PowerBiNinja

About

PowerBiNinja takes a master .pbix file and a folder of thinner report .pbix files — the typical split-model migration pattern — and works out what each report actually touches. It reads the master model's schema, measures, calculated columns, calculated tables, and relationships, then parses the Report/Layout JSON inside every report file to find references to those objects.

Results are written to a set of CSV files and a summary .xlsx workbook alongside the master file. The intent is to give you a clear picture of what is genuinely used before you reorganise or retire anything, without having to open each file in Power BI Desktop by hand.

What it does

• Reads schema, DAX measures, calculated columns, calculated tables, and relationships from the master model via PBIXRay
• Parses Report/Layout JSON from each .pbix in the reports folder, handling UTF-16-LE, UTF-8, and CP-1252 encodings
• Maps per-visual field references (queryRef projections and string-pattern fallback) back to master model objects
• Filters out auto-generated date scaffolding tables (LocalDateTable_, DateTableTemplate_) to keep output tidy
• Writes findings to pbix_structure.csv, model_usage.csv, model_relationships.csv, report_usage_details.csv, and model_overview.xlsx

Requirements

Windows 10+, 64-bit. No Python installation required for the .exe — everything is bundled via PyInstaller.

Verify the download

Before running the executable, compare its SHA-256 hash to the one below.

In PowerShell, from the folder where you saved the file:

Get-FileHash .\powerbininja-v1.0.zip -Algorithm SHA256

If the output matches the hash above, the file is intact. If not, delete it and re-download.

Build it yourself

The source .zip contains everything needed to rebuild the executable from scratch:

• powerbininja.py — the full source.
• requirements.txt — pinned Python dependencies.
• build.bat — installs deps into a local venv and runs PyInstaller.
• README.md — build and usage notes.

With Python 3.12 installed, unzip and run:

build.bat

Known limitations

Accepts paths as command-line arguments only; there is no GUI or drag-and-drop interface.