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Run npx skillmds@latest add minasaad1/power-bi-diagnostics in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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Is Power BI Diagnostics free to use?

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Who published Power BI Diagnostics?

minasaad1 (@minasaad1) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Power BI Diagnostics by minasaad1 — Agent Skill

Name: Power BI Diagnostics
Author: minasaad1

Power BI Diagnostics

Troubleshoot Power BI model performance, trace query execution, manage caches, and verify the pbi-cli environment using pbi-cli. Invoke this skill whenever the user says "pbi not working", "setup issues", "connection failed", "slow query", "performance", "profiling", "tracing", "health check", "model audit", "pbi setup", or encounters any pbi-cli error. This is the first skill to check when something goes wrong with pbi-cli.

minasaad1 Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Power BI Diagnostics Skill

Troubleshoot performance, trace queries, and verify the pbi-cli environment.

Prerequisites

pipx install pbi-cli-tool
pbi-cli skills install
pbi connect

Environment Check

# Verify pythonnet and .NET DLLs are installed
pbi setup

# Show detailed environment info (version, DLL paths, pythonnet status)
pbi setup --info
pbi --json setup --info

# Check CLI version
pbi --version

Quick Troubleshooting

If pbi-cli isn't working, run these checks in order:

# 1. Is pbi-cli installed correctly?
pbi --version
pbi setup --info

# 2. Is Power BI Desktop running with a model open?
pbi connect

# 3. Is the connection still alive?
pbi connections last

# 4. Can you query the model?
pbi dax execute "EVALUATE ROW(\"test\", 1)"

Model Health Check

# Quick model overview
pbi --json model get

# Object counts (tables, columns, measures, relationships, partitions)
pbi --json model stats

# List all tables with column/measure counts
pbi --json table list

Query Tracing

Capture diagnostic events during DAX query execution:

# Start a trace
pbi trace start

# Execute the query you want to profile
pbi dax execute "EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS(Products[Category], \"Total\", SUM(Sales[Amount]))"

# Stop the trace
pbi trace stop

# Fetch captured trace events
pbi --json trace fetch

# Export trace events to a file
pbi trace export ./trace-output.json

Cache Management

# Clear the formula engine cache (do this before benchmarking)
pbi dax clear-cache

Connection Diagnostics

# List all saved connections
pbi connections list
pbi --json connections list

# Show the last-used connection
pbi connections last

# Reconnect to a specific data source
pbi connect -d localhost:54321

# Disconnect
pbi disconnect

Workflow: Profile a Slow Query

# 1. Clear cache for a clean benchmark
pbi dax clear-cache

# 2. Start tracing
pbi trace start

# 3. Run the slow query
pbi dax execute "EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS(Products[Category], \"Total\", SUM(Sales[Amount]))" --timeout 300

# 4. Stop tracing
pbi trace stop

# 5. Export trace for analysis
pbi trace export ./slow-query-trace.json

# 6. Review trace events
pbi --json trace fetch

Workflow: Model Health Audit

# 1. Model overview
pbi --json model get
pbi --json model stats

# 2. Check table sizes and structure
pbi --json table list

# 3. Review relationships
pbi --json relationship list

# 4. Check security roles
pbi --json security-role list

# 5. Export full model for offline review
pbi database export-tmdl ./audit-export/

Best Practices

Clear cache before benchmarking: pbi dax clear-cache
Use --timeout for long-running queries to avoid premature cancellation
Export traces to files for sharing with teammates
Run pbi setup --info first when troubleshooting environment issues
Use --json output for automated monitoring scripts
Use pbi repl for interactive debugging sessions with persistent connection

---name: power-bi-diagnosticsdescription: Troubleshoot Power BI model performance, trace query execution, manage caches, and verify the pbi-cli environment using pbi-cli. Invoke this skill whenever the user says "pbi not working", "setup issues", "connection failed", "slow query", "performance", "profiling", "tracing", "health check", "model audit", "pbi setup", or encounters any pbi-cli error. This is the first skill to check when something goes wrong with pbi-cli.---# Power BI Diagnostics SkillTroubleshoot performance, trace queries, and verify the pbi-cli environment.## Prerequisites```bashpipx install pbi-cli-toolpbi-cli skills installpbi connect```## Environment Check```bash# Verify pythonnet and .NET DLLs are installedpbi setup# Show detailed environment info (version, DLL paths, pythonnet status)pbi setup --infopbi --json setup --info# Check CLI versionpbi --version```## Quick TroubleshootingIf pbi-cli isn't working, run these checks in order:```bash# 1. Is pbi-cli installed correctly?pbi --versionpbi setup --info# 2. Is Power BI Desktop running with a model open?pbi connect# 3. Is the connection still alive?pbi connections last# 4. Can you query the model?pbi dax execute "EVALUATE ROW(\"test\", 1)"```## Model Health Check```bash# Quick model overviewpbi --json model get# Object counts (tables, columns, measures, relationships, partitions)pbi --json model stats# List all tables with column/measure countspbi --json table list```## Query TracingCapture diagnostic events during DAX query execution:```bash# Start a tracepbi trace start# Execute the query you want to profilepbi dax execute "EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS(Products[Category], \"Total\", SUM(Sales[Amount]))"# Stop the tracepbi trace stop# Fetch captured trace eventspbi --json trace fetch# Export trace events to a filepbi trace export ./trace-output.json```## Cache Management```bash# Clear the formula engine cache (do this before benchmarking)pbi dax clear-cache```## Connection Diagnostics```bash# List all saved connectionspbi connections listpbi --json connections list# Show the last-used connectionpbi connections last# Reconnect to a specific data sourcepbi connect -d localhost:54321# Disconnectpbi disconnect```## Workflow: Profile a Slow Query```bash# 1. Clear cache for a clean benchmarkpbi dax clear-cache# 2. Start tracingpbi trace start# 3. Run the slow querypbi dax execute "EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS(Products[Category], \"Total\", SUM(Sales[Amount]))" --timeout 300# 4. Stop tracingpbi trace stop# 5. Export trace for analysispbi trace export ./slow-query-trace.json# 6. Review trace eventspbi --json trace fetch```## Workflow: Model Health Audit```bash# 1. Model overviewpbi --json model getpbi --json model stats# 2. Check table sizes and structurepbi --json table list# 3. Review relationshipspbi --json relationship list# 4. Check security rolespbi --json security-role list# 5. Export full model for offline reviewpbi database export-tmdl ./audit-export/```## Best Practices- Clear cache before benchmarking: `pbi dax clear-cache`- Use `--timeout` for long-running queries to avoid premature cancellation- Export traces to files for sharing with teammates- Run `pbi setup --info` first when troubleshooting environment issues- Use `--json` output for automated monitoring scripts- Use `pbi repl` for interactive debugging sessions with persistent connection

Frequently asked questions