Forum Discussion
Problems with Parameter Fields
Hello together,
in the last two weeks I've been having some issues with the Parameter Fields and I am not able to work out what exactly the issue is.
For context: After importing our SQL tables to PowerBI we create for each Reporting Page a Parameter Fields (no slicer) which we use for the visuals in order to apply our security rules.
However in the last two weeks I encountered some issues with these Parameters.
The first time I was developing a new Report and had already created the Parameter which also worked. After saving and comitting the changes (we use Gitlab in development, but usually develop everything in PowerBI) and starting adding something else, the Parameter stopped showing any columns and even after closing without saving the parameter still was broken after a restart. After looking over everything I have done so far with a colleague we could not find any errors anywhere so we just tried to create a new Parameter which then worked, but broke again in the same way.
After repeating that process a few times it finally continued working in the end.
Today I wanted to add a column to some existing Parameters and they also broke in the same way.
Are there any know issues with the Parameter maybe? I couldn't find anything.
Perhaps also relevant: We updated our PowerBI version to June 2026 before these issues started.
I hope I explained everything understandable 🙂
Thanks in advance or your support!
Hi HellNah,
You may be onto something there. If the new field gets added to the Field Parameter table but the change never makes it into the visual.json, that would explain why everything looks fine in Desktop initially but appears broken after a save, commit, or reopen.
What I'd check next is whether Source Control is only picking up the Field Parameter table change and not the visual metadata change. When you add a field to a Field Parameter, Power BI actually updates two things:
- The Field Parameter table definition in the semantic model.
- The visual configuration that references the parameter selection.
If the parameter table gets updated but the visual.json doesn't, the visual can end up pointing to an older version of the parameter definition. Manually editing visual.json and seeing it work again is a strong indication that's where the disconnect is happening.
A few things worth testing:
- After adding a new field to the parameter, save the report and immediately inspect the changed files before committing. Check whether visual.json is listed as modified.
- Make sure all report changes are saved before committing. I've seen cases where model changes are written to disk but visual metadata isn't fully serialized until another save.
- Try creating a completely new visual that uses the updated Field Parameter. If the new visual writes the correct metadata while existing visuals don't, the issue may be related to how Power BI updates existing visual definitions.
- Have another developer perform the same change on the same Power BI Desktop version. If they can reproduce it, that points more toward a Desktop/source control issue than a report-specific problem.
- If you're using PBIP format, compare the visual.json before and after adding the parameter field. The missing metadata should become obvious in the diff.
Given that the issue started shortly after the June 2026 Desktop update and you've now identified a visual.json dependency, I'd honestly lean toward a serialization bug rather than anything wrong with the parameter itself. The fact that manually updating visual.json fixes the problem suggests the Field Parameter metadata is being created correctly, but Power BI is not consistently persisting the corresponding visual changes.
If you can reproduce it in a small test PBIP, I'd recommend opening a Microsoft support ticket or reporting it through the Fabric Issues forum, because this definitely doesn't sound like expected behavior.
5 Replies
HellNah
As the problem is coming after June 2026 upgrade that effects newly created and exisitng field parameters, i suggest you should reproduce the it on june build without original source GitLab, then test the latest desktop build.That will quickly separate the PowerBI desktop separation from source control/PBIR issue.
If this helps, ✓ Mark as Kudos | Help Others
Hi HellNah,
We've seen a few odd behaviors with Field Parameters after recent Power BI Desktop updates, especially when models are under source control or when metadata changes occur after the parameter has been created.
A few things I'd check:
- Open Model view and verify that the Field Parameter table still exists and that the generated DAX table contains all expected columns.
- If you're using Git/source control, compare the parameter table definition before and after the commit. Field Parameters are metadata-driven, and I've seen cases where changes don't merge cleanly.
- Try creating a brand-new Field Parameter in a copy of the PBIX and see if it survives a save/reopen cycle without further model changes.
- If the parameter is being used in security logic, check whether any renamed, deleted, or modified columns are referenced by the parameter. Even small schema changes can leave the parameter in an inconsistent state.
- Clear the local cache (File > Options and settings > Options > Data Load) and reopen the file.
The fact that recreating the parameter works temporarily but then breaks again makes me think this is less of a DAX issue and more likely a metadata problem introduced after the June 2026 update or during the save/commit process.
As a workaround, I'd also consider keeping a copy of the Field Parameter DAX definition so you can quickly recreate it if needed. If multiple developers are seeing the same behavior on the same Power BI version, it may be worth opening a Microsoft support ticket because this doesn't sound like expected behavior.
Hey ShahRukhSameer,
thanks for you quick support.
I checked everything you suggested and I think I found the issue (however not the cause for the issue).
After adding the columns to field Parameter they are not inserted into the visual. The only thing that seemed to work is to manually add the code into the corresponding visual.json file before committing and then reopening.
Do you have an idea why PowerBI/Source control behaves like that or how to fix that?Hi HellNah,
You may be onto something there. If the new field gets added to the Field Parameter table but the change never makes it into the visual.json, that would explain why everything looks fine in Desktop initially but appears broken after a save, commit, or reopen.
What I'd check next is whether Source Control is only picking up the Field Parameter table change and not the visual metadata change. When you add a field to a Field Parameter, Power BI actually updates two things:
- The Field Parameter table definition in the semantic model.
- The visual configuration that references the parameter selection.
If the parameter table gets updated but the visual.json doesn't, the visual can end up pointing to an older version of the parameter definition. Manually editing visual.json and seeing it work again is a strong indication that's where the disconnect is happening.
A few things worth testing:
- After adding a new field to the parameter, save the report and immediately inspect the changed files before committing. Check whether visual.json is listed as modified.
- Make sure all report changes are saved before committing. I've seen cases where model changes are written to disk but visual metadata isn't fully serialized until another save.
- Try creating a completely new visual that uses the updated Field Parameter. If the new visual writes the correct metadata while existing visuals don't, the issue may be related to how Power BI updates existing visual definitions.
- Have another developer perform the same change on the same Power BI Desktop version. If they can reproduce it, that points more toward a Desktop/source control issue than a report-specific problem.
- If you're using PBIP format, compare the visual.json before and after adding the parameter field. The missing metadata should become obvious in the diff.
Given that the issue started shortly after the June 2026 Desktop update and you've now identified a visual.json dependency, I'd honestly lean toward a serialization bug rather than anything wrong with the parameter itself. The fact that manually updating visual.json fixes the problem suggests the Field Parameter metadata is being created correctly, but Power BI is not consistently persisting the corresponding visual changes.
If you can reproduce it in a small test PBIP, I'd recommend opening a Microsoft support ticket or reporting it through the Fabric Issues forum, because this definitely doesn't sound like expected behavior.
