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 It is now considered outdated against the newer cross-platform Tabular Editor CLI (te), which is built on TE3 and is in preview until Q4 2026.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.

• TE2 CLI Documentation
• XMLA Endpoints