connect-pbid

What it does

Guides an agent to connect to Power BI Desktop's local Analysis Services using TOM and ADOMD.NET via PowerShell. It covers loading TOM assemblies, connecting to localhost ports, enumerating model objects (tables, relationships, etc.), executing DAX queries, performing data refreshes, and saving changes. It also includes workflow for handling multiple desktop instances, loading ADOMD.NET, running DAX queries with SUMMARIZECOLUMNS, and closing connections. It mentions using the Desktop Bridge for reloads and screenshot-related actions when the report canvas is in scope, and it delegates visuals to a separate pbir-cli skill for editing visuals. It emphasizes not using remote XMLA endpoints and to route report-canvas tasks to the appropriate tooling.

How it works

• Load required assemblies for TOM and ADOMD.NET from NuGet environments and prepare Add-Type calls.
• Discover port(s) where PBI Desktop hosts a local Analysis Services instance and connect to the first suitable port using Data Source=localhost:<PORT>.
• Access the single database as $db and obtain $model = $db.Model; perform model enumeration (tables, columns, measures) and inspect relationships.
• Save changes with $model.SaveChanges() after a batch of modifications, and always disconnect with $server.Disconnect().
• Use ADOMD.NET to open a connection and execute DAX queries via SUMMARIZECOLUMNS, iterating results by index and mapping columns with GetName().
• Use TMSL or TOM’s RequestRefresh for model refreshes, and provide various refresh types (full, calculate, automatic, dataOnly).
• Provide guidance for correlating ports to specific reports using pbir desktop list when available.
• For visuals and report canvas actions, route to pbir-cli and Desktop Bridge operations; the skill itself does not edit visuals.

When to use it

Activate when the Tabular Editor CLI or a Power BI MCP server is unavailable. It is preferred when TOM validates changes against the engine and applies them atomically. It explicitly warns that remote XMLA connections are not supported and directs to appropriate alternatives for Direct Lake or Fabric-hosted models.

What it can touch

• The local Analysis Services instance via TOM/ADOMD.NET on localhost ports.
• The in-memory model object graph (tables, models, relationships, measures, etc.) and saving changes via $model.SaveChanges().
• The report canvas indirectly through the Desktop Bridge for reloads and screenshots (when in scope).
• PowerShell environment and NuGet-installed DLLs used by TOM and ADOMD.NET.

Caveats

• Requires Power BI Desktop to be open with a loaded model on localhost.
• Does not support remote XMLA endpoints; directs users to Tabular Editor CLI or MCP for Direct Lake/Fabric scenarios.
• Multiple PBI Desktop instances require port-to-report correlation; pbir tooling is recommended for mapping.
• Always use -ExecutionPolicy Bypass for PowerShell commands; ensure proper script management and SaveChanges after edits.
• Changes must be persisted with $model.SaveChanges() to avoid loss.
• The skill expects a specific environment with NuGet, TOM, and ADOMD.NET packages installed; installation steps are embedded in the script exemplars.