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jaryszek's avatar
jaryszek
Super User
1 month ago
Solved

Direct Lake PBIP remote modeling: how do you handle localSettings.json in a team?

Direct Lake PBIP remote modeling and localSettings.json

Hi everyone,

I managed to open an existing Direct Lake semantic model together with an existing report in Power BI Desktop, with both Report view and Model view available.

The report uses byPath in definition.pbir:

{
  "datasetReference": {
    "byPath": {
      "path": "../../Semantic Model/MyModel.SemanticModel"
    }
  }
}

The remote model picker did not show the required workspace, although permissions, Power BI Pro and XMLA Read Write were configured correctly.

What worked was setting the model ID manually in:

MyModel.SemanticModel/.pbi/localSettings.json
{
  "remoteModelingObjectId": "<semantic-model-id>"
}

After reopening the project and confirming the metadata overwrite, everything worked.

Because localSettings.json is Git-ignored, each developer needs their own remote-model binding.

How do you handle this first-time setup in your team?

Microsoft documentation:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/fundamentals/direct-lake-power-bi-project
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/projects/projects-report

Need Help
  • v-kathullac's avatar
    v-kathullac
    1 month ago

    Hi jaryszek ,

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum,Based on your issue below are the debug steps to resolve your issue.

    • The remote model picker does not display the required workspace/model,Verify the user has workspace access, Build permission, correct licensing, and XMLA Read/Write access.
    • If all permissions are already correct, manually configure the semantic model ID in:

               MyModel.SemanticModel/.pbi/localSettings.json

    •            {
                       "remoteModelingObjectId": "<semantic-model-id>"
                  }
    • Make sure the ID is the semantic model ID, not the workspace or report ID.
    • Close and reopen Power BI Desktop,Confirm the metadata overwrite prompt if it appears.
    • Verify that Report view and Model view are now available.Keep definition.pbir with the existing byPath reference.
    • Do not commit localSettings.json to Git because it is developer-specific.
    • Each developer should configure their own remoteModelingObjectId during initial setup.
    • The manual remoteModelingObjectId configuration is the primary solution for the issue described. The other points should be used to verify why the remote model picker failed or if the manual configuration does not work

    Thanks,

    Chaithanya.

1 Reply

  • v-kathullac's avatar
    v-kathullac
    Community Support
    1 month ago

    Hi jaryszek ,

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum,Based on your issue below are the debug steps to resolve your issue.

    • The remote model picker does not display the required workspace/model,Verify the user has workspace access, Build permission, correct licensing, and XMLA Read/Write access.
    • If all permissions are already correct, manually configure the semantic model ID in:

               MyModel.SemanticModel/.pbi/localSettings.json

    •            {
                       "remoteModelingObjectId": "<semantic-model-id>"
                  }
    • Make sure the ID is the semantic model ID, not the workspace or report ID.
    • Close and reopen Power BI Desktop,Confirm the metadata overwrite prompt if it appears.
    • Verify that Report view and Model view are now available.Keep definition.pbir with the existing byPath reference.
    • Do not commit localSettings.json to Git because it is developer-specific.
    • Each developer should configure their own remoteModelingObjectId during initial setup.
    • The manual remoteModelingObjectId configuration is the primary solution for the issue described. The other points should be used to verify why the remote model picker failed or if the manual configuration does not work

    Thanks,

    Chaithanya.