pbir-format

PBIR Format Reference

Skill that teaches Claude about the Power BI Enhanced Report (PBIR) JSON format to read and use it. Doesn't support legacy report.json or layout report metadata. To convert from legacy to PBIR format, users have to open and save their reports in Power BI Desktop.

Follow within reason the mental model when working with reports.

Hard rule: Treat PBIR JSON as an implementation detail. Read it when schema context is useful, but make every report, visual, page, bookmark, filter, mobile-layout, and theme change through pbir. Never hand-edit, text-replace, or script writes to report JSON. If pbir cannot express a requested mutation, stop and report the capability gap instead of inventing a raw-JSON fallback.

General, critical guidance

• Check examples: Check examples for a valid report
• Take a backup: Make a copy of the report before modifying it
• PBIX vs PBIP vs PBIR: Work on a local .Report folder in PBIR format. Use Power BI Desktop or pbir report convert for supported conversions; do not unzip, rezip, or patch PBIX internals. Do not work directly on PBIT files.
• Valid JSON vs. Rendering JSON: Valid JSON does not guarantee rendering. A visual might not render if the bound field is invalid (missing, wrong table, or misspelled) in the visual.json, if the visual elements are cropped by their container, if a model performance issue causes the dax query to time out, if a model data quality issue results in (Blank) or empty values, etc. Check whether a visual rendered using tools like the chrome or chrome devTools MCP server if the report was published to Power BI, but it's often faster to just ask the user to check in Power BI Desktop or the browser.
• Hierarchical formatting cascade: In Power BI reports, formatting is determined by the following order of operations: defaults --> Theme wildcards (*) --> Theme visualTypes --> bespoke visual.json configuration. Theme overwrites defaults, visualType overrides wildcards in themes, and visual.json overrides all theme formatting. Prefer putting as much of the formatting in the theme as possible over bespoke visual.json formatting because then changes only need to happen in one place
• PBIR files are strict JSON: No comments allowed
• DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS: Check the Microsoft documentation and other reputable resources for context if needed, or ask the user.

Report Structure

Report.Report/
+-- .pbi/localSettings.json                # Local-only, gitignored
+-- .platform                              # Fabric Git integration
+-- definition.pbir                        # Semantic model connection (byPath or byConnection) can open this file in Power BI Desktop to open the report
+-- mobileState.json                       # PBIR-Legacy artifact only; current PBIR stores phone layout per-visual in mobile.json
+-- semanticModelDiagramLayout.json        # Model diagrams
+-- CustomVisuals/                         # Private custom visuals only
+-- definition/
|   +-- version.json                       # REQUIRED -- PBIR version
|   +-- report.json                        # REQUIRED -- report-level config, including theme, report filters, settings
|   +-- reportExtensions.json              # Extension measures and visual calculations (report- and visual-level DAX)
|   +-- pages/
|   |   +-- pages.json                     # Page order, active page
|   |   +-- [PageName]/                    # Power BI Desktop may generate names with spaces; recommend no spaces for human-authored names
|   |       +-- page.json                  # Page-level properties, including size, background, filters
|   |       +-- visuals/
|   |           +-- [VisualName]/
|   |               +-- visual.json        # Visual config, formatting, and field data bindings <-- most important and complex file for report dev and formatting
|   |               +-- mobile.json        # Mobile formatting of the visual (niche)
|   +-- bookmarks/                         # Bookmarks are a bad practice and should be avoided if possible!
|       +-- bookmarks.json                 # Bookmark order and groups
|       +-- [id].bookmark.json             # Individual bookmark state containing a snapshot of the report basically
+-- StaticResources/
    +-- RegisteredResources/               # Custom themes, images
        +-- [ThemeName].json               # Custom theme <-- second most important and complex file for formatting
    +-- SharedResources/BaseThemes/        # Microsoft base themes

Rules

Follow within reason the mental model when reviewing or providing feedback on reports.

Modifying a report

1. Understand the user's request. Ask questions if necessary to clarify the business context -- focus on the business process, the users, and the model
2. Explore the report efficiently to locate relevant pages and visuals
3. Check the connected semantic model. For thin reports (byConnection), use fab, pbir, or te CLI tools to explore the model. For byPath, connect to the local model in Power BI Desktop. Understanding the model reveals available fields and calculation logic
4. Identify the appropriate visuals and pages to modify. Ask the user for clarification if needed
5. Plan modifications with the correct PBIR structure and property values

Creating a report

1. Same workflow as modifying, except the report is generated with pbir new. Do not scaffold report JSON by hand
2. Ensure definition.pbir is configured properly (byPath or byConnection)
3. Use a theme.json file. Recommended: the SQLBI/Data Goblins theme
4. Add filters with pbir add filter; see filter pane reference

Additional validation

For detailed report design guidance (layout, spacing, visual hierarchy, color, accessibility), see the pbi-report-design skill. Key rules enforced during validation:

• Use a custom theme; push formatting to the theme over bespoke visual.json unless the user specifies otherwise
• Visuals must not overlap; maintain equal spacing between visuals and page edges
• Every page needs a title (textbox or background image). Ensure textboxes are tall enough to render (24-28 pt)
• Follow the 3-30-300 rule: KPIs/cards at top, breakdowns in middle, detail at bottom. Maximum 2-3 slicers per page; use the filter pane for additional filtering
• Prefer Deneb, Python, or R custom visuals over SVG or heavily customized core visuals -- balance elegance against technical debt
• Use report extensions (thin report measures, visual calculations) only when model measures are not feasible
• Centralize conditional formatting in extension or model measures referencing theme semantic colors ("bad", "good")
• Use consistent colors to direct attention, not to decorate. Avoid pie charts beyond 5 categories
• Sort visuals logically (typically descending by measure). Start chart axes at zero unless there is an explicit reason not to
• Use consistent fonts. Set altText for accessibility. Name visuals descriptively (revenue_bar_chart not a1b2c3d4)
• Eliminate redundant visuals. Consider the "Apply" button on high-cardinality slicers
• See the Data Goblins report checklist for pre-deployment validation

What to Read for Common Tasks

definition.pbir

A report must be connected to a semantic model. There are two ways to do this:

• byPath -- Local PBIP reference/thick report: {"byPath": {"path": "../Model.SemanticModel"}} (schema 2.0.0)
• byConnection -- Remote/thin report: {"byConnection": {"connectionString": "Data Source=powerbi://..."}} (schema 2.0.0)

Related Skills

• pbip -- PBIP project operations: rename cascades, project forking, report JSON patterns
• tmdl -- TMDL file format, authoring, and editing

References

Fetching Docs: To retrieve current Power BI developer/report format docs, use microsoft_docs_search + microsoft_docs_fetch (MCP) if available, otherwise mslearn search + mslearn fetch (CLI). Search based on the user's request and run multiple searches as needed to ensure sufficient context before proceeding.

Examples:

• examples/K201-MonthSlicer.Report/ -- Real PBIR report with 7 visual types (slicer, advancedSlicerVisual, kpi, lineChart, scatterChart, tableEx, textbox), extension measures, bookmarks, conditional formatting
• examples/visuals/ -- 54 standalone visual.json examples; see examples/visuals/__index.md for a catalog. Split into default/ (minimal, theme-only) and formatted/ (bespoke formatting, conditional formatting, gradients, filters)

Core references:

• references/visual-json.md -- visual.json: expressions, field refs, query roles, position, objects vs vCO, selectors, sorting, filters, drill-down propagation
• references/desktop-bridge.md -- Verifying PBIR edits on the canvas via pbir desktop reload + screenshot; preview setting; locating the open PBIP
• references/pbir-structure.md -- PBIR folder structure, mobile.json storage mechanics, git hygiene
• references/schemas.md -- Schema versions, URLs, and embedded schema coupling
• references/validation.md -- Conformance dimensions and how to validate (schema, names and ids, required fields, fields, enums, roles, layout, theme, semantic); pbir validate categories; audit and discovery commands
• references/enumerations.md -- Valid property enumerations
• references/version-json.md -- version.json format (concise)
• references/platform.md -- .platform file format (concise)
• references/bookmarks.md -- Bookmark structure and state snapshots

Formatting & expressions:

• references/theme.md -- Theme wildcards, inheritance, color system, filter pane styling, visual-type overrides, and the corresponding pbir theme commands
• references/schema-patterns/ -- Expressions, selectors, conditional formatting, visual calculations
• references/visual-container-formatting.md -- objects vs visualContainerObjects deep-dive; dynamic (measure-driven) altText
• references/measures-vs-literals.md -- When to use measure expressions vs literal values
• references/measures.md -- Extension measure patterns

Visual & page configuration:

• references/textbox.md -- Textbox visual format; dynamic (measure-bound) text runs
• references/page.md -- Page configuration and backgrounds
• references/report.md -- Report-level settings; custom visual registration (AppSource, org-store, private .pbiviz)
• references/wallpaper.md -- Report wallpaper/canvas background
• references/filter-pane.md -- Filter pane formatting
• references/sort-visuals.md -- Visual sort configuration
• references/images.md -- Static images, base64 in themes, SVG measures
• references/report-extensions.md -- reportExtensions.json format
• references/annotations.md -- Custom metadata on reports, pages, and visuals

Semantic model integration:

• references/semantic-model/ -- Field references, model structure, report rebinding, query inference

How-to guides:

• references/how-to/ -- Advanced conditional formatting, SVG in visuals, fix broken field references, convert legacy to PBIR