Getting Started

May 24, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

There are two ways to use pbir: directly from the terminal (human), or through an AI coding agent (agent-driven). Both start with installing the CLI.

Install

uv tool install pbir-cli

Or with pip: pip install pbir-cli

Native installers

Download the latest installer for your platform from GitHub Releases, run it, then open a new terminal.

If your OS blocks the installer

macOS: Try to open the installer once. Go to System Settings => Privacy & Security => scroll to the Security section => click Open Anyway.

Windows: Click More info on the SmartScreen dialog => click Run anyway.

Verify the installation:

pbir --version

Getting Started: Humans

For Power BI users who want to use pbir directly from the terminal.

Terminal basics

  • macOS: open Terminal
  • Windows: open PowerShell, Command Prompt, or Windows Terminal
  • cd changes folders. Quote paths with spaces. Press Tab to autocomplete.

Your first 5 minutes

1. Go to the folder containing your PBIR report

cd "C:\Users\YourName\Documents\My Reports"

2. Find reports

pbir ls

3. Inspect the structure

pbir tree "Sales.Report" -v

This shows pages, visuals, and the fields each visual uses.

4. Inspect the semantic model

pbir model "Sales.Report" -d

Use this before adding or rebinding visuals so you know the table, column, and measure names available.

5. Make a change

pbir add visual card "Sales.Report/Overview.Page" --title "Revenue" -d "Values:Sales.Revenue"

6. Validate

pbir validate "Sales.Report"

Path syntax

pbir addresses report objects with filesystem-style paths:

Report.Report/Page.Page/Visual.Visual

Examples:

Sales.Report                              # A report
Sales.Report/Overview.Page                # A page
Sales.Report/Overview.Page/Revenue.Visual # A visual
Sales.Report/**/*.Visual                  # All visuals (glob)

Quote paths when names contain spaces.

Safe workflow

pbir backup "Sales.Report"           # Before edits
# ... make changes ...
pbir validate "Sales.Report"         # After edits
pbir restore "Sales.Report"          # If something goes wrong

Getting Started: Agents

For users of Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Codex, or similar AI coding agents.

Step 1: Install skills

Your agent needs skills that teach it how to use pbir effectively. Install the full power-bi-agentic-development marketplace, which includes skills for reports, semantic models, themes, DAX, Fabric CLI, and more.

# Claude Code
claude plugin marketplace add data-goblin/power-bi-agentic-development

# GitHub Copilot CLI
copilot plugin install data-goblin/power-bi-agentic-development

Step 2: Navigate to your report

Open your agent in the folder containing your PBIR report. The agent needs to be in the right directory to find reports.

cd "path/to/my/reports"

Step 3: Ask your agent

Once skills are installed, just describe what you want. The agent will use pbir commands under the hood. Examples:

  • "List all reports and show me the structure of Sales.Report"
  • "Add a card visual showing Revenue to the Overview page"
  • "Set all title font sizes to 14 across the report"
  • "Create a new report connected to spaceparts-dev/spaceparts-otc-full.SemanticModel"
  • "Add a TopN filter for the top 10 customers by revenue"
  • "Validate the report and fix any issues"

The agent will discover properties, bind fields, format visuals, and validate -- all through the CLI. You don't need to know the commands yourself.

Step 4: Review and validate

After the agent makes changes, always ask it to validate:

  • "Validate the report"
  • "Show me the tree view with fields"

Or run it yourself:

pbir validate "Sales.Report" --all

Next Steps

Help