Template packs — use any `.pbix` as the design¶

The fastest way to a dashboard that looks like yours: take a report you already like, compile it into a template pack, and generate every new dashboard inside it.

pbigen template build company_standard.pbix --out brand_pack    # once
pbigen template show brand_pack                                 # see what was captured
pbigen generate --source <kind> --set <...> --template brand_pack

You can also skip the build step and pass the report directly — pbigen compiles it on the fly:

pbigen generate --source <kind> --set <...> --template ~/Downloads/company_standard.pbix

Where to get the report¶

Power BI Service: open the report → File → Download this file → A copy of your report and data (or a live connection). Either .pbix works — only the layout is read.
Power BI Desktop: File → Save as .pbix, .pbit (template) or .pbip (project folder).
Gallery / community templates: any .pbix/.pbit you are licensed to use.

Accepted inputs: legacy .pbix/.pbit (the classic Report/Layout), PBIR-format .pbix, a PBIP project (.pbip file or its .Report folder). A report pbigen generated is itself a valid template.

What a pack captures¶

pbigen picks the page with the most data visuals as the reference page (override with --page "Page name") and measures it:

Captured	From	Used for
Canvas	page width/height, background image, wallpaper	every generated page
Content region	bounding box of their data visuals	where your KPI band and story grid go
Filter rail	bounding box of their slicers	your filters (stacked if tall, side by side if wide)
Header	their most prominent title textbox near the top: position, font, size, colour, alignment, background	your page title + the page's headline question
Chrome	shapes, images, page navigators outside the content (sidebar panels, header bands, logos) + large backdrop panels	copied with exact positions; full-height panels grow when a page grows
Styles	per visual type, the most-formatted example (borders, radius, shadows, title fonts, backgrounds, labels, slicer look)	merged under pbigen's own bindings on every matching visual
Theme	the report's custom theme JSON	registered as the report theme (`--theme` overrides)
Assets	images in the report's registered resources	copied when the background/chrome references them

What a pack deliberately leaves out¶

Data and field bindings — no queries, no columns, no measures.
Data-bound formatting — per-data-point colours with field selectors, conditional formatting bound to their measures.
Content text — their visual titles, textbox text, slicer selections and dates.
Per-visual decorations inside the content area — small icons or panels behind individual charts (those belonged to their layout).
Buttons and bookmarks — they point at pages and bookmarks that won't exist in yours.

Everything left out is exactly what pbigen regenerates for your data. If you need an exact clone of one report on the same data, use Power BI Desktop's Save as → .pbip.

The pack folder¶

brand_pack/
├── pack.json        # canvas, frame (content / filters / header), chrome, title style, styles
├── theme.json       # their custom theme (if the report had one)
└── assets/          # their images (backgrounds, logos, icons)

pack.json is plain JSON — version it, review it, or tweak it (e.g. nudge the content rectangle or remove a chrome element) and every future dashboard follows.

Tips¶

Pick the right reference page. If the report's first page is a cover, point at a real dashboard page: pbigen template build r.pbix --page "Overview".
No custom theme? Reports that used a built-in theme have no theme.json; the pack still carries canvas, chrome and styles. Add --theme ./corporate.json at generate time if you like.
Tall canvases (e.g. 2500 × 2500 scroll pages) are preserved; pages that need more room grow taller rather than squashing charts.
Brand from Python:

from pbigen.template import build_pack
pack = build_pack("company_standard.pbix", "brand_pack")
print(pack.content, pack.filters, pack.title_style)

Troubleshooting¶

Symptom	Fix
`no report layout found`	The file isn't a Power BI report (or is password-protected/encrypted). Re-save it from Desktop.
Visuals overlap the report's own sidebar	The reference page had data visuals under the sidebar; choose another page with `--page`.
Title lands in the wrong place	The biggest text near the top wasn't the title; edit `header` in `pack.json`.
Theme looks default	The report used a built-in theme; pass `--theme` or accept the base theme.

Template packs — use any .pbix as the design¶