Configuration

Configuration File (appsettings.json)

{
  "Pagination": {
    "DefaultLimit": 50,
    "MaxLimit": 1000,
    "SearchGroupedDefaultLimitPerType": 25,
    "Tools": {
      "list_model": { "DefaultLimit": 100 },
      "manage_audit": { "DefaultLimit": 100, "MaxLimit": 10000 }
    }
  }
}

Default Tool Overrides

Per-Tool Override via Environment

export MCP_ENGINE_PAGINATION_TOOLS_JSON='{"list_model":{"DefaultLimit":200},"manage_audit":{"MaxLimit":50000}}'

How It Works

• •Before each tool call, MCP checks when the model was last modified
• •Compares against a baseline (set on connect and after each change you make)
• •If the model was modified more recently than the baseline, an external change is detected
• •Works with both Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service (XMLA)

Behavior Modes

Environment Variables

Manual Reload

Manually refresh metadata anytime via manage_model_connection:

{ "operation": "reload" }

Design Points

• •No false positives: Baseline resets after each change you make through MCP
• •Graceful degradation: If timestamp data is unavailable, feature auto-disables
• •Transient-failure resilient: Temporary network issues don't disable detection
• •Thread-safe: Concurrent tool calls handled correctly

Runtime Preferences

These settings can also be adjusted at runtime via manage_memory:

{
  "operation": "set",
  "scope": "global",
  "preferences": {
    "text_search_cache_enabled": true,
    "text_search_cache_ttl_seconds": 30
  }
}

When to Disable

Consider disabling the cache if:

• •Debugging issues with external model changes not being detected
• •Running in memory-constrained environments with very large models

DAX Formatting

M (Power Query) Formatting

Usage in Tools

Add formatting options to write operations. The consent flag is required when formatting is enabled:

// DAX formatting (measures, calc items)
"format_dax": {
  "enabled": true,
  "consent": true
}

// M formatting (partitions, named expressions)
"format_m": {
  "enabled": true,
  "consent": true
}

Supported Operations

• •DAX: Measures, calculation items, calculated partitions
• •M: M partitions, named expressions

Runtime Preferences

Formatting settings can also be adjusted at runtime via manage_memory without restarting. Environment variables take precedence over runtime preferences.

// Set DAX line style to short
{
  "operation": "put",
  "id": "dax_formatting_line_style",
  "value": "short"
}

// European locale (semicolon separator)
{
  "operation": "put",
  "id": "dax_formatting_list_separator",
  "value": ";"
}

Available preferences: dax_formatting_enabled, dax_formatting_line_style, dax_formatting_spacing_style, dax_formatting_list_separator, dax_formatting_decimal_separator, m_formatting_enabled, m_formatting_line_width, m_formatting_indent_length, m_formatting_indent_style