| name | mcp-engine-bootstrap |
| description | Prepare and recover Power BI SemanticOps MCP sessions. Use when starting a session, connecting to a model, checking current connection, applying preferences, selecting the right tool family, troubleshooting empty results or stale metadata, or fixing malformed tool arguments and bulk payloads. |
PBI Bootstrap
Use the bundled references in this skill as the working documentation for session setup and recovery.
Quick Start
- Check the current connection state first.
- If no model is connected, list available models or service workspaces and wait for user choice before selecting.
- Apply portable preferences before doing substantial work.
- Read the payload conventions reference before composing non-trivial write or bulk requests.
- If a tool returns empty or stale results, switch to the troubleshooting workflow before retrying.
Workflow
Connect first
- Start with the connection tool and confirm whether a model is already selected.
- If multiple models are available, present the choices instead of auto-selecting.
- If the user is on Power BI Service, authenticate before listing service resources when needed.
- Re-check the current connection before using model-dependent tools.
Route to the right tool family
- Use
list_model for discovery, search, previews, and model metadata inspection.
- Use
run_query for DAX execution, performance analysis, VertiPaq inspection, and RLS query checks.
- Use write tools only after the target object and operation are explicit.
- Use the testing or changes workflows before broad refactors or risky edits.
Guard bulk and write requests
- Read tool-invocation-conventions before composing any bulk payload.
- Keep
transaction, dry_run, include_items, and include_details as top-level request controls.
- Put per-item identifiers and
spec values inside each item rather than assuming inheritance.
- Confirm destructive intent before submitting deletes, renames, broad refreshes, or model-wide rewrites.
Recover from common failures
- Read troubleshooting-guide when connection state looks wrong, metadata is stale, or argument validation fails.
- Reload metadata before retrying after external model changes.
- Broaden discovery before assuming an object is missing.
- Fix key names and argument shape issues before changing business logic.
References