powerbi-report-authoring

name	powerbi-report-authoring
description	Create and modify Power BI report files in PBIR/PBIP format using the `powerbi-report-author` and `powerbi-desktop` CLIs. Use when the user wants to: (1) implement an approved report spec or design brief, (2) add or edit pages, visuals, filters, slicers, bookmarks, themes, or formatting, (3) validate PBIR and verify rendering in Power BI Desktop. For open-ended visual design, use `powerbi-report-design` first. For end-to-end requirements and approval workflow, use `powerbi-report-planning` first. Triggers: "edit PBIR", "create Power BI report page", "add visual to PBIP", "format report visual", "validate Power BI report", "reload Desktop screenshot", "implement an approved PBIP report spec", "edit PBIR pages/visuals".
metadata	{"version":"0.1.0"}

CRITICAL NOTES

1. To find the workspace details (including its ID) from workspace name: list all workspaces and, then, use JMESPath filtering
2. To find the item details (including its ID) from workspace ID, item type, and item name: list all items of that type in that workspace and, then, use JMESPath filtering

Power BI Report Authoring Skill (PBIR/PBIP Format)

This skill enables reading, editing, and creation of Power BI report definition files in the PBIR (Power BI Report) format used by PBIP (Power BI Project) files.

Must/Prefer/Avoid

MUST

• Use this skill only for concrete PBIR/PBIP report-file mechanics such as pages, visuals, filters, slicers, navigation, bookmarks, themes, formatting, validation, Desktop reloads, and screenshots.
• Validate PBIR with powerbi-report-author validate after each logical batch.
• Use powerbi-desktop reload/screenshot workflows for rendered-output changes.
• Use CLI capability lookup before writing visual roles, formatting objects, enum values, selectors, or expression encodings.

PREFER

• Start from an approved Design Brief: or _brief/report-spec.md for greenfield report builds.
• Route visual-design uncertainty to powerbi-report-design before writing files.
• For semantic model metadata or model-side changes, use a semantic-model authoring skill, Power BI Modeling MCP, or local TMDL files when available.

AVOID

• Do not guess PBIR JSON from memory when CLI metadata or reference files are available.
• Do not use only this skill for open-ended design, report planning, or Fabric report item CRUD; pair it with powerbi-report-design, powerbi-report-planning, or powerbi-report-management.

Quick Start Workflow

0. Plan/design routing → for greenfield builds, read powerbi-report-planning first; for theming, visual style, layout, redesigns, or critiques, read powerbi-report-design. Return here for PBIR mechanics. Before authoring, use the Design Brief: yaml block from _brief/report-spec.md (or an approved inline Design Brief: block in the conversation) as implementation context.
1. Set up/update CLIs → before first use, confirm powerbi-report-author and the global powerbi-desktop command are available; see CLI Setup.
2. Understand the model → use the Semantic Model MCP Server/skill if available, or read TMDL files directly for table/column/measure names
3. Desktop context → for live Desktop status, opening PBIP/PBIX files, reloads, screenshots, or visual verification, use the powerbi-desktop CLI from @microsoft/powerbi-desktop-bridge-cli; see Edit → Validate → Reload → Screenshot Loop.
4. Route by intent → use Topic Files and Examples to pick the relevant guide.
5. Use CLI metadata → use Authoring Metadata & Validation CLI for exact visual roles, formatting objects, property names, enum values, and selector requirements; do not infer these from memory.
6. Check common pitfalls → read Anti-Patterns and Pitfalls before editing or validating when the change touches visuals, bindings, filters, formatting, layout, or Desktop rendering.
7. Validate → run powerbi-report-author validate <path-to-.Report-dir> after every logical batch of PBIR changes; see Validation.
8. Verify rendering → for any rendered-output change, use powerbi-desktop reload + screenshots; see Edit → Validate → Reload → Screenshot Loop and Screenshot Review. Do not proceed until both validation and visual review pass. For dashboard/report builds, page scaffolding is not completion — each requested page needs data-bound visuals.
9. Report back → give the user a concise summary of what was done and any issues encountered (major and minor).

Topic Files and Examples

Use the user's intent to choose the relevant topic file(s) before editing:

File	When to read
authoring.md	Adding/modifying pages, visuals, drillthrough, interactions — includes complete JSON examples
powerbi-desktop.md	Live Desktop verification — powerbi-desktop commands, PID selection, reload, screenshots, errors, troubleshooting
screenshot-review.md	Screenshot review checklist and rendered-output troubleshooting after Desktop screenshot capture
formatting-overview.md	Read first for appearance changes — cascade model, encoding rules, selectors, routing to other formatting files
formatting.md	Editing visual.json appearance — selectors, VCOs, encoding mechanics, background-image routing, cascade
color-strategy.md	Chart data point colors — theme dataColors vs dataPoint.defaultColor vs dataPoint.fill with selectors, cross-visual measure-color consistency
conditional-formatting.md	Data-driven formatting — color gradients (FillRule), rules-based, icon sets, data bars, web URL, field value

Greenfield / Design Handoff

This skill owns PBIR file mechanics once the work is concrete: page/visual JSON, bindings, filters, slicers, themes, formatting, navigation, bookmarks, validation, Desktop reloads, and screenshots.

Use powerbi-report-planning before authoring for new report/dashboard requests, requirements gathering, dependency checks, approval, or end-to-end build sequencing. Use powerbi-report-design for open-ended visual design, redesign/restyle, brand/theme direction, chart selection, or layout critique. Return here once there is an approved spec/design brief or a concrete PBIR edit to implement — see Quick Start step 0 for how to consume the brief.

Large Build Execution

For full report/PBIP builds, do not delegate complete PBIP generation to a subagent — the owning agent must keep the design brief, model inventory, cross-page consistency, validation loop, and Desktop verification coordinated.

When context or repetition is the constraint, prefer a deterministic Node.js generator that reads the approved design brief and writes PBIR JSON. If delegation is still useful, split it by page or visual family and give each subagent the relevant brief excerpt, exact fields/measures, and layout/visual contract; have it return scoped PBIR JSON or a patch for the owning agent to integrate and validate.

CLI Setup

Prerequisite: Node.js 20 or later. Check with node --version. If missing or older, install from nodejs.org or via your package manager — Windows: winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS; macOS: brew install node; Linux: distro package or nodesource.

Before using the CLIs in a session, ensure the latest global versions are installed:

npm install -g @microsoft/powerbi-report-authoring-cli@latest @microsoft/powerbi-desktop-bridge-cli@latest

Confirm both are on PATH:

powerbi-report-author --version
powerbi-desktop --version

PBIR File Layout

A PBIP project on disk looks like this:

<Report>.pbip                              # Project manifest
├── <Report>.Report/
│   ├── .platform                          # Fabric metadata (type, logicalId)
│   ├── definition.pbir                    # Report → SemanticModel binding
│   ├── definition/
│   │   ├── version.json                   # Format version (e.g. "2.0.0")
│   │   ├── report.json                    # Report-level: themes, settings, resources
│   │   └── pages/
│   │       ├── pages.json                 # Page order + active page name
│   │       └── <pageId>/
│   │           ├── page.json              # Page: displayName, size, type, filters
│   │           └── visuals/
│   │               └── <visualId>/
│   │                   └── visual.json    # Visual: type, position, query, formatting
│   ├── CustomVisuals/                     # Third-party .pbiviz packages
│   └── StaticResources/
│       ├── SharedResources/BaseThemes/    # Built-in base themes
│       └── RegisteredResources/           # User images, custom theme JSON
└── <Report>.SemanticModel/                # OUT OF SCOPE

Key Files

File	Purpose	Agent rule
.platform	Fabric/PBIP report item metadata	Keep it with the .Report folder
definition.pbir	Report → semantic model binding via byPath or byConnection	Preserve schema/version unless intentionally migrating
version.json	PBIR format metadata	Preserve the full scaffolded file, including $schema
report.json	Report-level settings, themes, resources	Edit through references and validate after changes
pages.json	Page order and active page	Add every new page to pageOrder; preserve activePageName
page.json	Page metadata, size, filters	Preserve dimensions unless resizing is approved
visual.json	Visual type, position, query, formatting	Validate roles and formatting with CLI metadata
localSettings.json	User-local settings	Do not commit or rely on it

Schema URLs use the prefix developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/fabric/item/report/definition/. The suffixes are versioned PBIR contracts that Power BI Desktop bumps with most releases (e.g. visualContainer/2.9.0, page/2.1.0, report/3.3.0 at the time of writing — newer values may appear in any user's PBIP). When editing, always preserve the existing $schema value; when adding a new file, copy the $schema URL from an existing file of the same type in the same report. Do not invent or bump versions on your own. Validate with powerbi-report-author validate.

---

Authoring Metadata & Validation CLI

Use powerbi-report-author whenever you need PBIR facts that should not be guessed: visual types, data roles, formatting objects, property names, enum values, selectors, expression/value encodings, and report validation. The CLI is the source of truth for PBIR authoring details; examples and memory are not.

Command	Purpose	When to use
catalog list	List all built-in visual types (and any deprecated entries)	Choosing a visual type
catalog describe <type>	Roles, formatting keys, cardinality	Before creating/editing a visual
formatting list-objects <type>	Valid objects.* keys + VCO keys; flags objects needing id selectors	Before applying formatting
formatting describe-object <type> <object>	Property names, types, enum values, descriptions; _selectorHint when id selector required	Finding exact property names and allowed values
formatting describe-property <type> <object> <prop>	Focused single-property lookup	When you already know the object and want just one property
formatting search <type> <regex>	Regex search across all formatting objects + VCOs	When you don't know which object a property belongs to
formatting list-vcos	Enumerate shared visualContainerObjects	Auditing chrome/container formatting surface
validate <path>	Full validation of a .pbip or .Report directory: JSON Schema, structure, IDs, formatting properties, enum values, nesting, layout bounds, theme	After every batch of changes
preview-* <path> [--with-derived]	Report inventory: preview-visuals, preview-pages, preview-filters, preview-themes	Auditing existing report content
--help / <command> --help	Command syntax and available options	Before using an unfamiliar command or flag

More commands: powerbi-report-author-cli.md.

Validation result handling

Run powerbi-report-author validate <path-to-.Report-dir> after every logical batch of PBIR edits.

• failed / non-zero exit: fix every error before Desktop reload. Desktop may reject or misrender invalid PBIR.
• succeededWithWarnings: review warnings before proceeding. Unknown visual types or theme visual keys usually mean a typo unless the report intentionally uses a custom .pbiviz.
• Diagnostics include file paths and JSON paths. Use them to jump directly to the broken node.
• For large diagnostics, use --pretty for readable output or --out <file> to write the full result to a file.

Visual Capability Guardrails

Use these as pre-edit safety rails. Always confirm exact roles, formatting objects, properties, enum values, and selectors with powerbi-report-author before editing.

Prefer modern visual types

Never create legacy visual types. If repairing an existing legacy visual, migrate to the modern type and rebuild roles/formatting from CLI metadata.

Do not create	Use instead
card	cardVisual
multiRowCard	cardVisual — use multi-value cardVisual (multiple projections in Data) for multiple KPIs
table	tableEx
matrix	pivotTable
map, filledMap	azureMap

Instance Selectors

Some formatting objects need { id: ... } selectors. Run formatting list-objects and formatting describe-object; follow _selectorHint and the dual-entry pattern in references/formatting.md.

Edit → Validate → Reload → Screenshot Loop

For rendered-output changes, follow this loop. Do not report completion until validation, reload, and screenshot review are clean.

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Edit PBIR files                                      │
│  2. Validate           → errors? fix and go to 1         │
│  3. Desktop status     → choose the correct bridge PID   │
│  4. Desktop reload     → error? fix PBIR and go to 1     │
│  5. Screenshot/review  → issues? fix and go to 1         │
│  6. Clean              → report completion               │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Rules:

• Step 2 — powerbi-report-author validate <path-to-.Report-dir>. Pass the report definition directory (e.g., Sales.Report), not the .pbip file or project root. Fix all errors before reload — invalid PBIR errors will surface in Desktop.
• Steps 3–5 — use powerbi-desktop CLI: status to choose the PID, then reload --pid <pid> for PBIP/PBIR current files and screenshots from the same PID. Then perform the screenshot review below. After status, if the selected instance has hasUnsavedChanges: true, do not reload yet; ask the user to save or discard their Desktop UI changes, rerun status, and continue only once it is false. reload covers report/PBIR changes only. For semantic-model/TMDL changes, use a semantic-model skill or Modeling MCP and reopen the PBIP if changes are not reflected. Exception: Theme JSON files are cache-keyed by name — Desktop may not pick up edits on reload. Either rename the theme file with a random suffix (and update report.json), or close and reopen Desktop.

Desktop CLI commands:

Command	Purpose	When to use
open "<path.pbip>"	Launch Power BI Desktop for a PBIP/PBIX	Starting Desktop or opening the target report
status	List Desktop Bridge instances, current files, report dirs, and bridge state	Before reload/screenshot; choose the correct PID
reload --pid <pid>	Reload the selected Desktop instance's current PBIP report files	After validated PBIR edits in an open PBIP
screenshot <page-id> --pid <pid> --output <file>	Capture one page by PBIR page ID	Isolated page changes
screenshot-all --pid <pid> --output-dir <dir>	Capture every report page	Theme, navigation, page-order, or report-wide changes

Use powerbi-desktop screenshot <page-id> --pid <pid> when only one PBIR page needs review. reload is supported only for PBIP-backed reports. No powerbi-desktop command accepts --report; use status to select the Desktop instance by PID because the same PBIP can be open in more than one process. Screenshots default to scale 2. Run reload and screenshot operations serially per PID — never in parallel against the same PID, even as a workaround for a slow or retryable error. Read references/powerbi-desktop.md for the complete command reference and troubleshooting workflow.

Common Desktop CLI outcomes:

Output/error	Meaning	Action
"status": "not_connected"	No Desktop Bridge discoverable	Run powerbi-desktop open "<path.pbip>" or ask the user to start Desktop. If still unreachable, ask them to enable the Desktop preview feature — see docs
AMBIGUOUS_DESKTOP_INSTANCE	More than one Desktop Bridge instance is available	Run powerbi-desktop status, choose the intended PID, retry with --pid
METHOD_NOT_AVAILABLE	Desktop build lacks a required production bridge method	Tell the user Desktop is stale/unsupported — see docs
HostNotReady / retryable bridge error	Desktop is up but the report host isn't ready (often briefly after a reload)	CLI auto-retries; rerun once if it surfaces. Do not add custom sleeps — rely on the CLI's retry path.
Timeout (bridge error)	A reload or screenshot exceeded the CLI's retry budget	Confirm status shows bridgeStatus: "connected", then rerun once. If Timeout persists, raise the budget (e.g., reload --pid <pid> --wait-seconds 120). If bridgeStatus: "error" or status hangs, ask the user whether a Desktop modal dialog is blocking input.
Cancelled during screenshot/reload	A reload/screenshot was cancelled — usually a concurrent reload/screenshot on the same PID. Distinct from Timeout (operation ran too long).	Run reload and screenshot serially per PID. Wait for connected via status, retry one at a time.
ReportDefinitionValidationFailed	Desktop rejected the PBIR definition	Fix PBIR, run powerbi-report-author validate <path>, then reload again
REPORT_DIR_REQUIRED	Selected PID has no PBIP/PBIR current file; reload/screenshot-all need PBIP/PBIR state	Select the correct PID from status or open the target PBIP

Screenshot Review

After taking screenshots, perform an independent rendered-output review before reporting completion. Read screenshot-review.md, check layout, data rendering, formatting/theme, slicers, and common screenshot failure modes, then fix PBIR and repeat the loop until clean.

---

Validation

Run powerbi-report-author validate <path> after every logical batch of PBIR changes. Prefer the .Report directory; the CLI also accepts a .pbip file or a project root containing a single .Report directory. Errors block Desktop reload — fix them first. Review warnings and fix unless there's a clear reason not to.

The validator is an offline preflight covering PBIR structure, JSON/schema validity, cross-file references, IDs/names, visual types, role bindings, filters, formatting objects/properties/enums/selectors, visualContainerObjects, theme registration, layout bounds, and selected Desktop/rendering failure patterns. It does not replace Desktop reload and screenshot review.

---

Anti-Patterns and Pitfalls

Pitfall	Consequence	Fix
Using "Entity" inside filter Where conditions	Filter silently fails	Use "Source" with the alias from From
Omitting nativeQueryRef	Visual calculations may break	Always include nativeQueryRef
Reusing visual/filter names	Unpredictable behavior	Generate unique IDs
Setting visualType to invalid string	Visual renders as error box	Run powerbi-report-author catalog describe <type> or powerbi-report-author catalog list
Wrong role name for visual type	Field is ignored; visual blank	Match role names from powerbi-report-author catalog describe <type>
Mixing Column and Measure types	Query fails; visual error	Columns use Column, measures use Measure
Forgetting to add page to pages.json	Page invisible	Add to pageOrder array
Booleans without correct format	Wrong type	"true" / "false" (no suffix, unquoted in Value)
Numbers without type suffix	Type mismatch	D for decimals, L for integers
Editing $schema version	PBI Desktop may reject	Preserve existing version
Stringified JSON in paragraphs	Textbox shows nothing	paragraphs is a native JSON array
Using textbox as a thin line/divider	Renders ~24px tall regardless of height	Use a shape visual (rectangle) instead — shapes respect small dimensions
visualContainerObjects as sibling of visual

Official Documentation

For Microsoft Learn setup guidance, support constraints, and feature availability, use Power BI report authoring docs.