Tabular Editor 2 Command Line Interface

v20261015

te2-cli

Provides a comprehensive CLI reference for Tabular Editor 2 (TE2). It enables automated model management, including deployment to XMLA endpoints, running embedded scripts, performing Best Practice Analysis (BPA), and handling model exports (TMDL). This skill is essential for integrating data model lifecycle management into CI/CD pipelines and automating repetitive tasks from the command line.

CLI Power BI SSAS Data Modeling CI/CD Scripting Automation

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Overview

Tabular Editor 2 CLI

Command-line interface for Tabular Editor 2 (TE2). This skill covers the TabularEditor.exe executable; TE3 has its own CLI and is a separate product.

[!NOTE]
The TE2 CLI (TabularEditor.exe) is still supported and stable, and remains a solid choice for existing Windows CI/CD pipelines. It is now considered outdated against the newer cross-platform Tabular Editor CLI (te), which is built on TE3 and is in preview until Q4 2026. For the te command set and a flag-by-flag migration, see the te-cli skill. Download te preview binaries from the Tabular Editor CLI downloads page.

Installation

Tabular Editor 2 (Free)

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

Executable

TabularEditor.exe -- free, Windows-only. For Mac/Linux, run via a Windows VM or container.

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

Flag	Long Form	Description
`-O`	`-OVERWRITE`	Overwrite existing database
`-C`	`-CONNECTIONS`	Deploy/overwrite data sources (supports connection string placeholder substitution)
`-P`	`-PARTITIONS`	Deploy/overwrite existing table partitions
`-R`	`-ROLES`	Deploy roles
`-M`	`-MEMBERS`	Deploy role members
`-S`	`-SHARED`	Deploy shared expressions (within `-D` context; note: `-S` also means script outside `-D`)
`-E`	`-ERR`	Return non-zero exit code if AS returns error messages after deployment
`-V`	`-VSTS`	Output Azure DevOps logging commands
`-W`	`-WARN`	Output warnings for unprocessed objects
`-F`	`-FULL`	Full deployment (equivalent to `-O -C -P -S -R -M`)
`-X`	`-XMLA`	Generate XMLA/TMSL script instead of deploying
`-L`	`-LOGIN`	Disable integrated security for deployment
`-Y`	`-SKIPPOLICY`	Skip incremental refresh policy partitions

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 -TMDL output/

# Save to legacy folder structure
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -S script.csx -F output/

Best Practice Analyzer

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

# Run BPA with Azure DevOps logging output
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -A rules.json -V

# Run BPA with GitHub Actions logging output
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -A rules.json -G

# Analyze excluding rules embedded in model annotations
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -AX rules.json

Schema Check

# Validate data source schemas against the model
TabularEditor.exe Model.bim -SC

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 ^
    -V

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" ^
    -TMDL output/definition

Authentication

For authentication methods (Windows, Service Principal, Interactive) and CI/CD integration (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions), see references/auth-and-cicd.md.

Exit Codes

Code	Description
0	Success
1	Any error-level output (script error, deployment failure, BPA violations at severity >= 3)

File Formats

Input Formats

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

Output Formats

Flag	Format	Description
`-B`	`.bim`	Tabular JSON
`-TMDL`	folder	TMDL
`-F`	folder	Legacy folder structure

Troubleshooting

For common errors (database not found, authentication failed, script execution failed), see references/auth-and-cicd.md.

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                      |
|   -TMDL folder/       Save as TMDL                      |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| BPA                                                     |
|   -A rules.json       Run BPA analysis                  |
|   -G results.sarif    Output BPA results                |
+---------------------------------------------------------+

References

To retrieve current XMLA and deployment docs, search https://learn.microsoft.com and fetch the relevant pages. Search based on the user's request and run multiple searches as needed to ensure sufficient context before proceeding.

Info

Category Development

Name te2-cli

Version v20261015

Size 3.88KB

Source data-goblin/power-bi-agentic-development

Updated At 2026-10-16