ErrorIn Fabric Git sync2 causes · The Report Doctor detects 1.

Cannot read 'definition.pbir'

Power BI

In general form, with the parts that change in brackets:

Report Workload failed to DiscoverDependencies for DefinitionId = [id] and threw an exception with this message: Cannot read 'definition.pbir'. [what was wrong] Path '[path]', line [n], position [n].

What it means

Fabric Git integration could not read the report's definition.pbir while it synced a workspace. The message names the JSON path and the line where reading stopped. In the quoted case that was the report's connection to its semantic model.

Usually: definition.pbir is not valid JSON where the message points Your copy and the workspace do not match
Fix: Open definition.pbir at the line and path the message names, and make it valid JSON.

Check your project for this See how to fix it

Check your project opens the Report Doctor with this message filled in. The text travels in the URL fragment, which browsers never send to a server.

On this page

How the message appears
What causes it
The fix
Worth knowing
Sources

How the message appears

Copied exactly from each source. A name in square brackets replaced one from someone else's project.

Report Workload failed to DiscoverDependencies for DefinitionId = [definition id] and threw an exception with this message: Cannot read 'definition.pbir'. Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: p. Path 'datasetReference.byConnection', line 7, position 20.

Microsoft forum: Still issues with Developer mode and Git Integration. Read 2026-11-08.[1]Identifiers replaced

What causes it

definition.pbir is not valid JSON where the message points
The message says reading stopped at an unexpected character, at datasetReference.byConnection on line 7. The answer marked as the solution says to check definition.pbir for a syntax error or an unexpected character.
Source: Still issues with Developer mode and Git Integration[1].
The Report Doctor finds this. It reports “A JSON file is not valid JSON”, with the file and line.
Your copy and the workspace do not match
The same answer says to make sure the report stored locally and the one in the workspace are the same, and to update Power BI Desktop to the latest version and publish again. In the thread, the report had been published by hand to a workspace that held a semantic model synced from Git.
Source: Still issues with Developer mode and Git Integration[1].
The Report Doctor can't detect this, because it reads the files you give it, not the workspace or what Git has synced.

The fix

Open definition.pbir at the line and path the message names, and make it valid JSON. Then make sure your copy and the workspace match, update Power BI Desktop, and publish or commit again.

In RP_Report01.Report/definition.pbir:

Not valid JSON

"path": ../SM_SalesSense.SemanticModel

Line 1: add " twice.

Valid JSON

"path": "../SM_SalesSense.SemanticModel"

A value without its quotes is one unexpected character that stops the read.

From the SalesSense sample project by Rui Romano (MIT licence).

The Power BI Report Doctor finds a definition.pbir that is not valid JSON and gives the file and line. It cannot see the workspace or what Git has synced. Nothing is uploaded.

For the other messages a project can stop on, listed by the file that causes each, see Power BI Desktop can't open a PBIP.

Worth knowing

This message comes from Fabric Git integration, when a workspace syncs with its repository.

Sources

[1]Microsoft forum: Still issues with Developer mode and Git Integration. The original post (2024-10-13) with the sync error's details, and Community Support's reply marked as the solution. Read 2026-11-08.

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