Do you know where you were on June 15, 2023? Do not fret, neither do I. But I do remember a blog post written by Rui Romano announcing the preview of the Power BI Project (PBIP) format back then.
Many in the Power BI world rejoiced at this news. Microsoft was finally taking steps toward better practices seen in software development and applying them to the analytics space.
As it happens, June 15, 2023 was just the first step. Since then, PBIP has evolved into the format we have today and I am happy to see that, as of September 2026, PBIP is generally available as a fully-supported feature for Power BI by Microsoft.
Before I explain the mechanics of PBIP, let me outline the real problems it was designed to solve.
Not included in John’s article: “Power BI Report Server.” Because Power BI Report Server users learn early on not to attempt to rise above their station.