Tabular Editor CLI (te)

Tabular Editor CLI (te)

To get the te CLI yourself (as the agent), see references/get-te-cli.md.

The te CLI is a single self-contained binary that loads, edits, validates, deploys, refreshes, and tests semantic models against TMDL/BIM files, Power BI Desktop, and cloud workspaces (Power BI, Fabric, Azure AS, SSAS). It is built on the same TOMWrapper that powers Tabular Editor 3, so model edits behave like the desktop app.

Always pass --output-format json when driving te programmatically. The default text/table output uses tables and ANSI styling that mangle in agent transcripts; JSON is parseable and avoids rendering issues.

Limited public preview. Preview builds stop functioning after 2026-10-31. No license is required during preview. Issues and feedback: https://github.com/TabularEditor/CLI

Not the TE2 CLI. This is a different product from the legacy Windows-only TabularEditor.exe (TE2). If the user invokes TE2 flag syntax (-D, -S, -A, -B, -TMDL, -O, -C, -V, -G), route it through the compat layer (TE_COMPAT=te2) or invoke TabularEditor.exe directly. See references/te2-migration.md.

When to use this skill

• The user mentions "te CLI", "the new Tabular Editor CLI", or runs a te <command> in a terminal
• The user wants to scaffold, inspect, edit, validate, deploy, refresh, query, or test a semantic model from the terminal on any OS
• The user wants to convert TMDL, BIM, or PBIP, run BPA, or format DAX from the command line
• The user wants to set up a DAX regression test suite, snapshot baselines, or A/B-compare two deployed models
• The user is building a CI/CD pipeline (GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps) that validates, tests, or deploys a semantic model to Power BI / Fabric
• The user is migrating CI/CD pipelines from TabularEditor.exe (TE2) to te

When NOT to use this skill

• The user explicitly wants to run TabularEditor.exe natively (TE2); use that product directly
• The user asks about Tabular Editor 3 desktop UI features (Preferences.json, MacroActions.json, Layouts.json); consult https://docs.tabulareditor.com/
• The user wants help authoring a C# script body or a BPA rule expression itself rather than running it; use the c-sharp-scripting and bpa-rules skills

Critical general rules

• First use in a session: run te --version and te auth status. If not authenticated, ask the user to run te auth login.
• Run te --help and te <command> --help the first time composing a command; flags are still evolving during preview.
• The model is always a flag, never a trailing path. Pass --model <path> (-m) for a local model, or -s <server> -d <database> for a deployed one, on every command. te get Sales/Amount ./model is rejected with Unrecognized positional argument; write te get Sales/Amount --model ./model.
• Properties are -p Name=Value. Read with te get <path> -p Expression, write with te set <path> -p Expression="...", repeat -p for several properties, or drop the flag on set (te set Sales/Amount Description="Net" FormatString="#,0"). The old -q <name> -i <value> pair no longer exists. Discover the names first: te get <path> --properties --output-format json lists every property -p accepts on that object with its type, writability and allowed values; an unknown name in an error points at the same listing. Clear a property with --unset <Name> (or -p Name=null); a piped value (-p Name=-) is stored verbatim.
• te connect state is per-shell-session and does NOT survive across separate Bash tool calls (each call is a fresh shell). Pass --model (and -s/-d for remote) on every command, or set TE_SESSION=<name> before the first call to share state.
• Every mutation is a dry run until --save. te set, te add, te remove, te move, te script, te macro run, and te bpa run --fix apply the change in memory, print a before/after diff, and end with Dry run - nothing saved. Add --save to persist. Run once bare to check the diff, then re-run with --save (unless interactiveEditMode is set to save).
• te deploy and te refresh are dry runs too. Without --execute they connect read-only and print the TMSL they would send. Both ask for confirmation at a terminal, so in CI pass --execute --force --non-interactive; an unattended --execute without --force stops with an error. The deploy target is --target-server / --target-database; -s/-d always mean the model you are deploying from. te deploy exits non-zero when the server accepts the metadata but parks objects with errors, so a green exit means the model is queryable.
• The BPA gate is ON by default for te deploy and te save-as. Bypass deliberately: --skip-bpa, --fix-bpa, or bpa.onDeploy / bpa.onSave config (keys are nested under bpa., not flat).
• Metadata commands (te list, te get, te set, te add, te validate, te bpa run, te script) work on a local model via --model. Commands that execute DAX or touch data (te query, te vertipaq, te refresh, te test run, te test snapshot) need a deployed model: pass -s/-d (or an active connection); --model alone errors with "No server specified". te vertipaq --import <file.vpax> is the offline exception.
• Quote object names that contain { } * ? or spaces: te get "Tables/'{foo}'", te get "'Net Sales'[Sales Amount]". KPIs and Sets are container keywords in filter paths, so a table literally named KPIs is te list "'KPIs'". Every path the CLI prints (errors, --paths-only, JSON objectPath) is already quoted and pastes straight back.
• Never put secrets on the command line (visible in ps and shell history). Use --auth env with AZURE_CLIENT_ID/AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET/AZURE_TENANT_ID, stdin (-), or --auth managed-identity.