Tabular MCP Server

Tabular MCP Server is an MCP server that connects LLM clients to local Tabular models running within Power BI Desktop. Designed for Power BI developers, data analysts, and BI engineers, it enables assistants like Roo Code in VS Code to interact directly with running semantic models. The server uses ADOMD.NET AdomdConnection to bridge the local model port with your development environment. Through this link, LLMs can inspect database metadata, examine tables, inspect relationships, and retrieve detailed measure definitions. It also allows models to validate DAX query syntax, test performance, and execute custom DAX queries against local data. To safeguard confidential information during query generation, the server includes configurable obfuscation modes that mask entire fields, text dimensions, or numeric facts while maintaining semantic context. By providing direct model visibility, Tabular MCP Server helps users draft accurate DAX expressions, debug calculation logic, and analyze model schemas without constantly switching windows or manually inspecting Power BI Desktop.

Category: Data & Analytics

Tags: analysis, bi, dax, powerbi, tabular

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How to install and configure Tabular MCP Server

1. Ensure Windows OS, Power BI Desktop, and the .NET 8.0 Runtime are installed. 2. Open your target PBIX file in Power BI Desktop. 3. Download and extract the latest prebuilt release from the repository releases page. 4. Determine the running instance port using Tabular Editor or by running the included discovery tool in PowerShell: .\pbi-local-mcp.DiscoverCli.exe. 5. Register the server in your MCP client configuration (such as .roo/mcp.json for VS Code with Roo): json { "mcpServers": { "MCPBI": { "type": "stdio", "command": "path\\to\\release\\mcpbi.exe", "cwd": "path\\to\\release", "args": ["--port", "YOUR_PBI_PORT"] } } } 6. Replace the binary path and port with your local values, then launch your client to start interacting with the model.

What you can do with Tabular MCP Server

• Discovering schemas, tables, columns, and relationships in unfamiliar Power BI models without navigating the desktop interface. - Generating new DAX measures by allowing LLMs to review existing calculation styles and naming conventions. - Validating DAX expression syntax and catching calculation errors before applying them inside reports. - Executing custom DAX queries and previewing sample data to verify calculation outputs. - Analyzing DAX execution performance to receive recommendations for optimizing slow-running tabular expressions.

Key facts

• https://github.com/jonaolden/tabular-mcp
• Data & Analytics, Developer Tools & Code Intelligence
• analysis, bi, dax, powerbi, tabular

Part of MCP Servers

What is Tabular MCP Server?

Tabular MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol server that links AI clients to local Tabular model instances running inside Power BI Desktop. It enables LLMs to inspect model schemas, write and validate DAX measures, test query performance, and view data samples through standard tools.

How do I find the Power BI port for Tabular MCP Server?

You can find the active port by opening Tabular Editor and checking the port listed in the connection string. Alternatively, run the included discovery executable pbi-local-mcp.DiscoverCli.exe from PowerShell while your PBIX file is open to automatically detect the port and database.

What are the requirements to run Tabular MCP Server?

The server requires Windows OS, .NET 8.0 Runtime, an active installation of Power BI Desktop running a PBIX file, and an MCP-compatible client environment such as Visual Studio Code using the Roo extension.

Does Tabular MCP Server protect sensitive data?

Yes. The server includes obfuscation options configured via startup arguments. You can mask all data, mask only text and date dimensions while keeping numbers visible, or mask facts to preserve dimensional context when sharing query outputs with an LLM.