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Horizun PBI MCP

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README.md
# Horizun PBI MCP

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**Build and fix Power BI reports by describing what you want.**
Ask in plain language; the server runs the DAX, edits the model, writes the
report pages — and checks its own work afterwards.

### No licence, no API key, no paid plan

It runs as a **local process on your own Windows machine**, so the free apps are
enough: install it in **ChatGPT Desktop** or **Claude Desktop** on their free
tiers and start asking. No OpenAI or Anthropic API key, no subscription, no
server of ours in the middle — and Power BI Desktop is free as well. One click
installs it and it prepares its own runtime: no Python, no JSON to edit.

![How it works](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HorizunGroup/horizun-pbi-mcp/main/docs/assets/como-funciona.png)

**v2.1.2** · 139 tools · Windows · ChatGPT Desktop Free · Claude Desktop Free · Claude Code · Codex

New to the project? Start with [what this Power BI MCP is, when to use it, and
what it deliberately does not do](docs/POWER_BI_MCP.md).

## Install

No repository clone, manual DLL download or `.mcp.json` editing is required.
Pick the line that matches you.

### ChatGPT Desktop Free

Run the verified one-paste installer from [`docs/INSTALL.md`](docs/INSTALL.md),
restart ChatGPT Desktop, then open **Plugins → Personal** and install
**Horizun PBI MCP**. No OpenAI API key is required.

### Claude Desktop Free

Download the `.mcpb` from the
[latest release](https://github.com/HorizunGroup/horizun-pbi-mcp/releases/latest)
and double-click it. Claude Desktop supplies the bootstrap runtime; no Claude
Code install or JSON editing is required. It will say the extension is **not
verified by Anthropic** — what it says about anything installed outside its own
directory — and let you continue.

### Claude Code

```powershell
claude plugin marketplace add HorizunGroup/horizun-pbi-mcp
claude plugin install horizun-pbi-mcp@horizun
```

### Codex

```powershell
codex plugin marketplace add HorizunGroup/horizun-pbi-mcp
```

Then open `/plugins`, pick the **Horizun** marketplace and install
`horizun-pbi-mcp`.

### Desktop or Code?

Same server, same 139 tools, same local runtime — install both and they share
it. Pick by what you are doing: **Claude Desktop** to *use* Power BI, in chat,
one click, free tier. **Claude Code** to *build* — it adds the terminal, git
and your repo, and loads tool schemas on demand instead of all at once.

On a new PC, the [verified one-paste installer](docs/INSTALL.md) prepares the
prerequisites without administrator rights. First setup takes a few minutes:
run `pbi_install_status` until `ready`, restart once, and confirm the 139 `pbi_*` tools appear.

## Your first minute

1. Open Power BI Desktop with any report.
2. Ask: *"List the Power BI models that are open and connect to the first one."*
3. Ask: *"Run a read-only DAX query that returns revenue by month for this year."*

If step 2 answers, everything works.

## Things worth asking for

```text
Audit this PBIP project and explain the highest-risk issues before changing anything.
```

```text
This measure returns blank for December. Find out why.
```

```text
Create a report page from this specification, validate it, and show me the layout.
```

```text
Document every measure in the model and export it to Excel.
```

## What it provides

| Area | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Live model | Discover Desktop sessions, run DAX, inspect metadata, refresh, and manage measures through TOM |
| Semantic model | Read and edit TMDL tables, columns, measures, relationships, roles and calculation groups |
| Report authoring | Create pages and visuals, clone templates, arrange layouts, apply themes, bookmarks and interactions |
| Conversion | Convert `.pbix` to `.pbip`, migrate supported structures and validate the result |
| Quality | Audit models and reports, document schemas, detect broken references and normalize report structures |
| Delivery | Export verified PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint artifacts; ingest SharePoint data read-only |

See the [tool catalog](docs/TOOL_CATALOG.md) for all 139 tools and their risk
classifications.

## Why it is safe to point at real work

- Local-first: Power BI Desktop communication stays on `localhost`.
- No telemetry, and the MCP server needs no account.
- Project writes stay inside the active project directory.
- Every project write makes a backup and is re-read to confirm it landed.
- Destructive tools require `confirm=true`.
- JSON writes are atomic; invalid JSON is never written over good JSON.
- Downloaded runtime components are version-pinned and SHA-256 verified.
- Logs go to stderr or files, so stdout stays a clean JSON-RPC channel.

Full guarantees and failure behavior: [security model](docs/SECURITY.md) and
[recovery guide](docs/RECOVERY.md). Report vulnerabilities privately as described
in [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md).

## Requirements

- Windows 10 or 11.
- Python 3.10 or newer.
- Power BI Desktop — only for the live layer (DAX, refresh, capture, render checks).
- A `.pbip` project with PBIR enabled, for report-file authoring.
- Node.js 20+ only for the optional Microsoft PBIR validator.

Claude Code, Codex and Power BI Desktop are external programs; this project does
not install them. Without Desktop the `.pbip` tools still work — the live tools
do not.

## Known limits

- Power BI does not expose pages or visuals through its live local endpoint, so
  those are edited in PBIR files while Desktop is safely closed.
- `mode="both"` is disabled for dual live/disk writes: Desktop being open and a
  PBIP project being safe to edit are mutually exclusive states.
- The server does not publish to or refresh the Power BI Service.
- Three PBIR schemas referenced by Power BI are not published by Microsoft;
  affected writes fail closed instead of guessing.

## Documentation

| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| [Installation](docs/INSTALL.md) | Setup, repair, offline installation and MCP client registration |
| [Tutorial](docs/TUTORIAL.md) | First connection through report authoring |
| [Power BI MCP overview](docs/POWER_BI_MCP.md) | Use cases, boundaries, safety and first workflow |
| [Tool catalog](docs/TOOL_CATALOG.md) | All tools, grouped by capability and risk |
| [Architecture](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) | Components, boundaries and invariants |
| [Security](docs/SECURITY.md) | Threat model and operational guarantees |
| [Validation](docs/VALIDATION.md) | TMDL/PBIR validation layers and known limits |
| [Migration guide](docs/MIGRACION_1x_A_2.0.md) | Breaking changes from 1.x to 2.0 |
| [Contributing](CONTRIBUTING.md) | Development workflow and pull-request requirements |

## Development

```powershell
git clone https://github.com/HorizunGroup/horizun-pbi-mcp.git
cd horizun-pbi-mcp
python -m pip install -e .
python scripts/fetch_libs.py
python scripts/fetch_pbir_schemas.py
python scripts/doctor.py
```

Before opening a pull request:

```powershell
python -m pytest -q
python scripts/doctor.py
python -m tests.contract_utils
```

The MCP contract is frozen and checked against `tests/golden/tools_v1.json`.
Real `.pbix`, `.pbip`, credentials, DLLs, outputs and backups are never
committed. See [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) for the repository invariants.

## Learn to direct it

Horizun Hub teaches, in Spanish, how to direct AI agents in real construction and design work — and how to review what they deliver before you sign it. The course for this MCP is [Opera agentes en Power BI](https://horizunhub.com/academia/power-bi-con-ia/?utm_source=github&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=horizun-pbi-mcp): short classes on real construction work, with a verifiable certificate.

New to agents? Level 1 of [Opera agentes de IA desde cero](https://horizunhub.com/academia/agentes-ia-desde-cero/?utm_source=github&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=horizun-pbi-mcp) is free with an account.

## License

Apache License 2.0. See [LICENSE](LICENSE) and [NOTICE](NOTICE).

## MCP Registry

This package is the one published under the server name below. The registry
reads this line from the README of the **PyPI package** to confirm that whoever
publishes the metadata also owns the package, so it has to live here rather
than in `.mcp/server.json` alone.

```
mcp-name: io.github.HorizunGroup/horizun-pbi-mcp
```

TDQS

B3.4/5.0

Scored across 139 tools

Disambiguation3/5

Many tools overlap in purpose despite being individually documented: page creation exists as pbi_create_page_from_spec, pbi_apply_page_spec, pbi_compose_page, pbi_generate_report_page and pbi_build_dashboard; validation is split across pbi_validate_tmdl/pbip/page_spec/measures/generated_page/desktop_render; and layout fixing spans pbi_normalize_page_layout, pbi_normalize_report, pbi_arrange_visuals and pbi_align_visuals. The very long descriptions do explain the distinctions and cross-reference each other, which lifts it above pure ambiguity, but at 139 tools an agent will frequently hesitate between near-synonymous options.

Naming Consistency5/5

Every tool uses a uniform pbi_ prefix with snake_case verb_noun structure (pbi_create_measure, pbi_delete_visual, pbi_validate_page_spec, pbi_list_tables). Even status/noun-only helpers like pbi_health_check, pbi_capabilities and pbi_session_info fit the same lexical pattern without mixing camelCase or alternate verbs.

Tool Count1/5

139 tools is an extreme mismatch for a workable surface, far past the 50+ threshold, and even the server's own pbi_start_here description admits that '132 tools with good names are still 132 tools.' The domain is broad (model, report, layout, export, SharePoint) but the count is not scoped to what an agent can select among reliably.

Completeness5/5

Coverage is unusually exhaustive: full CRUD over measures, columns, relationships, hierarchies, pages, visuals and bookmarks, plus lifecycle support (convert, validate, backup, journal, recover, purge, export, finalize) and model/report inspection. Real gaps are hard to identify for a Power BI automation server.

Maintenance

ActivityActive
ResponsivenessNo issues