Interactive Deployment Checklist Tool

The 7-Step Deployment Checklist

From Desktop to Deployed In Minutes

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Open a Section

Click any section header to expand or collapse it.

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Tick Off Steps

Check each item as you complete it — it fades to keep focus on what's left.

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Track Your Count

Each section shows a live counter (e.g. 3 / 7) at a glance.

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Copy Templates

Use the Copy buttons in Section 4 to grab emails, prompts & the ReadMe.

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Reset Anytime

Refresh the page to clear all checkboxes and start fresh.

🎉 Deployment Complete! Your report is live. Your team is using real data.

Section 1 of 4

Follow these steps when publishing a Power BI report for the very first time.

⚡ Phase 1 — Prep & Connect

Step 1: Set Up the Teams Folder & Redirect the M-Query

Create a master folder called "Power BI Report Data" in your shared Teams channel or SharePoint. Inside it, create a subfolder for this specific report. Add a 00 - Important Read Me Info.txt file. Move your source data into the new subfolder. Open Power Query Editor, switch the M-Query connection from your local file path to the new SharePoint web URL. Refresh locally to confirm the connection works. Use Bonus 2 below if you need help rewriting the M-Query code.

Step 2: Get the Right Permission & Licence

Confirm you have a Power BI Pro (or Premium Per User) licence to publish and share. Ensure you have Admin or Contributor access to the target Power BI Workspace. Use the IT Permissions Request Templates (Bonus 1 below) if you haven't got this yet.

📤 Phase 2 — Publish & Configure

Step 3: Publish the Report to the Workspace

Run through the Pre-Publish QA Checklist (Section 3 below) first. Then click Publish in Power BI Desktop, select your designated Workspace, and wait for the success confirmation.

Step 4: Add the Report to the App

Navigate to your Workspace and click Create App (or Update App if one already exists). Go to the Content tab, click Add Content, and select your newly published report from the workspace to include it in the app. Customise the navigation if needed.

Step 5: Set Up Your App Audience

Move to the Audience tab within the app setup. Select the default audience or create a new one (e.g., "Maintenance Team"). Click the "eye" icon next to your report to make it visible to this audience. Add the specific email addresses, Teams groups, or distribution lists of the people you want to see the report.

📲 Phase 3 — Share & Distribute

Step 6: Set Up the Automated Scheduled Refresh

In the Power BI Service workspace, find the Semantic Model (dataset) associated with the report. Go to Settings → Scheduled Refresh. Authenticate your credentials (usually OAuth2) under Data Source Credentials. Toggle Scheduled Refresh to On and select your daily refresh times (e.g., 6:00 AM so backlog data is ready for the morning maintenance meeting).

Step 7: Publish the App & Send the Link

Click Publish App to make it live. Copy the final App link provided by Power BI. Send an email or Teams message to your stakeholders with the link, letting them know the maintenance report is now live, auto-refreshing, and ready to use.

Section 2 of 4

Use this every time you push updates to an already-live report.

Step 1: Run the Pre-Publish QA Checklist

Before touching Publish, run through every item in Section 3 (Pre-Publish Quality Assurance) below. This is your insurance policy against pushing a broken report to a live audience.

Step 2: Refresh & Save Locally

Click Refresh in Power BI Desktop to test all data connections. Confirm all visuals are showing the correct, up-to-date data. Save your .pbix file.

Step 3: Publish and Overwrite the Existing Dataset

Click Publish and select the exact same Workspace as before. When prompted, click Replace to overwrite the existing report and dataset. Do not publish to a new workspace or create a duplicate.

Step 4: Update the Workspace App (Critical — Don't Skip This)

⚠️ Warning: Publishing from Desktop only updates the Workspace, NOT the App your maintenance team is looking at!

Go to your Workspace in the Power BI Service. Click Update App. You do not need to change the setup or audience — just navigate through to the final tab and click Update App to push your new changes live to the end-users. If you skip this step, your team will still see the old version.

Section 3 of 4

Run every item before publishing — whether it's a first publish or an update.

🎨 Visual Cleanup & UI

Hide all unnecessary pages

Right-click any working/scratchpad pages and select Hide Page so end users only see the intended report pages.

Hide action/navigation pages

Pages used as button targets or tooltip pages should be hidden — users shouldn't land on them directly.

Turn off unnecessary visual headers

In the Format pane for each visual, disable the visual header icons on visuals where they add no value for users. (Format Visual → General → Header Icons → Icons)

Proofread all text & confirm consistent formatting

Check all titles, labels, tooltips, and button text for spelling and grammatical errors. Ensure consistent use of fonts, colours, and branding across all pages.

Check alignment & spacing

Ensure all visuals and text boxes are properly aligned on the canvas with consistent spacing between them. Confirm nothing is overlapping unexpectedly.

🎛️ Default State & Interactivity

Clear all slicers & reset to default state

Before publishing, clear every slicer so the report opens in a clean, unfiltered state. This is what users will see on first load.

Collapse the filter pane

Make sure the Filters pane is collapsed before saving so it doesn't dominate the screen for new users.

Test all navigation bookmarks & buttons

Click every bookmark and button in the report to confirm they navigate to the correct pages and visuals.

Confirm visual cross-filter behaviour

Click visuals across each page and confirm the cross-filtering behaviour is correct and intentional. Use Edit Interactions to fix any unexpected filtering.

📊 Data

Spot-check key data points against the source

Pick 3–5 key metrics and cross-reference them directly against your source data (spreadsheet or system). Confirm the numbers match exactly.

Section 4 of 4

Your three deployment shortcuts — copy and paste when you need them.

Bonus 1 IT Permissions Request Templates

Copy the appropriate template and send it directly to your IT support team. It tells them exactly what you need and why — removing every excuse for delay.

Template 1 — Request access to an existing workspace

Subject: Request for Power BI Pro License & Workspace Contributor Access
    
    Hi IT Support Team,
    
    I am requesting a Power BI Pro License and access to the [Insert Workspace Name] Power BI Workspace.
    
    Could you please assign me a Power BI Pro License and the "Contributor" role for this specific workspace?
    
    I require this specific license and role level so that I can:
    
      1. Publish new maintenance reports directly to the Power BI Service (Pro License required).
      2. Update the workspace App to distribute reports to our end-users.
      3. Set up and manage scheduled data refreshes for our connected datasets.
    
    Thank you,
    [Your Name]
    [Your Department/Job Title]
    [Your Contact Information]

Template 2 — Request creation of a new workspace

Subject: Request to Create New Power BI Workspace – [Workspace Name]
    
    Hi IT Support Team,
    
    I am requesting the creation of a new Power BI Workspace and the assignment of the "Contributor" role for myself upon setup.
    
    Workspace Name: [Insert Desired Workspace Name]
    
    Could you please create this workspace and assign me the "Contributor" role so that I can:
    
      1. Publish new maintenance reports directly to the Power BI Service.
      2. Update the workspace App to distribute reports to our end-users.
      3. Set up and manage scheduled data refreshes for our connected datasets.
    
    Please let me know if you require any further information or approvals to proceed.
    
    Thank you,
    [Your Name]
    [Your Department/Job Title]
    [Your Contact Information]

Bonus 2 Local-to-SharePoint Data Source Switch — AI Prompt

Paste your M-Query code and your new SharePoint URL into this prompt and send it to ChatGPT or Claude. It will rewrite your connection code instantly — no coding knowledge required.

Act as an expert Power Query M developer. I am moving a data source in my Power BI report from a local drive to a SharePoint/Teams site.
    I need you to update my M code to use the Web connector for a direct file link instead of the local File connector.
    CRITICAL INSTRUCTIONS:
    - Replace File.Contents("...") with Web.Contents("...").
    - Do not use the SharePoint.Files or SharePoint.Contents connectors — I am providing a direct, absolute path to a single file.
    - Keep all Excel.Workbook or Csv.Document wrappers exactly as they are.
    - Do not change any variable names, step names, or downstream transformation logic.
    - Every step after the Source (and potentially Navigation) must remain completely untouched.
    - Output ONLY the completely rewritten M code in a single code block.
    - Do not include any explanations before or after the code block.
    My new SharePoint URL:
    [Paste your SharePoint file URL here — right-click the file in Teams/SharePoint → Copy Link]
    My current M code from the Advanced Editor:
    [Paste your M code here]

Bonus 3 The "Do Not Touch" ReadMe Template

Save this as a .txt file named 00 - Important Read Me Info.txt and drop it into the top of your SharePoint data folder. It protects your report from accidental data breakage by colleagues.

*** WARNING: DO NOT EDIT, RENAME, MOVE, OR DELETE FILES IN THIS FOLDER ***
    
    This folder contains the live source data for the [Insert Report Name] Power BI Report.
    The automated daily refresh process relies on the EXACT file names and folder structure found here.
    Any unauthorised changes will immediately BREAK the report and disrupt the maintenance team's live dashboards.
    
    IF YOU NEED TO MAKE CHANGES — STOP.
    Contact the report owner BEFORE taking any action:
    
      Report Owner: [Your Name]
      Contact Email: [Your Email]
      Department:   [Your Department / Team]
    
    You can view the live published version of this report here:
    [Insert Link to Power BI App]
    
    Thank you for helping us maintain data integrity.

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