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

layout

Follow within reason the mental model when working with reports.

WARNING: The PBIR format is brittle and easily corrupted. Direct JSON file modification can lead to corruption. Prefer using the

pbir

uv tool install pbir-cli

pip install pbir-cli

pbir

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: So long as report metadata is in PBIR format, any of these formats works. PBIX is just a zip file; unzip and rezip to work with it. Do not work with PBIT (Power BI Template) file types. Note that PBIP and PBIX contain PBIR, but a "thin" report can be PBIR only.
• 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                       # Mobile layout (niche)
+-- 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 files are generated from scratch. Use

   pbir new

   if the

   pbir

   CLI is available; otherwise, check the example reports thoroughly
2. Ensure

   definition.pbir

   is configured properly (byPath or byConnection)
3. Use a theme.json file. Recommended: the SQLBI/Data Goblins theme
4. Add appropriate filters to

   report.json

   or

   page.json

   ; see filter pane reference

Additional validation

For detailed report design guidance (layout, spacing, visual hierarchy, color, accessibility), see the

pbi-report-design

• 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

references/visual-json.md

references/visual-container-formatting.md

references/theme.md

references/schema-patterns/conditional-formatting.md

references/measures.md

references/filter-pane.md

references/theme.md

references/theme.md

objects

visualContainerObjects

visualStyles

references/page.md

references/page.md

references/page.md

references/report.md

references/measures.md

references/annotations.md

references/images.md

references/textbox.md

references/sort-visuals.md

references/visual-json.md

references/visual-json.md

references/page.md

references/visual-json.md

references/visual-json.md

references/visual-json.md

references/visual-json.md

references/visual-json.md

references/bookmarks.md

references/semantic-model/finding-fields.md

references/semantic-model/report-rebinding.md

references/schemas.md

references/semantic-model/inferring-queries-from-visuals.md

references/semantic-model/model-queries.md

references/rename-patterns.md

references/how-to/fix-broken-field-references.md

references/how-to/convert-legacy-to-pbir.md

references/report-extensions.md

references/measures.md

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

mslearn search

mslearn fetch

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

• references/pbir-structure.md

  -- PBIR folder structure details

• references/schemas.md

  -- Schema versions and URLs

• 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. Includes jq patterns for inspecting and modifying theme JSON directly

• references/schema-patterns/

  -- Expressions, selectors, conditional formatting, visual calculations

• references/visual-container-formatting.md

  -- objects vs visualContainerObjects deep-dive

• 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

• references/page.md

  -- Page configuration and backgrounds

• references/report.md

  -- Report-level settings

• 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