Summary
Add an advanced context-menu option on standard visuals that allows users to view and edit the visual’s JSON directly from the Power BI canvas.
Problem Statement
Today, advanced users increasingly rely on editing visual JSON to apply formatting or behavior changes that are not currently exposed through the Power BI Desktop UI. The only way to do this is by saving the report as a .pbip project and manually editing the visual JSON files.
While powerful, this workflow:
- Is unintuitive and error-prone for many users
- Requires leaving the Power BI canvas and working directly with project files
- Discourages experimentation due to the risk of breaking the report
- Creates a barrier for users who are comfortable with JSON but not with the .pbip file structure or source control workflows
As a result, many users are editing .pbip files simply to unlock visual customizations that feel like they should be available in-context.
Proposed Feature
Introduce an Advanced option in the visual right‑click context menu (or Format pane) such as:
Right‑click visual → Advanced → Edit Visual JSON
This would:
- Open a modal or side-pane JSON editor scoped only to the selected visual
- Display the current visual definition JSON (read/write)
- Validate changes before applying them
- Allow users to revert to the previous state if the JSON is invalid
Optionally, this could be gated behind:
- A preview feature flag
- A warning or “advanced users only” acknowledgment
- Read-only mode with an explicit “Enable Editing” toggle
Benefits
- Improves productivity by keeping advanced customization in the canvas where users are already working
- Reduces friction compared to editing .pbip files directly
- Encourages experimentation with faster feedback and safer iteration
- Aligns with real-world usage—many users are already editing visual JSON today, just through unsupported workflows
- Future-proofs the product by allowing advanced users to access new or undocumented properties without waiting for full UI support
Why This Matters
Power BI already exposes the full visual definition internally; this feature simply makes it accessible in a safer, more discoverable, and more user-friendly way. Similar to how Tabular Editor exposes advanced model metadata, this would serve power users without impacting the default experience for most users.
This capability would significantly reduce reliance on .pbip file manipulation while empowering advanced users to push Power BI visuals further.
1 Comment
- Great idea. One challenge I’m currently facing is the deployment of Power BI reports that embed Power Apps. Managing environment‑specific values or app references typically requires manually updating the Power App during deployment, often all the way through to production. If visual JSON editing were available directly from the canvas, it could open the door to supporting parameters or placeholders that can be safely edited or injected through deployment pipelines. This would make it much easier to manage Power Apps–related configuration as part of the report lifecycle, without relying on fragile .pbip file edits or post‑deployment fixes. More broadly, exposing visual JSON in‑context could simplify advanced deployment scenarios and significantly reduce operational overhead for reports that integrate external components — not just Power Apps, but potentially Power Automate and even paginated reports as well.
