What is Tabular Mcp

Tabular-MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed for facilitating communication between clients and Power BI tabular models, specifically those running on Power BI Desktop.

Use cases

Use cases for Tabular-MCP include debugging DAX queries, analyzing model metadata, composing and testing DAX expressions, and facilitating communication between LLM clients and Power BI tabular models.

How to use

To use Tabular-MCP, install the server following the instructions in the Installation documentation. Once set up, it connects to a local instance of Tabular models via ADOMD.NET, allowing clients to execute DAX queries and retrieve model metadata.

Key features

Key features of Tabular-MCP include the ability to list measures, get measure details, list tables, get table details, retrieve table columns, explore table relationships, preview table data, and evaluate DAX expressions.

Where to use

Tabular-MCP is primarily used in data analysis, business intelligence, and reporting environments where Power BI tabular models are utilized for data visualization and analysis.

Tabular MCP Server AKA MCPBI

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for locally running Tabular Models, i.e. PowerBI models running on PowerBI Desktop.

This server allows MCP-enabled LLM clients to communicate with your tabular models and help you debug, analyse and compose DAX queries.

Example: Copilot querying Tabular Model via MCP

How it works

It connects to a local running instance of Tabular models using the AdomdConnection in ADOMD.NET.

Using this connection, the server then allows clients to execute DAX-queries and retrieve model metadata (using DMV queries) through pre-defined tools for high accuracy, as well as custom DAX queries for debugging and development.

This MCP server enables communication between clients and Power BI tabular models via ADOMD.NET, supporting both predefined metadata queries and flexible DAX queries with full DEFINE block capabilities for advanced analysis.

Tools

ListMeasures

List all measures in the model with essential information (name, table, data type, visibility), optionally filtered by table name. Use GetMeasureDetails for full DAX expressions.

GetMeasureDetails

Get details for a specific measure by name.

ListTables

List all tables in the model.

GetTableDetails

Get details for a specific table by name.

GetTableColumns

Get columns for a specific table by name.

GetTableRelationships

Get relationships for a specific table by name.

PreviewTableData

Preview data from a table (top N rows).

RunQuery

Execute a DAX query. Supports complete DAX queries with DEFINE blocks, EVALUATE statements, or simple expressions.

ValidateDaxSyntax

Validate DAX syntax and identify potential issues with enhanced error analysis.

AnalyzeQueryPerformance

Analyze query performance characteristics and identify potential bottlenecks.

How to install

See docs/Installation.md for requirements and installation instructions.

Quick Start a) with Pre-built Executables

For the fastest setup, you can use the pre-built executable from the Releases section.

1. Configure Power BI Connection:

   Releases\pbi-local-mcp.DiscoverCli.exe
   

   Follow the prompts to detect your Power BI instance and create the .env file.

2. Configure VS Code MCP Integration:
   Configure mcp.json with:

{
“mcpServers”: {
“MCPBI”: {
“command”: “C:\dir\to\mcpbi.exe”,
“args”: []
}
}
}

### Quick Start b) with port as argument
Or if you already know which port you are running PowerBI Tabular model on (visible from Tabular Editor for instance)

Configure `mcp.json` with:
```json
{
 "mcpServers": {
   "MCPBI": {
     "command": "C:\\dir\\to\\mcpbi.exe",
     "args": ["--port","12345"]
   }
 }
}

Testing

See resources/testing.md

License

MIT