Powerbi Report CLI — Agent Skill by Microsoft

From the author

Plan, design, author, preview, publish, and manage Power BI reports across requirements, page design, local PBIR/PBIP edits, validation, screenshots, Fabric upload/download, and rebinding. Use for report lifecycle work; use semantic-model-authoring for model or DAX changes and fabriciq for data questions. Triggers: plan Power BI report, design report page, edit PBIR, preview PBIP, publish report, rebind report

— the description by Microsoft

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The powerbi-report-cli skill provides a structured, mode-based framework for managing the entire Power BI report lifecycle. It acts as a dispatcher across four distinct phases: planning (requirements and scope), design (visual and layout strategy), authoring (local PBIR/PBIP file manipulation and validation), and management (Fabric item transport and rebinding). The skill enforces strict boundaries between these modes to ensure quality, requiring explicit approval for new reports and utilizing a dedicated CLI for metadata-driven validation and authoring tasks.

What it does

Guides users through report requirements, scope, and page planning.
Provides design contracts for visual archetypes, layouts, and branding.
Enables local editing, validation, and previewing of PBIR and PBIP files.
Handles report item transport to and from Microsoft Fabric.
Supports re-theming, conditional formatting, and visual configuration.
Enforces a mandatory approval gate for greenfield report development.

When to use it

When planning a new Power BI report from a semantic model.
When you need to define a professional design brief or layout strategy.
When editing local PBIR/PBIP files, including visuals, filters, and themes.
When validating report structure and formatting before deployment.
When publishing or managing report items within a Fabric workspace.

Advantages

Ensures consistent report quality through a structured, multi-mode workflow.
Prevents premature publishing by enforcing a mandatory approval barrier.
Uses a dedicated CLI to eliminate guesswork in PBIR schema and property editing.
Maintains clear separation between design intent and technical implementation.
Provides robust validation tools to catch errors before Fabric deployment.

Usage examples

“Create a new executive report from this semantic model.”: The agent enters planning mode, inspects the model, generates a report spec, and requests user approval before proceeding.
“Design an operational page and choose the right charts.”: The agent enters design mode, produces a design brief with page archetypes and chart recommendations.
“Add a KPI page to this PBIP, validate it, and take screenshots.”: The agent enters authoring mode, modifies the local PBIP files, runs validation, and captures screenshots for review.
“Publish this local PBIP to my Fabric workspace and rebind it.”: The agent enters management mode, performs the upload to Fabric, and completes the rebind operation.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/microsoft/powerbi-report-cli/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip powerbi-report-cli.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Microsoft

Telemetry — MANDATORY. Every api.fabric.microsoft.com call must carry x-ms-fabric-skill: powerbi-report-cli (az rest: --headers "x-ms-fabric-skill=powerbi-report-cli"), including every LRO poll, fabric_lro and retry. Snippets omit it — add it anyway.

CRITICAL NOTES
To find workspace details, including its ID, from a workspace name: list all workspaces, then use JMESPath filtering.
To find item details, including its ID, from a workspace ID, item type, and item name: list all items of that type in that workspace, then use JMESPath filtering.
Use powerbi-report-cli for the report artifact: requirements, design, PBIR/PBIP page and visual edits, preview, and publishing. Semantic model, measure, and DAX work belongs to a semantic-model skill. Natural-language questions about report data belong to fabriciq.

Power BI Reports - CLI Skill

This skill owns the Power BI report lifecycle end to end: requirements and scope, visual design, local PBIR/PBIP authoring and preview, and report-item transport to and from Microsoft Fabric.

It is a mode dispatcher and intentionally contains no detailed procedures. Select the mode that matches the request, then read the matching mode reference end to end before acting. The mode file holds the required workflow, commands, payloads, templates, and failure rules.

Mode Selection

Mode	Use when the request...	Existing route examples	Read first
`planning`	creates a new report/dashboard and needs requirements, model/dependency inspection, scope, a page plan, and approval before implementation	create a report, build a dashboard, create from a semantic model, plan then implement, walk me through creating a report	references/planning.md, then references/planning-part-02.md
`design`	decides what a report should look like: tone, signature, page archetype, chart type, layout, color, typography, theme direction, accessibility, brand application, redesign, or critique	design a Power BI report, make the dashboard professional, choose a chart, apply a brand, redesign the report, create a design brief	references/design.md
`authoring`	reads or edits local PBIR/PBIP files, validates them, previews the report, or captures screenshots	edit PBIR, create/add a report page or visual, format a visual, add filters/slicers/bookmarks/themes, validate PBIR, preview/reload/screenshot in Desktop or service	references/authoring.md
`management`	moves a report definition to or from Fabric or manages the workspace report item	publish/upload/download PBIR or PBIP, list reports, get/update/delete a report, rebind a report	references/management.md

Mode Boundary Rules

Classify by intent, not by which file or tool is already open.
design decides what the report should look like; authoring writes the PBIR that realizes it. Choosing a chart type is design; encoding it into visual.json is authoring.
Restyling or reformatting an existing local report is authoring, even when the request uses design language. Use design when the user wants advice or a design contract rather than a file change.
authoring changes local files and performs preview/validation. It does not publish to Fabric.
management transports definitions and manages Fabric report items. It does not invent or directly author PBIR content.
planning owns the guided requirements-to-approval flow for a new report. A focused edit to an existing report goes directly to authoring.

A greenfield request can span modes in this order:

planning -> design -> authoring -> management

Handle one mode at a time. Announce each switch and read the new mode reference before starting that part. The planning approval gate is a turn boundary: never build or publish until the user explicitly approves the locked spec in a later reply.

GREENFIELD APPROVAL BARRIER — MANDATORY. When a new-report request asks to plan, build, and/or publish but the user has not approved a locked spec in a prior reply, set the current phase to approval_pending and keep planning as the only active mode. In this phase, do not load authoring or management, edit/scaffold PBIR or semantic-model files, generate synthetic data, call Fabric write APIs, or publish. Persist _brief/report-spec.md, ask for explicit approval, and end the turn. The build/publish wording in the original request is desired future scope, not approval to cross this barrier.

Required Deliverable by Mode

Mode	Completion requirement
`planning`	Persist `_brief/report-spec.md` or the user-named equivalent, ask for explicit approval, and stop before implementation.
`design`	Produce the complete `Design Brief:` contract, including `design_identity` and a page archetype/layout contract for every page. Do not edit PBIR or call Fabric APIs.
`authoring`	Persist the requested PBIR/PBIP changes, validate each logical batch, then complete the selected preview and screenshot-review workflow required by the authoring reference. Do not publish.
`management`	Complete the requested Fabric report operation, including LRO polling and documented readback verification.

Rules

MUST

Select the narrowest mode that fully covers the current request.
Read references/<mode>.md end to end before the first command or file edit in that mode. When an already-loaded mode explicitly routes one narrow cross-mode operation to a named topic reference, treat that topic reference as the complete handoff; do not load the target mode's umbrella file unless the work expands beyond that operation.
In planning mode, also read references/planning-part-02.md before producing _brief/report-spec.md; it contains the required canonical design contract and approval checks.
Across a multi-turn task, retain a compact working state containing resolved workspace/item/model IDs, local and downloaded paths, and references already read. Reuse it in later turns unless the user explicitly requests a fresh query or the preceding operation invalidated a value.
Preserve every argument and safety boundary documented by the selected mode.
Announce and perform an explicit mode switch when the request crosses a boundary.
Use the powerbi-report-author CLI metadata and validation surfaces instead of guessing PBIR schemas, roles, formatting properties, selectors, or enum values.
Keep local edits local unless the user explicitly requests publishing.
Resolve Fabric workspace and item IDs by listing and filtering rather than guessing identifiers.
Produce the artifact the user requested; reading or summarizing a reference is not task completion.

PREFER

Infer facts already present in the prompt, semantic model, existing PBIP, or prior approved spec instead of asking again.
Load only the selected mode and its directly relevant topic references.
Reuse reference guidance already loaded in the current task. Open a new reference only when the requested operation or an observed mismatch requires it.
Preserve the user's existing project structure, schemas, host, operation, binding, and delivery target unless the selected mode explicitly requires a change.

AVOID

Acting from this dispatcher without reading the selected mode reference.
Reloading this dispatcher, a mode file, or a topic reference already read in the current task solely because the conversation advanced to a later turn.
Loading a retired sibling skill name; planning, design, authoring, and management are modes of this skill.
Editing PBIR or calling Fabric APIs in planning or design.
Publishing from authoring, or authoring PBIR content from management.
Bypassing the planning approval gate because the original request also asked to build or publish.

Complete Reference Index

Open every relevant reference directly from this index. Files named part-XX continue the named topic.

Authoring

Design

Mode Guides

Examples

User request	Mode
"Create a new executive report from this semantic model."	`planning`
"Design an operational page and choose the right charts."	`design`
"Add a KPI page to this PBIP, validate it, and take screenshots."	`authoring`
"Publish this local PBIP to my Fabric workspace and rebind it."	`management`

Route Compatibility

The merged skill preserves the four previous route surfaces. Treat the following phrases as explicit aliases for the corresponding mode:

Mode	Preserved route phrases
`planning`	create a report; build a report; create a dashboard; create a new report from scratch; create a report from a semantic model or dataset link; build a report for this model; make me a dashboard; plan then implement; walk me through creating a report
`design`	design Power BI report; make dashboard look professional; choose chart type; apply brand to report; redesign report; create design brief; Power BI report design archetype
`authoring`	edit PBIR; create Power BI report page; add visual to PBIP; format report visual; validate Power BI report; preview Power BI report; Power BI Desktop preview status; preview report in service; preview report in browser; screenshot report page; screenshot all report pages; list preview hosts; implement dashboard in PBIP; add dashboard visuals to report; implement an approved PBIP report spec; edit PBIR pages/visuals; edit a Power BI report
`management`	upload PBIR report definition; upload Power BI report; download PBIR definition; publish PBIR definition; publish Power BI report to Fabric; manage Power BI reports; list workspace reports

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer881 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.1 KiB
SKILL.md16.1 KiB
apm.yml642 B
references/authoring-part-02.md14.6 KiB
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references/design/brownfield.md

Brownfield Redesign — Entry Workflow

Read this when the user wants to redesign, restyle, theme-swap (light↔dark), modernize, or critique an existing Power BI report. The greenfield workflow in SKILL.md still applies — every Step (0 → 7) runs — but each Step runs in delta-against-current mode rather than from a blank canvas.

When this file applies

User intents that flag brownfield mode:

"redesign this report" / "restyle the visuals" / "make it look professional"
"switch to dark mode" / "convert this to light theme" / "theme swap"
"make it consistent with brand X" / "apply our brand"
"modernize this report" / "bring this up to date"
"the visuals don't match the rest of the dashboard"
"fix the design of [specific page]"

For these intents, default to brownfield mode. If unclear (e.g., the user shows a screenshot but isn't explicit about whether to redesign or build new), ask before proceeding.

Entry workflow (6 steps)

Load the report — confirm the existing PBIP path with the user.
Screenshot all pages — first open the report in Desktop with powerbi-report-author preview <path> --host desktop (only a bare preview can launch Desktop; run powerbi-report-author preview <path> --host desktop --status first, because a bare preview re-reads PBIR into a window that already holds the report and discards its unsaved edits), then capture with powerbi-report-author preview <path> --host desktop --screenshot <dir> --all-pages — these become the "before" evidence.
Diagnose the existing report against:
- references/design/anti-patterns.md
- authoring anti-patterns
- the Pre-Flight Checklist in references/design/pre-flight-checklist.md
- the new design identity (compute the gap)
Emit the re-design brief (mode: brownfield) — list specific pages, visuals, themes, and chrome that change. Include rationale for each delta. Bookmarks and visualLink refs are preserved unless the redesign explicitly retires them; flag any that target ids that change.
Hand off to the authoring mode for the surgical edits. Authoring runs powerbi-report-author validate after each batch to catch theme mismatches (PBIR_THEME_*), formatting drift (PBIR_FORMATTING_*), and layout regressions before reload — common brownfield-edit defects.
Final Audit — screenshot AFTER. Verify the redesign delivered on the target tone without breaking what worked.

How each Step changes in brownfield mode

Step	Greenfield	Brownfield delta
0 — Data	Inspect the model from scratch	Usually unchanged — the model is the same
1 — Identity	Commit `tone` + `signature`	Capture both `current_tone` AND `target_tone`; the delta drives the redesign plan
2 — Archetype Router	Route per page	AUDIT existing pages against the archetype rules and the new identity — identify pages that don't fit and either re-route or accept and document
3–4 — Chart / Visual	Select and configure visuals	Preserve useful existing visuals; replace only when the visual no longer serves the target question or identity
5 — Theme	Adapt the existing/custom theme to identity	Compute a theme delta — which palette entries change, which `textClasses` move, which `visualStyles` defaults are tightened. Document the swap; do not rebuild from scratch
6 — Brief	Emit greenfield brief	Emit a re-design brief — same template, with the brownfield fields filled in (`current_tone`, `current_signature`, `mode: brownfield`)
7 — Review	Pre-Flight Checklist	Same checklist plus brownfield-specific items: every removed/replaced visual reasoned about; theme swap preserves CF logic; dark↔light swap re-validates contrast pairs; bookmarks and `visualLink` refs survive any visual id changes

Brownfield-specific Pre-Flight items

In addition to the standard references/design/pre-flight-checklist.md, verify:

[ ] Removed/replaced visuals — every visual that disappears or changes type is reasoned about in the brief (not silently dropped).
[ ] Conditional-formatting logic preserved — theme swap (e.g., palette change or dark↔light) does not invalidate CF rules that reference palette slots; verify thresholds and color expressions still resolve.
[ ] Contrast re-validated — for any light↔dark swap, every text / background pair that was WCAG-compliant before is still compliant after. See references/design/accessibility.md.
[ ] Bookmarks survive id changes — if the redesign renames or replaces visuals, every bookmark that references the old id is updated or explicitly retired. powerbi-report-author validate catches schema-level structural issues; manually verify bookmark visualLink targets against the new visual ids.
[ ] Page background re-checked — dark themes need a darker page background than the default #F3F2F1; confirm the page background contrasts with the new visual containers.

Theme-swap shortcut (light↔dark)

When the user asks for a pure theme swap with no other redesign:

Read the current theme JSON.
Produce a sibling theme with inverted neutrals (page background, card surfaces, text colors, gridlines) and an adjusted palette (often the same hues with adjusted saturation/lightness for legibility on the new background).
Identify theme changes that also require per-visual updates (for example gradient stops, card accent bars, state-aware buttons) and record them in the redesign brief; the authoring mode handles the PBIR mechanics.
For full mechanics see the dark mode authoring checklist in the authoring mode.

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

What our scanner noticed· Low risk

Phrasing that asks for actions without confirmation
Instructions that use the network

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Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download powerbi-report-cli.zip