Power BI error reference

Messages Power BI Desktop shows when it opens a PBIP project. Each page has the exact message, the causes its sources support, a broken sample and the fix.

• TMDL Format ErrorPower BI Desktop read a .tmdl file in the project and found something it does not accept. The dialog names the file in Document, the line, and a parsing error type. The type is the best clue to the cause.
• Something's wrong with one or more fieldsA visual refers to a field, and the model has no field by that name and of that kind. Power BI Desktop draws the visual with this message instead of data. In a PBIP project the reference is in the visual's visual.json, as a table name and a property name.
• Required properties are missing from objectA file in the report's definition folder has an object without a property its schema requires. The message names the file, the missing property, and the JSON path and line of the object. Microsoft counts a missing required property as a blocking error, so the report does not open until it is fixed.
• The /$schema property in report.json must be provided as a constEvery PBIR file names the schema version it follows in $schema. Power BI Desktop accepts the versions it knows. A file that names another version is refused with this message.
• Values for the 'pageBinding.name' property must be uniqueA page's page.json can carry a pageBinding, which drillthrough and page tooltips use. Other pages can refer to it by name, so the name must be unique within the report. When two pages share a name, Power BI Desktop reports an error.
• Property has not been defined and the schema does not allow additional propertiesPower BI Desktop read a project file and found a property its schema for that file does not have. The message names the file, the property, and its line.

How these pages are written

A message is listed only when it can be quoted from a source: Microsoft Learn, the Microsoft Fabric community forum, or a public GitHub issue. Each quote names its source and the date it was read. Where a quote held a name from someone else's project, the name is replaced with a label in square brackets, and the quote says so. A cause is listed only when its source supports it.

Check a project instead

The Power BI Report Doctor reads a PBIP folder or .zip in your browser and lists the file and line to fix. Each page here says whether it finds that error. Nothing is uploaded.