Fabric CLI

Fabric CLI

Guidance for using fab to programmatically manage Fabric & Power BI service

• Install via uv tool install ms-fabric-cli (get uv via winget install uv or brew install uv)
• Fabric CLI is for working with the Cloud environment and not local files; it works with Power BI Pro, PPU, or Fabric; you DO NOT need a Fabric SKU to use the Fabric CLI
• Keep fab current: check the installed version against the latest ms-fabric-cli release and upgrade with uv tool upgrade ms-fabric-cli unless the user has pinned a specific version. Discover commands and flags with fab --help and fab <command> --help rather than hard-coding behavior; the CLI surface changes regularly

[!IMPORTANT] Any time you encounter errors, user preferences or learnings when using the Fabric cli, ALWAYS note these down in the user memory rules, i.e. .claude/rules/fabric-cli.md for future improvement. This is ONLY for generic learnings and not for item- or task-specific learnings.

When to use this skill

• Use whenever the user mentions "Fabric" or "Power BI"
• Use when user asks about Power BI workspaces, deployment, tenants, publishing, download, permissions, or data

Critical general rules

• IMPORTANT: The first time you use fab run check that it is up to date to the latest version (upgrade with uv tool upgrade ms-fabric-cli unless the user has pinned a version) and run fab auth status; If user isn't authenticated, ask them to run fab auth login
• Always use fab --help and fab <command> --help the first time you use a command to understand its syntax
• You must search the skill /references/ for relevant reference files that explain certain commands, examples, scripts, or workflows before you start using fab
• Before first use, ask the user if they have Fabric admin access, sensitivity labels or DLP policies, any API restrictions, or preferences for Fabric/Power BI API usage; remind user to add this to memory files
• If workspace or item name is unclear, ask the user first, then verify with fab ls or fab exists before proceeding
• Ensure that you avoid removing or moving items, workspaces, or definitions, or changing properties without explicit user direction
• If a command is blocked in your permissions and you try to use it, stop and ask the user for clarification; never try to circumvent it
• Create output directories before export: fab export does not create intermediate directories; mkdir -p the output path first or the command fails with [InvalidPath]

Use -f (force) for non-interactive use

The fab CLI prompts for confirmation, so you you must always append -f to prevent this UNLESS sensitivity labels are enabled, in which case you must ask the user. Do this for the commands:

• fab get -q "definition" ; sensitivity label confirmation
• fab export ; sensitivity label confirmation
• fab import ; overwrite confirmation
• fab cp / fab cp -r ; overwrite and sensitivity label confirmation
• fab rm ; delete confirmation
• fab assign / fab unassign ; capacity/domain assignment confirmation
• fab mv ; rename/move confirmation

Quickstart guide

You must read and understand the common list of operations with simple examples

0. Check the commands, syntax, and auth status: fab --help and fab auth status
1. Check if the item exists if the user gave the workspace and item name: fab exists "spaceparts-dev.Workspace/spaceparts-otc-full.SemanticModel"
2. Find an item by name across every workspace the user can see: fab find 'sales' -P type=Report -l (substring on name, description, workspace; -P type= to filter, -l for ids; -q '<jmespath>' for client-side filter/projection). For governance workflows that need last visit / last refresh / owner / storage mode / capacity SKU, use scripts/search_across_workspaces.py; see workspaces.md for the delta.
3. Find the workspace: fab ls
4. Find the item: fab ls "Workspace Name.Workspace"
5. Check the commands for that item:
   • fab desc to get itemTypes
   • fab desc .<ItemType> for commands i.e. fab desc .SemanticModel
6. What's in that item; what's it for; what is it?:
   • Full TMDL definition: fab get "spaceparts-dev.Workspace/spaceparts-otc-full.SemanticModel" -q "definition" -f
   • Search a specific measure / table / column: fab get "ws.Workspace/Model.SemanticModel" -q "definition" -f | rga -i "Sales Amount"
   • Retrieve AI instructions / AI schema: python3 scripts/get_semantic_model_ai_metadata.py "ws.Workspace/Model.SemanticModel" --instructions-out instructions.md --schema-out schema.json
7. Get files, tables, or table schemas:
   • List lakehouse files: fab ls "ws.Workspace/LH.Lakehouse/Files"
   • List lakehouse tables: fab ls "ws.Workspace/LH.Lakehouse/Tables"
   • Table schema: fab table schema "ws.Workspace/LH.Lakehouse/Tables/gold/orders"
8. Query data (always prefer the wrapper scripts over raw fab api / duckdb / sqlcmd; they resolve IDs, hosts, and auth for you):
   • Semantic model (DAX): python3 scripts/execute_dax.py "ws.Workspace/Model.SemanticModel" -q "EVALUATE TOPN(10, 'Orders')"
   • Lakehouse SQL endpoint, warehouse, or SQL database (T-SQL): prefer the fabric-sql MCP execute_query(workspaceId, itemId, query) when it is loaded; fall back to python3 scripts/query_sql_endpoint.py "ws.Workspace/LH.Lakehouse" -q "SELECT TOP 10 * FROM dbo.orders". See querying-data.md
   • Lakehouse or warehouse Delta over OneLake (DuckDB): python3 scripts/query_lakehouse_duckdb.py "ws.Workspace/LH.Lakehouse" -q "SELECT * FROM tbl LIMIT 10" -t gold.orders
9. Set properties for an item or workspace: fab set "ws.Workspace/Item.Notebook" -q displayName -i "New Name" or fab set "ws.Workspace" -q description -i "Production environment"
10. Review or manage permissions:
    • Item ACL: fab acl ls "ws.Workspace/Model.SemanticModel" then fab acl set "ws.Workspace/Model.SemanticModel" -I user@contoso.com -R Read
    • Workspace roles: fab acl ls "ws.Workspace" then fab acl set "ws.Workspace" -I user@contoso.com -R Member
11. Deploy items to Fabric: fab import "ws.Workspace/New.Notebook" -i ./local-path/Nb.Notebook -f
12. Download items from Fabric: fab export "ws.Workspace/Nb.Notebook" -o ./backup -f (always mkdir -p ./backup first)
13. Copy or move items between workspaces: fab cp "dev.Workspace/Item.Notebook" "prod.Workspace" -f or fab mv "ws.Workspace/Old.Notebook" "ws.Workspace/New.Notebook" -f
14. Open item in Fabric via browser: fab open "spaceparts-dev.SpaceParts/Amazing Report.Report"
15. Using Fabric or Power BI APIs: fab api -A powerbi "groups/<ws-id>/datasets/<model-id>/refreshes" -X post -i '{"type":"Full"}' or fab api "workspaces/<ws-id>/items"
16. Using Azure CLI (advanced) when Fabric CLI doesn't suffice:
    • T-SQL over any SQL-capable item ; use scripts/query_sql_endpoint.py (reuses az login via ActiveDirectoryAzCli; full walkthrough in querying-data.md)
    • Pass a Key Vault secret to a consumer without ever reading, echoing, or persisting it: az login --service-principal -u <appId> -t <tenantId> --password "$(az keyvault secret show --vault-name <vault> --name <secret> --query value -o tsv)" ; command substitution pipes the secret directly into the child process arg list, never stdout, a file, or a named shell variable
    • Full fab-vs-az decision matrix: fab-vs-az-cli.md

Essential Concepts

For information about any concepts related to Power BI or Fabric you must search or fetch via the microsoft-learn MCP server (or the pbi-search CLI as an alternative) and ask the user questions with the AskUserQuestion tool; NEVER guess or make assumptions.

Workspaces

• Workspaces are containers for items like Notebooks (and other ETL items), Lakehouses (and other data items), SemanticModels, Reports (and other consumption items), and OrgApps.
• Workspaces can be assigned to different things:
  • Deployment Pipelines for lifecycle management (Dev, Test, Prod, etc.)
  • Domains for governance and tenant structuring
  • Capacities for licensing and resources (Fabric or Premium capacities only; PPU and Pro work differently)
  • Git repositories for Source Control via Git integration

Key Patterns

Pay special attention to each of the following areas when using the Fabric CLI

Path Format

Fabric uses filesystem-like paths with type extensions:

"WorkspaceName.Workspace/ItemName.ItemType"

You must quote paths with spaces and punctuation:

"Workspace Name.Workspace/Semantic Model Name.SemanticModel"

For lakehouses this is extended into files and tables:

WorkspaceName.Workspace/LakehouseName.Lakehouse/Files/FileName.extension or /WorkspaceName.Workspace/LakehouseName.Lakehouse/Tables/TableName

For Fabric capacities you have to use fab ls .capacities

Examples:

• "Production Workspace.Workspace/Sales Report.Report"
• Data.Workspace/MainLH.Lakehouse/Files/data.csv
• Data.Workspace/MainLH.Lakehouse/Tables/dbo/customers

Common Item Types

• .Workspace - Workspaces
• .SemanticModel - Power BI datasets
• .Report - Power BI reports
• .Notebook - Fabric notebooks
• .DataPipeline - Data pipelines
• .Lakehouse / .Warehouse/ .SQLDatabase - Data artifacts
• .SparkJobDefinition - Spark jobs
• .AISkill - Fabric Data Agents
• .MirroredDatabase / .MirroredWarehouse - Mirrored databases
• .Environment - Spark environments
• .UserDataFunction - User data functions

Full list: You must use fab desc or fab desc .<ItemType> to check syntax and types if the user asks about an item type not listed above.

JMESPath Queries

Filter and transform JSON responses with -q:

# Get single field
-q "id"
-q "displayName"

# Get nested field
-q "properties.sqlEndpointProperties"
-q "definition.parts[0]"

# Filter arrays
-q "value[?type=='Lakehouse']"
-q "value[?contains(name, 'prod')]"

# Get first element
-q "value[0]"
-q "definition.parts[?path=='model.tmdl'] | [0]"

Using fab api

fab has an api escape hatch that lets you use any API even if it doesn't have primary commands.

Variable Extraction Pattern

To use fab api you need item IDs. Extract them like this:

WS_ID=$(fab get "ws.Workspace" -q "id" | tr -d '"')
MODEL_ID=$(fab get "ws.Workspace/Model.SemanticModel" -q "id" | tr -d '"')

# Then use in API calls
fab api -A powerbi "groups/$WS_ID/datasets/$MODEL_ID/refreshes" -X post -i '{"type":"Full"}'

Admin APIs (Requires Admin Role)

Don't use admin commands or APIs if the user doesn't have Admin access. Here's some examples:

# Find semantic models by name (cross-workspace)
fab api "admin/items" -P "type=SemanticModel" -q "itemEntities[?contains(name, 'Sales')]"

# Find all notebooks
fab api "admin/items" -P "type=Notebook" -q "itemEntities[].{name:name,workspace:workspaceId}"

# Find all lakehouses
fab api "admin/items" -P "type=Lakehouse"

# Common types: SemanticModel, Report, Notebook, Lakehouse, Warehouse, DataPipeline, Ontology

For full admin API reference (cross-workspace discovery, tenant settings read/update, capacity/domain/workspace overrides, activity events): admin.md

Error Handling & Debugging

# Show response headers
fab api workspaces --show_headers

# Verbose output
fab get "Production.Workspace/Item" -v

# Save responses for debugging
fab api workspaces -o /tmp/workspaces.json

Common workflows

These are the most common workflows you'll encounter in Fabric

Finding or exploring workspaces, items, or metadata

Flags:

• -l (long listing)
• -a (show hidden items)
• -q (JMESPath filter)
• -v (verbose output)
• -o (save response to file)

Fabric discovery follows a drill-down pattern:

• Browsing:
  • List workspaces: fab ls
  • List items in a workspace: fab ls "ws.Workspace" -l
  • Confirm a path exists: fab exists "ws.Workspace/Item"
  • Check what commands an item type supports: fab desc .<ItemType>
• Inspection:
  • Get item details: fab get "ws.Workspace/Item"
  • Pull a single field: fab get "ws.Workspace" -q "id"
• Cross-workspace search:
  • Routine search across name, description, workspace: fab find '<text>' -P type=<Type> -l
  • Governance fields not in fab find (last visit, last refresh, owner, storage mode, capacity SKU, Copilot readiness): scripts/search_across_workspaces.py; see workspaces.md for the delta
  • Downstream reports for a given model: scripts/get-downstream-reports.py
  • Tenant-wide admin APIs: admin.md

Check references before exploring:

• workspaces.md
• folders.md
• admin.md
• reference.md

Querying data

Flags:

• -A fabric|powerbi|storage|azure (API audience)
• -X get|post|put|delete|patch (HTTP method)
• -i (JSON body or file)
• -f (skip sensitivity prompt on definition pulls).

Fabric exposes three query paths depending on the source; always prefer the wrapper scripts — they resolve IDs, hosts, and auth for you:

• Semantic models (DAX):
  • Find model fields first: fab get "ws.Workspace/Model.SemanticModel" -q "definition"
  • Query: scripts/execute_dax.py
• Lakehouses / Warehouses via Delta over OneLake (DuckDB):
  • Query a single table: scripts/query_lakehouse_duckdb.py (use tbl as a placeholder and pass -t schema.table)
  • Multi-table joins or raw files in Files/: pass --sql with your own delta_scan() / read_csv / read_json_auto calls
  • Optionally scaffold a Direct Lake model instead: scripts/create_direct_lake_model.py
• Lakehouse SQL endpoint, Warehouse, or SQL Database (T-SQL):
  • Prefer the fabric-sql MCP execute_query(workspaceId, itemId, query) when loaded; server-side, no local tooling
  • Fall back to scripts/query_sql_endpoint.py (sqlcmd; auto-detects host per item type, reuses az login via ActiveDirectoryAzCli) when the MCP is unavailable
  • Prefer either over DuckDB when you need INFORMATION_SCHEMA, sys.* metadata, CTEs, or window functions
  • Full route priority: querying-data.md

Check references before writing queries:

• querying-data.md
• semantic-models.md
• lakehouses.md
• warehouses.md
• sql-databases.md

Changing metadata or access (descriptions, tags, endorsement, properties, bindings, permissions)

Flags:

• -q <field> + -i <value> (set a single property)
• -I (object ID or UPN for fab acl)
• -R Admin|Member|Contributor|Viewer (role for fab acl set)
• -f (skip confirmation; ask user first if sensitivity labels are in play)

Metadata and access changes fall into a few groups:

• Properties (displayName, description, sensitivity config):
  • Native update: fab set "<path>" -q <field> -i "<value>"
  • Capture current state first so you can revert: fab get -v -o /tmp/before.json
• Endorsement, certification, and tags (no first-class fab commands):
  • Patch via fab api with item-specific endpoints
  • Tag workflow: tags.md
  • Endorsement patterns: reference.md
• Folder placement:
  • Move items between workspace subfolders: folders.md
• Access control and sensitivity labels:
  • Grant / revoke: fab acl set, fab acl rm
  • Set sensitivity label: fab label set
  • Verify the principal first: az ad user show
  • Never change permissions or labels without explicit user confirmation
• Bindings:
  • Rebind a thin .Report to a different .SemanticModel: reports.md
  • Semantic model source rebinds (e.g. swap a lakehouse): semantic-models.md

Check references before changing metadata:

• reference.md
• tags.md
• folders.md
• reports.md
• semantic-models.md

Working with workspaces

Flags:

• -P key=value (creation params for fab mkdir)
• -W (target workspace for fab assign / fab unassign)
• -r (recursive copy/move)
• -bpc (block on path collision for fab cp)
• -f (skip confirmation)

Workspace-scope operations fall into a few groups:

• Create and provision:
  • Create workspace: fab mkdir "<Name>.Workspace" -P capacityname=<cap>
  • Attach capacity or domain: fab assign .capacities/<cap>.Capacity -W <ws>.Workspace
  • Planning context, create/get/set surface, large storage format, Spark pools, OneLake defaults, Git: workspaces.md
• Copy, fork, download:
  • Duplicate a workspace in-tenant: fab cp -r "dev.Workspace" "prod.Workspace"
  • Dry-run the source tree first: fab ls "dev.Workspace"
  • Full local snapshot (items + lakehouse files): scripts/download_workspace.py
• Permissions:
  • Inspect / grant / revoke: fab acl ls | set | rm
  • Tenant-wide governance audit: use the audit-tenant-settings skill from the fabric-admin plugin
• Connections and gateways (bound to, but outside, the workspace):
  • Credential types (WorkspaceIdentity, SPN, Basic), OAuth2 limits: connections.md
  • Datasource binding, credential rotation: gateways.md
• Folders inside a workspace:
  • Layout, nesting, conventions: folders.md

Check references before modifying workspaces:

• workspaces.md
• folders.md
• connections.md
• gateways.md

Executing or scheduling jobs (notebooks, notebook cells, pipelines, semantic model refresh)

Flags:

• -P key:type=value (parameters, type is string|int|bool)
• --id (job run ID)
• -w (wait on cancel)
• --timeout (overall timeout for synchronous runs)
• --polling_interval (status poll cadence)

Jobs map to different endpoints depending on item type:

• Notebooks and pipelines:
  • Run synchronously: fab job run "ws/ETL.Notebook" -P date:string=2025-01-01
  • Run asynchronously: fab job start "ws/ETL.Notebook"
  • Check status: fab job run-status "ws/Nb.Notebook" --id <job-id>
  • List history: fab job run-list "ws/Nb.Notebook"
  • Python / PySpark kernels, Livy sessions, cell-level CRUD: notebooks.md
• Semantic model refresh (not exposed as fab job):
  • Trigger: fab api -A powerbi "groups/<ws-id>/datasets/<model-id>/refreshes" -X post -i '{"type":"Full"}'
  • Check current run before starting a new one (409 if already running): fab api -A powerbi "groups/<ws-id>/datasets/<model-id>/refreshes?\$top=1"
  • Enhanced refresh, incremental policies, partition targeting: semantic-models.md
• Dataflow refresh:
  • Gen1 and Gen2 have different endpoints: dataflows.md
• Scheduling:
  • Per-item schedules via the scheduler API: notebooks.md, reference.md

Check references before running jobs:

• notebooks.md
• semantic-models.md
• dataflows.md
• reference.md

Fabric admin operations (auditing, management)

Flags:

• -P key=value (query params, e.g. type=SemanticModel)
• -q (JMESPath filter)
• -X post + -i (write ops)
• --show_headers (inspect Retry-After on 429)

Admin-scope work is gated behind the Fabric / Power BI admin role. Confirm access first with fab api "admin/capacities" 2>&1 | head -5; if it errors, stop rather than retry.

Two entry points cover most admin tasks:

• Governance audits (tenant settings, delegated overrides, Entra SG scoping):
  • Use the audit-tenant-settings skill from the fabric-admin plugin. It owns the curated metadata baseline, the audit + change-detection script, delegated-override enumeration, and the Entra SG investigation workflow.
  • Invoke it whenever the question combines tenant posture with group membership, override scope, or drift against the baseline.
• Raw admin APIs (cross-workspace search, activity events, artifact access, item search):
  • Patterns in admin.md
  • Rate limit: 25 write requests / minute; honor Retry-After on 429
  • Print the exact command and wait for user confirmation before any destructive admin operation

Check references before admin work:

• admin.md
• permissions.md for workspace / item ACL exposure audits

Definitions and deployment (item definitions, deployment pipelines, git integration, cicd)

Flags:

• -o (output path for fab export)
• -i (input path or JSON body for fab import)
• --format (definition format for export / import)
• -f (skip overwrite and sensitivity prompts)

Every Fabric item has a serializable definition. Move definitions between environments depending on scope:

• Single item:
  • Round-trip locally: fab export then fab import (always mkdir -p the output directory first; fab export does not create intermediate directories and fails with [InvalidPath])
  • Same-tenant shortcut, no local hop: fab cp "dev/Item" "prod.Workspace"
• Semantic model as PBIP (TMDL + blank report):
  • Export the model with fab export, create the report with pbir new report, then combine them with pbir report merge-to-thick; see import-download-deploy.md
• Full workspace snapshot (items + lakehouse files):
  • Backups, offline analysis, cross-tenant forks: scripts/download_workspace.py
• Promotion between Dev, Test, Prod:
  • Fabric deployment pipelines API (covers all item types)
  • Power BI pipelines API (Power BI items only, but finer-grained deploy flags like allowPurgeData, allowTakeOver)
  • When to use each, selective deploy, LRO polling: deployment-pipelines.md
• Git integration (connect workspace to repo, branch, commit, update from git):
  • Workspace git section in workspaces.md

Check references before deploying:

• import-download-deploy.md ; export / import / copy / move, PBIP round-trips, migration patterns, rebinding gotchas
• deployment-pipelines.md
• semantic-models.md
• reports.md
• paginated-reports.md
• notebooks.md
• workspaces.md

Related skills

• audit-tenant-settings (in the fabric-admin plugin) ; Fabric governance workflow covering tenant settings, delegated overrides (capacity / domain / workspace), and the Entra security groups those settings reference. Read-only; holds the curated metadata baseline and the audit + change-detection script.

Gotchas

• IMPORTANT: DON'T try to use fab ls on items that aren't data items (.Lakehouse, .Warehouse, etc); use fab ls to find workspaces and items, and use fab get to look at definitions
• ALWAYS Use the -f flag when using fab get, fab import, fab export, etc. as described above
• ONLY fallback to fab api when a command doesn't exist

References

Skill references:

• Import, Download, and Deploy - Export / import / copy / move items, PBIP round-trips, dev-to-prod migration patterns
• Querying Data - Query semantic models in DAX and lakehouses or warehouses in SQL with DuckDB
• Lakehouses - Endpoints, file/table operations, OneLake paths
• Warehouses - Create, browse, query via DuckDB, load data
• SQL Databases - Create, browse, query via DuckDB, auto-mirroring
• Semantic Models - TMDL, DAX, refresh, storage mode
• Reports - Export, import, visuals, fields
• Paginated Reports - RDL upload, export-to-file, datasources, parameters
• Notebooks - Python/PySpark kernels, metadata, cell CRUD, Livy execution, scheduling
• Workspaces - Create, manage, permissions
• Permissions - Sharing and distribution, workspace roles, item permissions, apps, embed, B2B, deployment pipeline permissions, licensing and capacity SKUs
• Deployment Pipelines - CI/CD, deploy stages, selective deploy, LRO polling
• Dataflows - Gen1 and Gen2, refresh, publish, admin
• Dashboards - Tiles, clone (dashboards are not reports)
• Org Apps - Read-only API for distributed content packages
• Scorecards - Goals, check-ins, status rules (Preview API)
• Gateways - Datasources, credentials, dataset binding
• Folders - Organize items into folders via API; includes best practices for structuring workspaces
• Tags - Create, apply, and audit tenant/domain tags on items and workspaces via fab api (no native fab tag command)
• fab vs az CLI - When to use which; capacity, networking, Key Vault, monitoring, CMK, CI/CD
• Admin APIs - Cross-workspace search, tenant operations, governance
• API Reference - Capacities, domains, misc API patterns
• Connections - Create, update, list connections programmatically; credential types (WorkspaceIdentity, SPN, Basic); OAuth2 limitations
• Full Command Reference - All commands detailed

Scripts (scripts that you can execute):

• search_across_workspaces.py ; cross-workspace governance complement to fab find (last visit, last refresh, owner, storage mode, capacity SKU, Copilot readiness); see workspaces.md for when to choose which
• get-downstream-reports.py ; find all reports connected to a given semantic model across accessible workspaces (no admin required)
• execute_dax.py ; execute DAX queries against semantic models; output as table, csv, or json
• query_lakehouse_duckdb.py ; query lakehouse or warehouse Delta tables via DuckDB against OneLake (reuses az login); output as table, csv, or json
• query_sql_endpoint.py ; query lakehouse SQL endpoint, warehouse, or SQL database via sqlcmd (reuses az login through ActiveDirectoryAzCli); output as table, csv, or json
• create_direct_lake_model.py ; create a Direct Lake semantic model from lakehouse tables
• download_workspace.py ; download a full workspace with all item definitions and lakehouse files

See scripts/README.md for detailed usage, arguments, and examples. Always search the scripts/ folder before writing a new helper; a script may already exist for the task.

External references (request markdown when possible):

• fab CLI: GitHub Source | Docs
• Microsoft: Fabric CLI Learn
• APIs: Fabric API | Power BI API
• DAX: dax.guide - use dax.guide/<function>/ e.g. dax.guide/addcolumns/
• Power Query: powerquery.guide - use powerquery.guide/function/<function>
• Power Query Best Practices