Automating PDF export from a .pbit template so the report can be bundled into an output ZIP
Hi all, I am looking for advice on automating the final step of a POC report generation process, and I want to sanity check what is actually possible before I go too far down one route. The current setup We run a batch data analysis process orchestrated on Alteryx Server, using a set of Alteryx macros. A customer file is processed by an upstream matching engine, and a second automated job collects the resulting CSV outputs, builds a folder of clean report ready files, compresses everything into a single ZIP, and drops it on a file share. All the steps that need to be performed, and the order they run in, are held in SQLite tables, so the orchestration layer is already data driven and I have somewhere sensible to slot an extra step in. An analyst then does the following manually: Downloads and unzips the output ZIP. Copies a Power BI template file (.pbit) into the working folder. Opens the .pbit, which prompts for a folder path parameter, and points it at the local data folder. Waits for the model to load and all visuals to render. Part of our documented instructions is that the analyst has to navigate to the map page and actually click on the map visual before exporting, otherwise the map does not render properly in the PDF and comes out blank or incomplete. Exports the report to PDF from Power BI Desktop, then saves it back to the working folder. The report structure never changes. Only the underlying CSV data and a couple of parameter values (a display name and the folder path) change per run. What I want to achieve I want the PDF to be generated automatically as part of the batch job, so that when the requester downloads the output ZIP, the finished PDF is already sitting inside it. Ideally with zero manual Power BI Desktop interaction. I have already spent a fair bit of time on this with AI tools, both ChatGPT and Claude, and I still have not landed on a workable approach. They both keep steering me towards publishing to the Power BI Service and orchestrating the export through Power Automate. I am not ruling that out forever, but it is not a good fit for what I am trying to do right now. The whole point is that the PDF is already in the ZIP at the moment the person downloads it, rather than being produced somewhere else and delivered separately. So I would really appreciate any help or ideas from people who have tackled something similar. Happy to provide more detail on the structure if that is useful. Many thanks in advance :)
How are teams automating Power BI development workflows using AI agents?
I am exploring how AI agents can help automate repetitive tasks in Power BI development and data workflows. Some possible use cases: Automatically generating reports from business requirements Triggering data preparation workflows through APIs Validating datasets before publishing dashboards Detecting anomalies and suggesting improvements Automating documentation for datasets and reports I am interested in learning how developers are currently combining Microsoft Fabric, Power BI APIs, notebooks, and AI agents. What architecture patterns or best practices are you using for AI-driven BI automation?How to Configure Scheduled Refresh in Power BI for Data Connected via Zoho People API?
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Can we improve relationship arrow rendering in the semantic model view?
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Couldnt authenticate web content(REST API)
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