MCP Server for Power BI (local)

Power BI Modeling MCP — Local Setup Guide

How to install the local MCP server and connect it to Claude Desktop via VS Code

The Power BI Modeling MCP Server is a local server published by Microsoft that lets AI tools like Claude interact directly with your Power BI semantic models. Unlike the remote server, this one runs on your machine and connects to an open Power BI Desktop file, giving Claude the ability to read and modify your data model using natural language.

What you can do once connected:

• Create and edit measures, tables, columns, and relationships

• Rename or reorganize model objects in bulk

• Ask questions about your model structure and DAX logic

• Connect to Power BI Desktop, Fabric workspace, or PBIP project files

This is a local setup — the MCP server runs as an executable on your Windows machine and communicates with Claude Desktop over stdio. Power BI Desktop must be open with your file loaded before starting a session.

Step 1 — Download and Install VS Code

Go to code.visualstudio.com and download the Windows installer. Run the installer and keep the default options.

• During installation, check the box Add to PATH — this makes VS Code accessible from the terminal

• After installation, launch VS Code to confirm it opens correctlyIf you already have VS Code installed, skip this step. Make sure your version is up to date — the Power BI MCP extension requires a recent release. Go to Help → Check for Updates to verify.

Step 2 — Install the Power BI Modeling MCP Extension

The MCP server is distributed as a VS Code extension. Installing it places the server executable on your machine automatically — no manual download or configuration in VS Code is required.

Open the Extensions marketplace

In VS Code, click the Extensions icon in the left sidebar (or press Ctrl + Shift + X). In the search box, type:

Install the extension

Find the extension published by Microsoft (publisher ID: analysis-services.powerbi-modeling-mcp) and click Install. You can also open it directly via:

https://aka.ms/powerbi-modeling-mcp-vscode

Once installed, the extension places the powerbi-modeling-mcp.exe server executable inside your VS Code extensions folder. You will not see a visible panel or window — the server runs silently in the background when called by an MCP client.

Step 3 — Install Git (If Not Already Installed)

Git is required by VS Code for certain extension features and may already be present on your machine. If VS Code shows a warning about Git not being found, install it before continuing.

Check if Git is installed

Open a terminal in VS Code (Ctrl + `) and run:

If you see a version number like git version 2.x.x, Git is already installed — skip the rest of this step.

Install Git

If Git is not found, go to git-scm.com/download/win and download the Windows installer. Run it with the default settings.

• On the Adjusting PATH environment screen, select Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software

• Keep all other settings as default

• After installation, restart VS Code and run git --version again to confirm

Step 4 — Ask Claude to Find and Configure the MCP Server

Instead of manually hunting for the executable path and editing config files, you can ask Claude Desktop to do it for you. Claude can locate the installed extension, find the correct executable, and write the configuration automatically.

Open Claude Desktop

Make sure you have Claude Desktop installed and open. If not, download it at http://claude.ai/download .

Send the following prompt to Claude

Copy and paste this message into a new Claude Desktop chat:

Claude will search your VS Code extensions folder, find the path, and propose the configuration for your approval. Confirm and Claude will write the file.

The exe is typically found at: C:\Users\<YourName>\.vscode\extensions\analysis-services.powerbi-modeling-mcp-<version>-win32-x64\server\powerbi-modeling-mcp.exe — but the version number changes with updates, which is why asking Claude to find it is more reliable than hardcoding it.

What the config entry looks like

For reference, the final entry in claude_desktop_config.json will look like this:

Use double backslashes \\ in JSON paths on Windows. If the file already has other mcpServers entries, Claude will merge the new entry without removing the others.

Step 5 — Restart Claude Desktop

Configuration changes only take effect after a full restart. Closing the window alone is not enough — Claude Desktop must be fully quit and relaunched.

On Windows, right-click the Claude icon in the system tray (bottom-right of your taskbar) and select Quit. Then reopen Claude Desktop from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.

Step 6 — Open a Power BI File and Start Asking Questions

The local MCP server connects to whatever Power BI Desktop file is currently open on your machine. Before starting a session in Claude, make sure your .pbix or .pbip file is open in Power BI Desktop.

Connect Claude to your semantic model

In a new Claude Desktop chat, tell Claude which file to connect to:

Claude will use the MCP server to detect the open file and establish a connection. It may ask for confirmation before making any changes.

Example questions and tasks

Once connected, you can ask Claude to explore or modify your model:

• "What measures are defined in this model?"

• "List all tables and their relationships"

• "Create a measure for Year-over-Year sales growth"

• "Add a description to every measure that is missing one"

• "Rename all measures that start with _ to remove the underscore"

• "Explain what this DAX measure is calculating"

Start with read-only questions before asking Claude to make changes. You can also add --readonly to the args in your config to prevent any modifications until you are ready.

Troubleshooting