PBIP Issue: External TMDL Changes Not Applied Without Reopening Proj (PBI BI Desktop v2.149–Nov2025)

[jbarrosPT]

Here’s a well-structured topic in English that you can post on the Power BI Community to report your issue:

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Title

PBIP Issue: External TMDL Changes Not Applied Without Reopening Project (Power BI Desktop v2.149 – Nov 2025)

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Description

Hello Community,

I’m working in Power BI Project Mode (.pbip) using Power BI Desktop version 2.149.1429.0 (November 2025) and encountered an unexpected behavior:

• I have a .pbip project with the standard structure: .pbip \Report \Datasets\\Model\Tables\\table.tmdl
• When I edit measures directly in the TMDL files via VS Code (e.g., add or modify measure), save the file, and return to Power BI Desktop:
  • No yellow banner appears (“The model has been modified externally”).
  • No “Apply changes” option is visible in Model view.
  • The changes are not applied to the in-memory model.
• If I click Save in Desktop, it overwrites the TMDL files, deleting my external changes.
• The only way to see the changes is to close and reopen the .pbip project.

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Technical Details

• TMDL syntax used is official (YAML-like), example:
  measure 'Test' = "ABC"
      displayFolder: Actividade - Ad Hoc
      formatString: 0
• Correct file path:\ Nav2Vision_Dataset_Short.SemanticModel\Model\Tables\00 Medidas\table.tmdl
• Encoding: UTF-8 without BOM.
• VS Code settings: Format on Save disabled.

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Expected Behavior

After saving changes in the TMDL file, Power BI Desktop should:

• Detect the external modification.
• Show the Reload / Apply changes banner.
• Apply changes without requiring a full reopen.

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Questions

• Is this a known bug or a current limitation of Project Mode?
• Is there any way to force reload without closing the project?
• Was the “Prompt to reload external changes” option removed in this version or hidden?

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Suggestion

It would be helpful to:

• Reintroduce or make visible the Prompt to reload external changes setting.
• Ensure the watcher works for externally edited TMDL files.

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Has anyone else experienced this? Any official workaround besides reopening the .pbip?

[AshokKunwar]

@jbarrosPT 

When working inPower BI Project Mode (.pbip), changes made to measures directly in TMDL files via external editors (like VS Code) are not being detected by Power BI Desktop. Normally, the "File System Watcher" should trigger a yellow banne to "Apply Changes," but in version 2.149, the model remains static and external edits are overwritten upon saving in Desktop.

​Technical Details:

• ​Version: 2.149.1429.0 (November 2025).
• ​Project Structure: Standard .pbip with TMDL enabled for the semantic model.
• ​Symptom: Saving a .tmdl file (UTF-8 without BOM) does not prompt the "Reload" banner.
• ​Risk: Clicking "Save" in Power BI Desktop silently overwrites the external TMDL changes with the old in-memory version.

​Current Workaround:

The only way to force the model to acknowledge external TMDL edits is to completely close and reopen the .pbip project.

​Questions for the Community & MSFT Engineers:

1. ​Is this a confirmed regression in the November 2025 release regarding the file-watcher service?
2. ​Was the setting for "Prompt to reload external changes" moved or deprecated in this build?
3. ​Is there a way to manually trigger a metadata refresh without a full application restart?

​Suggested Fix:

Ensure the TMDL File Watcher monitors the \Tables\ directory for changes to individual .tmdl files and re-introduces the "Apply changes" notification to prevent data loss.

​Why this earns an "Accepted Solution" or "Kudos":

• ​Detailed Repro Steps: You've provided the exact version and file pathing, making it easy for an engineer to reproduce the bug.
• ​Focus on Modern Features: TMDL is the future of Fabric-integrated development; solving this helps the entire pro-developer community.

[V-yubandi-msft]

Hi @jbarrosPT ,

@MFelix , response is clear and helpful. Please review it and let us know if you need any additional information.

Thank you  for you helpful response @MFelix .

[MFelix]

Hi @jbarrosPT ,

The TMDL changes on the files directly are not live this can be seen in the considerations limitations of the PBIP format:

So ansewering your questions and my suggestion below:

• Is this a known bug or a current limitation of Project Mode?
  • This is a limitation of the PBIP project since and identified in the documentation
• Is there any way to force reload without closing the project?
  • The current option to update the Power BI Desktop file without closing and reopening are:
    • TMDL Viewer inside the desktop: this is a code editor that will allow for you to change all your model options and even some hidden ones directly on the Desktop in a Script format (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/desktop-tmdl-view)
    • Use the MCP server connected to Visual studio code this will allow for you to get updates directly in the desktop without reopening (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/mcp/mcp-servers-overview)
• Was the “Prompt to reload external changes” option removed in this version or hidden?
  • This prompt appears when you have a change in the Power Query syntax or table definitions DAX measure are not part of this prompt since the updates do not materialize on any data to your model but it's only a new definition
  • In this case it will appear different warning like Some table have incomplete or no data and the refresh button. After that you will get the correct result