Understanding Semantic Model

Hi powerbiexpert22​,

For an undocumented semantic model, I would first build a complete inventory of the model rather than opening measures one by one.

A practical sequence is:

1. Start with Model Explorer and Model view to understand the tables, relationships, cardinality, filter directions, roles, calculation groups, perspectives, and hidden objects.

2. Use TMDL View to script the model metadata. This is especially useful for a large model because you can search the textual definition instead of clicking through every object individually. TMDL View in Power BI Desktop is now GA.

3. In DAX Query View, use the “Define all measures in the model” quick query. That gives you the measure definitions in one searchable place and makes measure-to-measure dependencies much easier to trace.

4. You can also use the INFO.VIEW functions to inventory the model programmatically. INFO.VIEW.TABLES(), INFO.VIEW.COLUMNS(), INFO.VIEW.MEASURES(), and INFO.VIEW.RELATIONSHIPS() can expose the main structural metadata without manually inspecting every object.

I normally work in this order:

tables/relationships -> measures -> calculation groups/security -> hidden objects -> Power Query/source logic

Then I trace the important business measures back through their dependencies instead of trying to understand every object with equal depth on the first pass.

One caution: no tool can guarantee that you will not miss any business logic. TMDL and INFO.VIEW are excellent for model metadata, but transformations may also live upstream in Power Query or the data source.

AI-assisted drafting: AI was used to help structure and phrase this response. I reviewed and validated the technical content before posting.

Hey powerbiexpert22​ 
my suggestion would be to save the report as PBIR and let an LLM analyze the project structure for you.
Then use the LLM as a kind of assistant while you navigate the report: ask it to explain the data model, measures, relationships, pages, visuals, filters, bookmarks, dependencies, and anything that looks unusual or important.
Tools like Codex or Claude Code can be useful for this because they can inspect the whole PBIR project, so you can ask very specific questions while you explore it.
I think this is one of the fastest ways to understand an undocumented report without relying only on manual inspection, especially if you want to avoid missing small details.