Tabular Editor CLI

Command-line interface for Tabular Editor 2 (TE2) and Tabular Editor 3 (TE3).

Installation

Tabular Editor 2 (Free)

• Download: https://github.com/TabularEditor/TabularEditor/releases
• Extract to preferred location or use Chocolatey: choco install tabulareditor2

Tabular Editor 3 (Licensed)

• Download: https://tabulareditor.com/downloads
• Or use MSI installer for enterprise deployment

Executables

Connection Sources

Local Files

# model.bim (JSON format)
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim

# TMDL folder
TabularEditor.exe definition/

# PBIP project
TabularEditor.exe MyReport.pbip

Remote XMLA Endpoints

# Analysis Services
TabularEditor.exe "localhost\tabular" "AdventureWorks"

# Power BI Premium/Fabric
TabularEditor.exe "powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/WorkspaceName" "ModelName"

Power BI Desktop

# Auto-detect running instance
TabularEditor.exe localhost:PORT DatabaseName

Note: Find the port in PBIDesktop diagnostic files or use tools like DAX Studio.

Command-Line Reference

Basic Syntax

TabularEditor.exe <source> [options]

Script Execution

# Inline C# script
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S "Info(Model.Name);"

# Script file
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S script.csx

# Multiple scripts (executed in order)
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S script1.csx -S script2.csx

Deployment

# Deploy to XMLA endpoint
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -D "server" "database"

# Deploy with options
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -D "server" "database" -O -C -P -R -M -E -V -W

Deployment Options

Save Output

# Save to model.bim
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S script.csx -B Output.bim

# Save to TMDL folder
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S script.csx -T output/

# Save to PBIP format (TE3 only)
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S script.csx -PBIP output.pbip

Best Practice Analyzer

# Run BPA rules
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -A rules.json

# Run BPA with output file
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -A rules.json -G results.sarif

# Fail on specific severity
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -A rules.json -W  # Warnings as errors

Schema Comparison

# Compare source to target
TabularEditor.exe SourceModel.bim -DIFF "server" "database" -DIFFOUTPUT changes.json

Common Operations

1. Deploy Local Model to Service

TabularEditor.exe Model.bim ^
    -D "powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/Workspace" "SemanticModel" ^
    -O -C

2. Run Script and Save

TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S format-dax.csx -B Model.bim

3. Run BPA Analysis

TabularEditor.exe Model.bim ^
    -A https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/Analysis-Services/master/BestPracticeRules/BPARules.json ^
    -G bpa-results.sarif

4. Refresh Model Data

TabularEditor.exe "server" "database" ^
    -S "Model.RequestRefresh(RefreshType.Full);" ^
    -D "server" "database"

5. Export Model from Service

TabularEditor.exe "powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/Workspace" "Model" ^
    -T output/definition

Authentication

Windows Authentication (Default)

Used automatically for on-premises SSAS.

Service Principal (Azure AD App)

Set environment variables:

set AZURE_CLIENT_ID=your-app-id
set AZURE_TENANT_ID=your-tenant-id
set AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-secret

Connection string format:

Provider=MSOLAP;
Data Source=powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/Workspace;
User ID=app:CLIENT_ID@TENANT_ID;
Password=CLIENT_SECRET

Interactive (TE3 Only)

TabularEditor.exe "server" "database" --auth interactive

CI/CD Integration

Azure DevOps Pipeline

steps:
  - task: PowerShell@2
    displayName: 'Deploy Semantic Model'
    inputs:
      targetType: 'inline'
      script: |
        TabularEditor.exe "$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/Model.bim" `
          -D "$(XMLA_ENDPOINT)" "$(MODEL_NAME)" -O -C

GitHub Actions

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - name: Deploy Model
        run: |
          TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -D "${{ secrets.XMLA_ENDPOINT }}" "ModelName" -O -C

Exit Codes

File Formats

Input Formats

• model.bim - Tabular JSON (legacy)
• definition/ - TMDL folder (modern)
• *.pbip - Power BI Project (TE3)

Output Formats

Troubleshooting

"Database not found"

• Check server/workspace name is exact
• Verify you have access to the workspace
• Ensure XMLA endpoint is enabled

"Authentication failed"

• Verify environment variables are set correctly
• Check service principal has workspace access
• Confirm API permissions are granted

"Script execution failed"

• Check C# syntax is valid
• Verify all referenced objects exist
• Add Info() statements to debug

Quick Reference Card

+---------------------------------------------------------+
| TABULAR EDITOR CLI QUICK REFERENCE                      |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| SOURCES                                                 |
|   Model.bim           Local JSON model                  |
|   definition/         TMDL folder                       |
|   "server" "db"       XMLA connection                   |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| SCRIPTS                                                 |
|   -S "code"           Inline C# script                  |
|   -S file.csx         Script file                       |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| DEPLOYMENT                                              |
|   -D "server" "db"    Deploy to target                  |
|   -O                  Overwrite existing                |
|   -C                  Create if not exists              |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| OUTPUT                                                  |
|   -B output.bim       Save as JSON                      |
|   -T folder/          Save as TMDL                      |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| BPA                                                     |
|   -A rules.json       Run BPA analysis                  |
|   -G results.sarif    Output BPA results                |
+---------------------------------------------------------+

References

• TE2 CLI Documentation
• TE3 CLI Documentation
• XMLA Endpoints