power-bi-documentation

name Power BI Documentation description Auto-document Power BI semantic models by extracting metadata, generating documentation, and cataloging all model objects using pbi-cli. Invoke this skill whenever the user says "document this model", "what's in this model", "list everything", "data dictionary", "model inventory", "audit contents", "catalog", "describe the model", or wants to understand what objects exist in a semantic model. tools pbi-cli Power BI Documentation Skill Generate comprehensive documentation for Power BI semantic models. Prerequisites pipx install pbi-cli-tool pbi-cli skills install pbi connect Quick Model Overview pbi --json model get # Model metadata pbi --json model stats # Table/measure/column counts Catalog All Objects # Tables and their structure pbi --json table list pbi --json table get Sales pbi --json table schema Sales # All measures pbi --json measure list # Individual measure details pbi --json measure get "Total Revenue" --table Sales # Columns per table pbi --json column list --table Sales pbi --json column list --table Products # Relationships pbi --json relationship list # Security roles pbi --json security-role list # Hierarchies pbi --json hierarchy list --table Date # Calculation groups pbi --json calc-group list # Perspectives pbi --json perspective list # Named expressions (M queries) pbi --json expression list # Partitions pbi --json partition list --table Sales # Calendar/date tables pbi --json calendar list Export Full Model as TMDL pbi database export-tmdl ./model-docs/ This creates a human-readable text representation of the entire model. Workflow: Generate Model Documentation Run these commands to gather all information needed for documentation: # Step 1: Model overview pbi --json model get > model-meta.json pbi --json model stats > model-stats.json # Step 2: All tables pbi --json table list > tables.json # Step 3: All measures pbi --json measure list > measures.json # Step 4: All relationships pbi --json relationship list > relationships.json # Step 5: Security roles pbi --json security-role list > security-roles.json # Step 6: Column details per table (loop through tables) pbi --json column list --table Sales > columns-sales.json pbi --json column list --table Products > columns-products.json # Step 7: Full TMDL export pbi database export-tmdl ./tmdl-export/ Then assemble these JSON files into markdown or HTML documentation. Workflow: Data Dictionary For each table, extract columns and their types: # Get schema for key tables pbi --json table schema Sales pbi --json table schema Products pbi --json table schema Calendar Workflow: Measure Catalog Create a complete measure inventory: # List all measures with expressions pbi --json measure list # Export full model as TMDL (includes all measure definitions) pbi database export-tmdl ./tmdl-export/ Culture Management For multi-language models: # List cultures (locales) pbi --json advanced culture list # Create a culture for localization pbi advanced culture create "fr-FR" # Delete a culture pbi advanced culture delete "fr-FR" Best Practices Always use --json flag for machine-readable output Export TMDL alongside JSON for complete documentation Run documentation generation as part of CI/CD pipeline Keep documentation in version control alongside TMDL exports Include relationship diagrams (generate from pbi --json relationship list ) Document measure business logic, not just DAX expressions Tag measures by business domain using display folders