Model Changes (Pro)
manage_model_changes gives you a safety net for authoring:
- change history (“what happened?”),
- diffs (“what changed?”),
- undo/redo,
- checkpoints (named restore points),
- rollbacks to prior states,
- changesets (stage a batch, preview, then apply).
Use it when you’re doing multi-step edits and want safe rollback and reviewable change summaries.
You won’t call the tool directly-tell the LLM what you want (checkpoint, preview, rollback) and it will use manage_model_changes behind the scenes.
What to ask the LLM (quick prompts)
“Show the last 10 transactions and summarize what changed.” “Create a checkpoint namedbefore-refactor.”
“Undo the last change and explain what was reverted.”
“Create a changeset for this refactor, show a preview/diff, and wait for confirmation before applying.”
“Rollback to checkpoint before-refactor.”
What this gives you in practice
Think of it like version control for your semantic model:
- Undo/redo - you renamed a measure and broke downstream reports. Undo reverts the rename instantly, no manual cleanup needed.
- Checkpoints - you are about to refactor 15 measures into a calc group. Create a checkpoint called "before-refactor". If anything goes wrong, roll back to that checkpoint and the model returns to exactly how it was.
- Changesets - you want to stage a batch of related edits (rename 5 measures, update 3 display folders, add descriptions) and review the whole batch as a diff before applying. A changeset lets you preview everything, then apply it as one unit after confirmation.
- History and diffs - something changed overnight and totals look wrong. Pull up the last 10 transactions and see exactly what was modified, when, and by which tool call.
Prompt:
"Explain the difference between a checkpoint and a changeset, and recommend which to use here."Locked-down environments (mode behavior)
| Mode | Availability |
|---|---|
| Full mode | AvailableAvailable |
| Read-only mode | Not availableNot available |
| Browse-only mode | Not availableNot available |
Notes: Undo/redo/checkpoints/rollback; history is local to the MCP server instance.
Recommended workflow (safe refactors)
Copy/paste prompt:
“We’re refactoring measures for consistency. Create a checkpoint, then build a changeset, show a preview/diff, and wait for confirmation before applying. After applying, run validation queries and the test pack.”Common recipes (copy/paste prompts)
Review what changed
“Show the last 10 transactions and summarize changes by domain (schema vs semantic vs security).” “For transaction X, show the diff summary and the affected objects.”Diff detail levels
“Show a summary diff for transaction X.” “Show a full diff for transaction X (only if summary is insufficient).”Undo/redo safely
“Undo the last transaction and explain what was reverted.” “Redo the last undone transaction.”Checkpoints
“Create checkpointbefore-refactor.”
“List checkpoints and tell me which one is most recent.”
“Restore checkpoint before-refactor and confirm we’re back to the prior state.”
Changesets (batch edits with preview)
“Create a changesetMeasure refactor.”
“Add the planned edits to the changeset (don’t apply yet).”
“Preview the changeset and show a diff summary.”
“Apply the changeset after I confirm.”
Confirmations (client support)
Some operations are intentionally destructive (rollback/restore/delete). In clients that support confirmations/elicitation, you’ll see a confirmation dialog.
In clients that don’t support confirmations, the assistant should:
- ask you explicitly (“Type ‘yes’ to proceed”), and
- proceed only after you confirm.
If the assistant reports “confirmation required”, reply with a clear approval:
“Yes, proceed with rollback.”Limitations and gotchas
- This history is local to the MCP server. It won’t follow you to a different machine/server instance.
- It captures changes made through MCP tooling. It won’t capture model edits performed directly in Desktop UI outside the session.
- Always confirm you’re connected to the correct model before applying or rolling back.
Risk & governance notes (read this once)
Troubleshooting
Ask for a workflow that uses manual checkpoints (save PBIX copies) and keeps a change log in source control (export measure lists, etc.).
Ask:
“Explain what confirmation is needed and what will be restored. Then wait for my explicit ‘yes’.”Ask the assistant to confirm the current model connection and list recent transactions for that model.