json
pbi source scaffold --source "mssql://server/SalesDW" \
  --output ./MyModel.SemanticModel/definition/

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Governance & CI/CD

Built-in rules + BPA (Best Practice Analyzer) run out of the box. Drop a .py file in ~/.pbi-cli/rules/ to add organisation-specific rules.

pbi govern rules              # list all built-in + plugin rules
pbi govern check --fail-on error    # exit 3 on violations — CI gate
pbi --json govern check       # structured {summary, violations} JSON output
pbi govern fix --auto         # auto-fix PascalCase, format strings, folders

BPA Compatibility

# Microsoft community rules (fetched live — same as Tabular Editor)
pbi govern bpa check

# Local rule set
pbi govern bpa check --file ./BPARules.json

# Filter by severity or category
pbi govern bpa check --severity error --category Performance

GitHub Actions

Copy .github/workflows/pbi-govern.yml from this repo — it runs governance on every PR, fails on errors, and posts a summary comment automatically.

# One-liner governance gate for your own repo:
- run: pbi --backend mock --json govern check --fail-on error

See also azure-pipelines-govern.yml for Azure DevOps.

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Snapshots & Rollback

# Save a snapshot before risky changes
pbi snapshot create --label before-refactor

# See all snapshots
pbi snapshot list

# Diff current model against a snapshot
pbi snapshot diff 20260530_142300_before-refactor

# Restore (requires --confirm)
pbi snapshot restore 20260530_142300_before-refactor --confirm

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Multi-Environment Support

Named connections in ~/.pbi-cli/connections.json — switch with one command:

pbi connections add           # interactive wizard
pbi env list                  # show all environments
pbi env use fabric-dev        # set default
pbi env promote fabric-dev fabric-prod --confirm   # deploy dev → prod

See docs/auth/xmla-auth.md for service principal, managed identity, and interactive auth.

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Authenticated REST Server

# Generate a key
export PBI_SERVER_KEY=$(pbi server generate-key)

# Start server (localhost-only by default)
pbi server start

# Call the API
curl -H "X-PBI-API-Key: $PBI_SERVER_KEY" http://localhost:7788/api/tables

The server binds to 127.0.0.1 by default. Use --host 0.0.0.0 only behind a firewall. All endpoints require the X-PBI-API-Key header — no unauthenticated access.

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XMLA Backend

Connect to Power BI Premium or Fabric without Desktop:

# Add a named connection
pbi connections add

# Use it
pbi --connection fabric-prod model tables
pbi --connection fabric-prod govern check --fail-on error
pbi --connection fabric-prod deploy push --workspace "Sales-PROD"

Full auth guide: docs/auth/xmla-auth.md

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Claude Code Skills (30 skills)

Install Power BI skills into Claude Code for AI-assisted development:

# Install all 30 skills
pbi skills install --all

# Check compatibility with current CLI version
pbi skills check

# Install specific skills
pbi skills install power-bi-dax power-bi-governance

30 bundled skills:

Skill	Purpose
power-bi-advisor	Master orchestrator — routes any question to the right skill
power-bi-dax	DAX measures, time intelligence, VAR/RETURN patterns
power-bi-modeling	Star schema, relationships, dimensional design
power-bi-power-query	M language, ETL, REST API connectors, query folding
power-bi-performance	Query optimisation, VertiPaq, DAX Studio patterns
power-bi-rls-security	Dynamic RLS, hierarchy security, OLS
power-bi-themes	WCAG-compliant themes, brand palettes
power-bi-layout	Shelf-packing auto-layout, navigation patterns
power-bi-report	Report pages, bookmarks, drillthrough
power-bi-visual-selection	Which visual for which data question
power-bi-visuals	Visual add/configure, conditional formatting
power-bi-governance	Rules, auto-fix, custom plugins, BPA
power-bi-deployment	XMLA deploy, snapshot, diff, rollback
power-bi-deployment-pipeline	Git integration, CI/CD, Azure DevOps
power-bi-fabric	OneLake, Medallion, Direct Lake, RTI, KQL
power-bi-copilot	Copilot setup, Q&A synonyms, Smart Narratives, AI visuals
power-bi-templates	Starter templates: Sales, Finance, HR, Operations, Marketing
power-bi-sources	SQL/Fabric/REST profiling, star-schema scaffold
power-bi-docs	Data dictionary, measure catalog, ERDs
power-bi-testing	DAX unit tests, regression suites, CI integration
power-bi-security	RLS, OLS, workspace roles
power-bi-partitions	Partition strategy, incremental refresh
power-bi-diagnostics	Doctor, environment checks, troubleshooting
power-bi-patterns	End-to-end workflows, design patterns
power-bi-pages	Drillthrough, tooltip pages, mobile layout
power-bi-filters	Visual, page, and report-level filters
power-bi-design-system	Brand consistency, typography, colour systems
power-bi-page-designer	Full page design from business domain description
power-bi-project-orchestrator	End-to-end project orchestration
power-bi-troubleshooter	Guided troubleshooting workflows

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Global Flags

Flag	Purpose
--backend desktop|xmla|mock	Select backend (default: desktop)
--dry-run	Preview changes without applying them
--json	Machine-readable JSON output
--connection <name>	Use a named connection from ~/.pbi-cli/connections.json
--port 5000	Desktop local server port

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Exit Code Contract

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	User error — bad args, missing flags
2	Connection error — Desktop not open, XMLA unreachable
3	Validation error — governance violation, schema error
4	Operation error — TOM write failed, partial completion

See STABILITY.md for the full API stability policy.

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Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	Claude AI for pbi measure generate
PBI_SERVER_KEY	API key for pbi server start (required)
PBI_CLIENT_SECRET	Service principal secret for XMLA connections
PBI_REST_BEARER	Default Bearer token for REST source profiling

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Documentation

Document	Contents
docs/auth/xmla-auth.md	XMLA auth: service principal, managed identity, interactive
docs/deployment.md	Snapshot format, diff algorithm, push safety, rollback
docs/source-profiling.md	Source types, classification logic, scaffold output
STABILITY.md	Stable command surface, exit code contract, deprecation policy
MAINTAINERS.md	Maintainer team, support SLAs, release process
CONTRIBUTING.md	Branch strategy, coding standards, PR guide

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Development

git clone https://github.com/mudassir09/pbi-enterprise-cli.git
cd pbi-enterprise-cli
pip install -e ".[all]"

# Run the full test suite (575 tests, ~7 s)
python -m pytest

# Lint
ruff check src/ tests/

# Type check
mypy src/

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License

MIT — © 2026 Mudassir