MFA UI not displayed when running CLI with C# script path

[apanasara]

Description

When running Tabular Editor 3 from the CLI with a C# script path parameter, the MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) UI is not displayed, preventing authentication to Power BI Service.

Environment

• Tabular Editor Version: 3
• Connection Type: Power BI Service
• Authentication: MFA enabled
• OS: Windows

Working Command (without script)

"C:\Program Files\Tabular Editor 3\TabularEditor3.exe" "powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/WorkspaceName" "DatasetName"

✅ MFA UI is displayed correctly

Non-working Command (with script)

"C:\Program Files\Tabular Editor 3\TabularEditor3.exe" "powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/WorkspaceName" "DatasetName" -S "C:\Users\MyScript.csx"

❌ MFA UI is not displayed

Expected Behavior

The MFA authentication UI should be displayed regardless of whether a C# script path is specified in the CLI parameters.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Enable MFA on your Power BI account
2. Run the first CLI command (without -S parameter) - authentication works as expected
3. Run the second CLI command (with -S parameter) - MFA UI does not appear

Actual Behavior

When the -S script parameter is included, the application appears to hang or fails silently without prompting for MFA credentials.

[otykier]

TE3 is not intended to be executed through CLI. Specifically, the -S switch will not work with TE3. Can you use TE2 instead?

[apanasara]

with TE2, Terminal is showing Loading Model Message, but no TE2 UI is displayed

Task Manager

[otykier]

@apanasara could you try to add ;Interactive Login=Always to the connection string? I.e. such that the command you execute looks like this:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Tabular Editor\TabularEditor.exe" "Data Source=powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/WorkspaceName;Interactive Login=Always" "DatasetName" -S "C:\Users\MyScript.csx"

When Interactive login is not specified, the AS client library will use the default Work & School Account in the Windows Account Manager, which explains why you don't see the popup in that case.

[apanasara]

🛠️ CSX Script Execution: TE vs CLI (Tabular Editor)

🚦 Observations

1. UI in background 🤔:
   When running with -S, the MFA window is not prompted in foreground and TE is not visible. MFA is behind script calling window. This issue does not occur if you run without -S. MFA & TE is prompted in foreground.

2. Errors thrown 🚫:
   The same CSX script runs fine directly in TE, but shows multiple script compilation errors when executed via CLI.

---

🧑‍💻 CSX Script

#r "C:\Program Files\Tabular Editor 3\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll" 
// <-- copy dll from "C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll" and paste on this location


// Reference: Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel is required for this script to work.
// Ensure you have Excel installed and accessible from your system.
using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel;
using System.IO;
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;

// Define the Excel file path
string excelFilePath = Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables(@"%userprofile%\Documents\Table_Source.xlsx"); // <-- path of file to be corrected

// Extract parameter value (e.g., #"Server Name")
string GrabValue(string mCode, string pattern, int patternIndex)
{
    var result = "";
    var match = Regex.Match(mCode, pattern);

    if (match.Success)
    {
        
        var arg = match.Groups[patternIndex].Value.Trim();
        var parameterName = "";
        
        // case: "Argument"
        if( arg.StartsWith("\"") ) {
            result = arg;
        } 
        
        // case: #"Argument"
        else if( arg.StartsWith("#") ) {
            parameterName = arg.Substring(2, arg.Length - 3);
            result =  Model.Expressions.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name == parameterName).Expression;
        } 

        // case: Argument
        else {
            parameterName = arg;
            result =  Model.Expressions.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name == parameterName).Expression;
        }

        
        match = Regex.Match( result, """([^""]+)""" );
        if (match.Success) 
            result = match.Groups[1].Value;
    }
    return result;

}


// Initialize Excel application
var excelApp = new Application();
excelApp.Visible = false;
excelApp.DisplayAlerts = false;

Workbook workbook;
Worksheet worksheet;

// Check if the file exists
if (File.Exists(excelFilePath))
{
    workbook = excelApp.Workbooks.Open(excelFilePath, ReadOnly: false);
    worksheet = workbook.Sheets[1];
}
else
{
    workbook = excelApp.Workbooks.Add();
    worksheet = workbook.Sheets[1];
    worksheet.Cells[1, 1].Value = "Dataset";
    worksheet.Cells[1, 2].Value = "Table";
    worksheet.Cells[1, 3].Value = "Server";
    worksheet.Cells[1, 4].Value = "DB";
    worksheet.Cells[1, 5].Value = "Schema";
    worksheet.Cells[1, 6].Value = "DB View/Table";
}

// Start appending data from the last row
int lastRow = worksheet.Cells[worksheet.Rows.Count, 1].End(XlDirection.xlUp).Row + 1;
string Dataset = Model.Database.Name;
string PQry = "";
string vwName;

// Loop through all tables in the model
foreach (var table in Model.Tables)
{
    string sourceType = $"{table.SourceType}";
    if( sourceType == "M" ||sourceType == "PolicyRange")
    {
        if( sourceType == "PolicyRange" )
        {
            PQry = table.SourceExpression; // Extracting power query
        }
        else
        {
            PQry = table.Partitions[0].Expression;
        }

        if( PQry?.Contains("Sql.Database") == true || PQry?.Contains("PostGProd") == true )
        {
            worksheet.Cells[lastRow, 1].Value = Dataset;
            worksheet.Cells[lastRow, 2].Value = table.Name; // Table Name 
             
            worksheet.Cells[lastRow, 3].Value = GrabValue(PQry,  @"Sql\.Database\s*\(\s*([^,\)]+)\s*,\s*([^,\)]+)", 1 );
            worksheet.Cells[lastRow, 4].Value = GrabValue(PQry,  @"Sql\.Database\s*\(\s*([^,\)]+)\s*,\s*([^,\)]+)", 2 );
            worksheet.Cells[lastRow, 5].Value = GrabValue(PQry,  @"Schema\s*=\s*(#?""[^""]+""|\w+)\s*,\s*Item\s*=\s*(#?""[^""]+""|\w+)", 1 );
            worksheet.Cells[lastRow, 6].Value = GrabValue(PQry,   @"Schema\s*=\s*(#?""[^""]+""|\w+)\s*,\s*Item\s*=\s*(#?""[^""]+""|\w+)", 2 );
            lastRow++;
        
        }
        else{}
    } else{}
    PQry = null;
}

// Save and close the workbook

workbook.SaveAs(excelFilePath, XlFileFormat.xlOpenXMLWorkbook);
workbook.Close(false);
excelApp.Quit();

// Release COM objects
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(worksheet);
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(workbook);
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(excelApp);
worksheet = null;
workbook = null;
excelApp = null;
GC.Collect();
GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers();

Info("Export completed successfully!");

---

⚠️ CMD Error Log

Tabular Editor 2.27.2 (build 2.27.9403.24625)
--------------------------------
Loading model...
Loaded script: C:\xxx\TE Scripts\Table Power Query Extract.csx
Executing script 0...
Script compilation errors:
Error CS1056 on line 89, col 25: Unexpected character '$'
Error CS1513 on line 13, col 109: } expected
Error CS1519 on line 56, col 18: Invalid token '=' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 57, col 24: Invalid token '=' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 63, col 1: Invalid token 'if' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 63, col 16: Invalid token '(' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 63, col 30: Invalid token ')' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 65, col 14: Invalid token '=' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 65, col 39: Invalid token '(' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 65, col 53: Invalid token ',' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 65, col 63: Invalid token ':' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS1519 on line 66, col 15: Invalid token '=' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS0270 on line 66, col 33: Array size cannot be specified in a variable declaration (try initializing with a 'new' expression)
Error CS1519 on line 66, col 35: Invalid token ';' in class, struct, or interface member declaration
Error CS0116 on line 68, col 1: A namespace cannot directly contain members such as fields or methods
Error CS1001 on line 71, col 33: Identifier expected
Error CS1001 on line 72, col 21: Identifier expected
Error CS1001 on line 73, col 21: Identifier expected
Error CS1001 on line 74, col 21: Identifier expected
Error CS1001 on line 75, col 21: Identifier expected
Error CS1001 on line 76, col 21: Identifier expected
Error CS1001 on line 77, col 21: Identifier expected
Error CS0116 on line 81, col 1: A namespace cannot directly contain members such as fields or methods
Error CS1001 on line 81, col 53: Identifier expected
Error CS1001 on line 98, col 37: Identifier expected
Error CS1022 on line 99, col 9: Type or namespace definition, or end-of-file expected

[otykier]

Okay, I see what's going on.

The script uses C# language features beyond what's supported in the default .NET Framework compiler (for example, interpolated strings that use $). These language features are not, by default, supported in Tabular Editor 2. Tabular Editor 3, however, uses the Roslyn compiler, which does allow these features to be used in scripts.

As such, you have two options:

1. Modify your script so it doesn't use language features beyond C# 5.0. For example, that would encompass changing interpolated strings to use string.Format, and replace script methods string GrabValue(...) with Func<...> delegates (this should be easy for an LLM to do)

or

2. Configure Tabular Editor 2 to use the Roslyn compiler. This will apply to scripts that are executed both in TE2's UI, as well as through the TE2 CLI.