Power BI MCP

What does a Power BI MCP server do?

A Power BI MCP server lets an AI assistant query or change Power BI semantic models. Fabric IQ MCP finds reports and models, reads their metadata and runs DAX against data you can access. The Authoring server creates and edits model objects. Fabric IQ has no natural-language answering tool, so your AI client writes the DAX and explains the results.

• Questions: Microsoft says to use Fabric IQ and to keep the Authoring server out of consumption work.
• Building: Authoring also evaluates a model against best practices, runs bulk renames and generates translations.
• Workspaces: the separate Fabric Core MCP Server manages Fabric workspaces and items. Fabric IQ doesn't do that work.

Is there an official Power BI MCP server?

Yes, Microsoft publishes all of them. Microsoft Learn compares the Authoring server and Fabric IQ, and says an earlier consumption endpoint remains for existing integrations. The local server lives in Microsoft's GitHub org as microsoft/powerbi-modeling-mcp. Current docs call it the Power BI Authoring MCP server, while the repo and npm package keep the modeling name.

• Fabric IQ MCP: hosted and generally available. It only reads.
• Power BI Consumption MCP server: hosted and in preview. This is the earlier remote server, and its tools only read.
• Power BI Authoring MCP server, hosted: in preview. It changes semantic models in Fabric workspaces.
• Power BI Authoring MCP server, local: generally available. It also changes models open in Power BI Desktop and Power BI Project files on disk.

What is the Power BI MCP server URL, and how do you sign in?

Each server has its own address, and all sign in with Microsoft Entra ID. Fabric IQ is https://fabriciq.svc.cloud.microsoft/v1/mcp/fabriciq. The remote consumption server is https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/v1/mcp/powerbi. Hosted Authoring is https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/v1/mcp/powerbi/authoring. Local Authoring has no URL, because it runs on your machine over stdio.

• Entra ID doesn't support dynamic client registration, so Claude and ChatGPT need an Entra app that you register. VS Code and GitHub Copilot CLI ship with a preregistered app.
• Hosted Authoring and the consumption server need an admin to enable a tenant setting: Users can use the Power BI Model Context Protocol server endpoint (preview). Fabric IQ doesn't use that setting.
• The local server signs in interactively or with a service principal. Fabric IQ doesn't support service principals.

What can a Power BI MCP server read and change?

Fabric IQ and the remote consumption server only read, and Fabric IQ returns data the signed-in user can already access. The Authoring server changes semantic models if you have Write permission. With Build permission alone, it can only run DAX. None of these servers change report pages or diagram layouts.

What it can read

• Fabric IQ: DiscoverArtifacts, ResolveFabricItem, GetReportMetadata, GetSemanticModelSchema, ValueSearch and ExecuteQuery.
• Remote consumption server: Execute Query, Get Semantic Model Schema, Get Report Metadata and Generate Query. Generate Query needs a Copilot license.
• Authoring: DAX queries for testing measures and exploring data while you build.

What it can change

• Authoring: create, update and delete tables, columns, measures, relationships, hierarchies, calculation groups, perspectives, partitions and security roles.
• Authoring: bulk renames, refactors and translations across hundreds of objects.
• Local Authoring only: models open in Power BI Desktop, and Power BI Project or TMDL files on disk.
• The local server's --readonly setting blocks all writes. --readwrite is the default, with a confirmation prompt before each edit.

How do you set up a Power BI MCP server in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor?

Microsoft documents Claude Desktop and ChatGPT with an Entra app you register yourself, because neither client can register on its own. It names no Cursor steps for these servers. VS Code and GitHub Copilot CLI are simpler, since they ship with a preregistered app. The steps below apply to any hosted URL above.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powerbi-authoring": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@microsoft/powerbi-modeling-mcp@latest", "--start"]
    }
  }
}

What can you ask a Power BI MCP server?

Reads go through Fabric IQ, which works from a report or model name, so you don't need IDs. Writes go through the Authoring server after you connect to a model. The write examples follow Microsoft's sample prompts. Back up the model first, because Microsoft warns that agent changes might be irreversible.

• Reads

  Find the Marketing Performance report, then show spend and conversions by channel for the latest quarter.

  Copy

• Reads

  List the measures in the Paid Media semantic model and explain in plain English how ROAS is calculated.

  Copy

• Reads

  Which campaign names in the Paid Media model contain 'spring sale'? List the exact stored values.

  Copy

• Writes

  Connect to semantic model 'Paid Media' in Fabric workspace 'Marketing'. Add descriptions to all measures that explain the logic behind the DAX in plain business terms.

  Copy

• Writes

  Analyze the naming convention of the 'Campaigns' table and apply the same pattern across the model. List the renames before you apply them.

  Copy

What are the limits of a Power BI MCP server?

Fabric IQ returns 250 rows by default unless the client sets maxRows, and each query targets one semantic model. It doesn't support dashboards, paginated reports or Power BI apps. Authoring DAX queries stop at 100,000 rows. Microsoft hasn't published a fixed rate limit, and Power BI throttling applies to Fabric IQ calls.

• The local server doesn't support macOS. On a Mac, Microsoft says to use the hosted server.
• Fabric IQ isn't available in Power BI-only regions or sovereign clouds.
• Microsoft says to avoid registering hosted and local Authoring together, because the agent then sees two overlapping tool sets.
• Hosted Authoring doesn't support transactions or traces, and the client must return the mcp-Session-Id header on every request.
• The local server needs the XMLA endpoint set to Read Write on the capacity for models in a Fabric workspace.
• On the consumption server, Power BI doesn't enforce row-level security with service principal authentication.

How much does a Power BI MCP server cost?

Microsoft lists no separate price for these servers. The cost sits in the plan underneath: Power BI Pro is $14 a user a month and Premium Per User is $24, paid yearly. Power BI Desktop is free, and Fabric capacity is priced separately. The remote server's Generate Query tool needs a Copilot license.

• Microsoft says you can disable Generate Query to avoid using Copilot capacity, and let your client's model write the DAX.
• Fabric IQ doesn't need Fabric or Premium capacity for the reports and models it reads.

What are the alternatives to a Power BI MCP server?

The main alternatives are another BI tool's server, your warehouse, or a reporting connector. If your models read from Snowflake or BigQuery, a warehouse server can answer from the source tables. Marketing analytics MCP servers compares reporting connectors, direct platform servers and warehouses for marketing numbers.

• Fabric Core MCP Server: Microsoft's remote server for Fabric workspaces and items.
• Tableau MCP: Tableau's official server, if your reports live in Tableau.
• Snowflake MCP: Asks the warehouse directly, if your models read from Snowflake.
• BigQuery MCP: Asks the warehouse directly, if your models read from BigQuery.

Which skill goes with a Power BI MCP server?

Use the free Agent write safety skill before you connect the Authoring server, because Microsoft warns that an agent's model changes might be irreversible. Use the Marketing context kit to write down your measure names and definitions once, so every answer starts from the same rules and the assistant has less to guess.

• Agent write safety: Sets approvals before an agent can change a semantic model.
• Marketing context kit: Holds your measure names and definitions in one folder for every prompt.