pbi-tools
freeCommunity command-line tool that brings source control to Power BI by extracting .pbix files into a diff-able folder structure and compiling them back.
- Category
- reporting-embedding
- Type
- cli
- Language
- C#
- Maintainer
- community
- Author
- Mathias Thierbach
- Added
- Jun 1, 2026
What it does
pbi-tools is a command-line tool that brings source-control workflows to Power BI. It extracts .pbix files into a human-readable, diff-able folder structure and compiles them back, working alongside Power BI Desktop to enable branching, merging, and CI/CD for Power BI projects.
Why use it
Use it to put Power BI reports and models under meaningful version control, reviewing changes as diffs and automating builds, particularly for projects that predate or sit outside the native PBIP format. Note that pbi-tools is licensed under AGPL-3.0, a strong copyleft license worth reviewing if compliance matters for your use.
Getting started
Download the release from the GitHub releases page; it ships as a portable CLI. See https://pbi.tools/cli/ for command reference.