Graph Builder

Build exploratory Power BI visuals without leaving the report canvas

Graph Builder is a Power BI custom visual for exploratory data analysis, EDA, data visualization, and interactive chart building. It turns Power BI into a hands-on data analyzer and explorer for analysts who want JMP- or Minitab-style flexibility inside their reports. Compare relationships, distributions, segments, trends, outliers, and multivariate patterns in one flexible visual. Add fields once, then build layered chart views with pages, facets, small multiples, axes, color, and size encodings directly inside Power BI.

Why teams use Graph Builder

Graph Builder helps report authors move beyond a single fixed chart type, chart visual, or static dashboard tile. It is designed for fast exploratory analysis, reusable report layouts, ad hoc analysis, visual analytics, and compact visual storytelling when business users need to inspect data from more than one angle.

• Build in Power BI Service: let users create and adjust charts directly in the Power BI Service so they can tailor views to how they want to explore the data even after publishing.
• Layer multiple chart types: combine a scatter plot, line chart, bar chart, heat map, histogram, box plot, trend line, regression line, and related chart views where the data relationship supports them.
• Split views by page and facet: compare categories, groups, cohorts, and segments in aligned panels, trellis charts, facet charts, faceted charts, and small multiples without duplicating visuals across the report page.
• Control analytical encodings: assign fields to X axis, Y axis, page, facet, color, size, and mark roles to reveal patterns across measures, dimensions, and categories.
• Adapt to mixed data: work with continuous data, categorical data, numeric fields, category fields, aggregation behavior, and chart-specific compatibility handling.
• Design inside Power BI: configure chart stack, axes, axis labels, data labels, mark settings, formatting options, and viewer behavior from the visual experience.

Built for practical analysis workflows

Use Graph Builder for KPI exploration, category comparison, measure comparison, multivariate analysis, distribution analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis, trend analysis, outlier detection, outlier review, and relationship discovery. Education teams can compare student outcomes, assessment results, attendance patterns, course performance, schools, classes, programs, terms, and cohorts. Manufacturing teams can explore production metrics, quality measurements, process variation, downtime patterns, supplier performance, lines, plants, shifts, batches, and product groups. Graph Builder is especially useful when a report needs several coordinated chart perspectives, but the author wants to keep the experience compact and interactive.

• Compare measure relationships with a scatter plot, scatter chart, regression line, trend line, and regression view.
• Review categorical performance with a bar chart, bar graph, heat map, and heatmap layout.
• Inspect spread, skew, variance, distributions, and outliers with a histogram and box plot.
• Separate complex results into page panels, facet panels, trellis panels, and small multiple views for easier scanning.
• Preserve viewer state locally where supported by the Power BI host.

Trial functionality

Graph Builder can be evaluated in trial mode so report authors can test the Power BI visual, configure chart layouts, explore sample report data, and validate whether the analysis workflow fits their report. During the trial, the visual processes up to the first 100 rows of data. A paid license is required to process more rows and use the visual with full report-scale datasets.

Important setup note

Bind a unique index field for each row. Power BI can collapse or filter duplicated rows when row identity is not unique. Add an index column to your dataset and bind it to the visual so Graph Builder receives every row needed for accurate rendering.

Who it is for

Graph Builder is intended for Power BI report authors, data analysts, business analysts, BI teams, data science teams, education analysts, manufacturing analysts, quality analysts, and operations teams that need a more flexible visual grammar for exploratory dashboards, analytical dashboards, and analytical report pages.