PowerBI MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with Microsoft PowerBI REST API. This server provides comprehensive tools for data cleaning, transformation, analysis, and visualization within PowerBI.

Features

Resources

• List PowerBI workspaces
• Browse datasets and reports in workspaces
• Access dataset schemas and metadata

Tools

• Data Operations

  • Get workspaces, datasets, reports
  • Get detailed dataset information
  • Query datasets with DAX
  • Refresh datasets
  • Analyze data quality
  • Export data to CSV format

• Visualization & Reporting

  • Create and clone reports
  • Get report pages and structure
  • Generate visualization suggestions
  • Create visualization-ready data
  • Generate DAX measures for specific chart types
  • Export chart data for external tools

• Data Transformation

  • Create calculated columns
  • Create measures
  • Execute custom DAX expressions

• Report Management

  • Create new reports
  • List existing reports
  • Get refresh history

• Analysis

  • Analyze data quality across tables
  • Generate insights from datasets
  • Performance optimization suggestions

Prompts

• Dataset analysis guidance
• Dashboard creation assistance
• Data cleaning workflows
• DAX optimization help
• Visualization design recommendations
• Dashboard layout guidance
• Chart-specific best practices

Prerequisites

1. PowerBI Service Account: You need access to PowerBI Pro or Premium
2. Azure App Registration: Register an application in Azure AD with PowerBI API permissions
3. API Permissions: Grant the following permissions to your Azure app:
   • Dataset.Read.All
   • Dataset.ReadWrite.All
   • Report.Read.All
   • Report.ReadWrite.All
   • Workspace.Read.All

Setup

1. Azure App Registration

1. Go to Azure Portal
2. Navigate to "Azure Active Directory" > "App registrations"
3. Click "New registration"
4. Configure:
   • Name: PowerBI MCP Server
   • Supported account types: Accounts in this organizational directory only
   • Redirect URI: Not needed for this setup
5. After creation, note down:
   • Application (client) ID
   • Directory (tenant) ID
6. Go to "Certificates & secrets" and create a new client secret
7. Go to "API permissions" and add PowerBI Service permissions

2. Environment Variables

Create a .env file or set these environment variables:

POWERBI_TENANT_ID=your-tenant-id
POWERBI_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
POWERBI_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

3. Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd powerbi-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
pip install mcp[cli] httpx pandas openpyxl

# Or using uv
uv add "mcp[cli]" httpx pandas openpyxl

4. Running the Server

Development Mode

mcp dev powerbi_server.py

Claude Desktop Integration

mcp install powerbi_server.py --name "PowerBI Server"

Direct Execution

python powerbi_server.py

Usage Examples

Analyzing a Dataset

1. Use the get_workspaces tool to find your workspace ID
2. Use get_datasets to find the dataset you want to analyze
3. Use get_dataset to get detailed information about the specific dataset
4. Use get_dataset_schema to understand available tables and columns
5. Use analyze_data_quality to get insights about data completeness
6. Use the "analyze_dataset_prompt" for comprehensive analysis guidance

Creating Visualizations

1. Use generate_visualization_suggestions to get chart recommendations
2. Use create_dax_for_visualization to generate optimized measures
3. Use create_visualization_ready_data to format data for charts
4. Use create_report to create PowerBI reports
5. Export data for external visualization tools if needed
6. Use visualization prompts for design guidance

Data Transformation

1. Use export_data_to_csv to extract raw data
2. Use create_calculated_column to add derived fields
3. Use create_measure for aggregations
4. Use the "data_cleaning_prompt" for transformation guidance

API Reference

Authentication

The server uses OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow for authentication. Tokens are automatically refreshed as needed.

Error Handling

All tools return a standardized response format:

{
  "success": boolean,
  "data": object,  // Present on success
  "error": string  // Present on failure
}

Rate Limiting

The PowerBI API has rate limits. The server handles basic retry logic, but you may need to implement additional throttling for high-volume operations.

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

• Verify your Azure app registration has the correct permissions
• Ensure the client secret hasn't expired
• Check that the tenant ID is correct

API Permissions

• Make sure your app has admin consent for PowerBI API permissions
• Verify the service principal has access to the required workspaces

Data Access

• Ensure your Azure app has been granted access to PowerBI workspaces
• Check if datasets require specific permissions for programmatic access

Security Considerations

1. Secrets Management: Never commit credentials to version control
2. Least Privilege: Only grant necessary PowerBI permissions
3. Token Security: Tokens are stored in memory and automatically refreshed
4. Network Security: Use HTTPS in production deployments

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure you:

1. Follow the existing code style
2. Add appropriate error handling
3. Update documentation for new features
4. Test thoroughly with different PowerBI configurations

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.