Change Safely (When Writes Are Allowed)
This workflow helps you make model changes without breaking downstream usage. It assumes you are in full mode (writes allowed) and that your org policies permit the changes.
The safe-change pattern (recommended)
01
State
Establish baseline
02
Impact
Check dependencies
03
Plan
Minimal proposal
04
Apply
Small batches
05
Validate
Re-run queries
Establish current state
“Explain current state and what we’re changing. List the exact objects involved.”Check impact before edits
“List dependencies/impact before modifying anything. Summarize the blast radius.”If you have Pro dependencies tooling: “Use dependency analysis and show a short impact tree.”
Propose a minimal plan (and wait for confirmation)
“Propose a minimal plan; wait for my confirmation before applying.”Apply changes in small, reviewable batches
“Apply step 1 only, then stop and summarize what changed.”Validate immediately
“Re-run the validation queries and summarize before/after.”“If tests are available, run them and summarize failures.”
Batch edits and dry runs (important disclaimers)
A good “safe change” prompt template
What to ask the LLM (prompt library)
“Before editing, find everything that depends on this measure and summarize impact.” “Propose a plan to refactor these measures into a calc group. Don’t apply until I confirm.” “Apply the plan in a single batch, then re-run the validation queries.” “Create a checkpoint before this refactor and tell me how to rollback if needed.”Common safe-change playbooks
Measure refactor
“Rename/refactor these measures for consistency. First list dependents, then apply changes and validate with a small query suite.”Relationship fix
“Fix the relationship between Sales and Customers. Explain cardinality/direction, apply, then validate totals.”Introduce a calc group
“Implement a Time Intelligence calc group. First check if one exists; then propose a plan to reduce duplicated measures.”When changes are blocked
Read-only alternative (still useful)
Even if edits are blocked, you can still get value:
“Propose the exact model edits I should make manually (Tabular Editor / Desktop UI), including object names and expressions.” “Generate the validation query suite I should run before/after.” “Create an impact analysis summary I can attach to the change request.”