Power BI semantic modeling assistant for building optimized data models. Use when working with Power BI semantic models, creating measures, designing star schemas, configuring relationships, implementing RLS, or optimizing model performance. Triggers on queries about DAX calculations, table relationships, dimension/fact table design, naming conventions, model documentation, cardinality, cross-filter direction, calculation groups, and data model best practices. Always connects to the active model first using power-bi-modeling MCP tools to understand the data structure before providing guidance.
Guide users in building optimized, well-documented Power BI semantic models following Microsoft best practices.
Use this skill when users ask about:
Trigger phrases: "create a measure", "add relationship", "star schema", "optimize model", "DAX formula", "RLS", "naming convention", "model documentation", "cardinality", "cross-filter"
Before providing any modeling guidance, always examine the current model state:
1. List connections: connection_operations(operation: "ListConnections")
2. If no connection, check for local instances: connection_operations(operation: "ListLocalInstances")
3. Connect to the model (Desktop or Fabric)
4. Get model overview: model_operations(operation: "Get")
5. List tables: table_operations(operation: "List")
6. List relationships: relationship_operations(operation: "List")
7. List measures: measure_operations(operation: "List")
After connecting, assess the model against best practices:
Based on analysis, guide improvements using references:
| Area | Best Practice |
|---|---|
| Tables | Clear dimension vs fact classification |
| Naming | Human-readable: Customer Name not CUST_NM |
| Descriptions | All tables, columns, measures documented |
| Measures | Explicit DAX measures for business metrics |
| Relationships | One-to-many from dimension to fact |
| Cross-filter | Single direction unless specifically needed |
| Hidden fields | Hide technical keys, IDs from report view |
| Date table | Dedicated marked date table |
Use these Power BI Modeling MCP operations:
| Operation Category | Key Operations |
|---|---|
connection_operations | Connect, ListConnections, ListLocalInstances, ConnectFabric |
model_operations | Get, GetStats, ExportTMDL |
table_operations | List, Get, Create, Update, GetSchema |
column_operations | List, Get, Create, Update (descriptions, hidden, format) |
measure_operations | List, Get, Create, Update, Move |
relationship_operations | List, Get, Create, Update, Activate, Deactivate |
dax_query_operations | Execute, Validate |
calculation_group_operations | List, Create, Update |
security_role_operations | List, Create, Update, GetEffectivePermissions |
measure_operations(
operation: "Create",
definitions: [{
name: "Total Sales",
tableName: "Sales",
expression: "SUM(Sales[Amount])",
formatString: "$#,##0",
description: "Sum of all sales amounts"
}]
)
column_operations(
operation: "Update",
definitions: [{
tableName: "Customer",
name: "CustomerKey",
description: "Unique identifier for customer dimension",
isHidden: true
}]
)
relationship_operations(
operation: "Create",
definitions: [{
fromTable: "Sales",
fromColumn: "CustomerKey",
toTable: "Customer",
toColumn: "CustomerKey",
crossFilteringBehavior: "OneDirection"
}]
)
Research current best practices using microsoft_docs_search for: