8 min read
Dual-Write Dropped My Field and Reported Success
Why a dual-write map can complete with zero errors while a custom F&O field never lands in Dataverse — staging tables, unpublished maps, and change tracking after a schema change.
Tag
Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement
Dataverse, Sales, Customer Service, plugins, and Copilot — field notes from customer engagement work.
40 articles
Related series: F&O and Dataverse integration, Copilot in Dynamics 365, Power Automate gotchas
4 min read
Elastic Tables in Dataverse: When Cosmos-Backed Storage Beats Standard Tables
What Dataverse elastic tables are, how TTL, partitioning, and JSON columns work, and how to decide between elastic and standard tables.
7 min read
Business Process Flows in Dynamics 365: Branching, Stage-Gating, and the Limits Nobody Warns You About
A practical guide to designing branching Business Process Flows in model-driven Dynamics 365 apps, with stage-gating, automation hooks, the storage model, and hard limits.
7 min read
The Dataverse Plugin Execution Pipeline: Stages, Transactions, and Images Explained
How the Dataverse event pipeline actually works: pre-validation, pre-operation, post-operation stages, the transaction boundary, entity images, depth, and registration guidance.
6 min read
Client Scripting in Model-Driven Apps Done Right: formContext, Execution Context, and Async
Modern client-side scripting for model-driven apps using formContext over the deprecated Xrm.Page, with handler wiring, async Xrm.WebApi patterns, and maintainability tips.
7 min read
Choosing the Right Dataverse Column: Choice vs Choices vs Lookup vs Customer
A data-modeling guide to Dataverse column types: choice vs multi-select choices vs lookup vs polymorphic customer columns, local vs global choices, status reason, and a decision checklist.
7 min read
Real-Time vs Background Dataverse Workflows: Picking the Right Execution Model
How synchronous and asynchronous classic Dataverse workflows differ in execution, rollback, ordering, and performance, and where Power Automate now fits in.
6 min read
Bulk Operations with the Dataverse Web API $batch Endpoint
Construct multipart batch payloads, use changesets for transactional all-or-nothing writes, reference records across requests, and handle service protection limits.
7 min read
Dataverse Plug-in Performance: Avoiding the Slow Plug-in That Times Out
A synchronous plug-in runs inside the user's transaction with a hard time limit. One slow query or external call can break saves for everyone. Here is how to keep plug-ins fast and safe.
6 min read
Customizing the Model-Driven Command Bar with Power Fx and the Modern Command Designer
Add buttons, write Power Fx visibility rules, target grid form and subgrid locations, pass the selected record, and know when you still need JavaScript libraries.
7 min read
Dataverse Auditing and Column Security: Governance for Sensitive Data
Enable auditing at org, table, and column level, read audit history, manage retention and storage cost, and lock down sensitive fields with column security profiles.
7 min read
Designing a Lead-to-Opportunity Qualification Process in Dynamics 365 Sales
A practical guide to the lead lifecycle, what qualify creates, the Lead-to-Opportunity BPF, duplicate detection, lead scoring, and rep adoption tips.
6 min read
Dataverse Many-to-Many Relationships: Native, Manual, and When to Use Each
Native N:N relationships are quick to set up and impossible to extend. A manual junction table is more work and far more flexible. Choosing wrong means a painful migration later.
7 min read
Queues and Case Management Fundamentals in Dynamics 365 Customer Service
A practical primer on case creation, the case resolution BPF, public and private queues, queue items, routing rules, SLAs, and parent-child cases.
6 min read
Managed vs Unmanaged Solutions and Solution Layering in Dataverse
A clear mental model for solutions, the dev-test-prod ALM flow, managed properties, solution layers, layering holes, segmentation, and patches.
6 min read
Building a Power Pages Portal Backed by Dataverse: Forms, Lists, and Permissions
How to build a Power Pages site over Dataverse — pages, basic vs advanced forms, lists, table permissions, web roles, anonymous vs authenticated access, and Liquid.
7 min read
Grounding a Copilot Studio Agent on Your Dataverse Data Without the Hallucinations
How to ground a Copilot Studio agent on Dataverse and other knowledge sources, keep answers cited and security-trimmed, test for hallucination, and choose tools vs knowledge.
7 min read
Business Units, Teams, and Ownership: Modeling Dataverse Security Without the Sprawl
A practical guide to Dataverse business units, owner vs access vs group teams, ownership and access levels, hierarchy security, and modeling org structures without BU sprawl.
7 min read
Views, Charts, and Dashboards in Model-Driven Apps: Design That Stays Fast
Practical design guidance for model-driven app views, charts, and dashboards: view types, filtering and sorting, chart aggregation, interactive dashboards, performance, and security.
7 min read
Dual-Write vs Virtual Entities vs OData: Choosing the Right F&O–Dataverse Pattern
Compare dual-write, virtual entities, OData, and DMF for Finance and Operations to Dataverse integration with latency and failure tradeoffs.
6 min read
Low-Code Plug-ins in Dataverse: Server-Side Logic Without C#
Learn when to use Dataverse low-code plug-ins with Power Fx for transactional server-side logic, and when C# plug-ins or flows still win.
6 min read
Writing Your First Dataverse Plug-in in C#: A Complete Walkthrough
Build a first Dataverse C# plug-in with IPlugin, pipeline stages, Target handling, tracing, registration, and production-safe practices.
6 min read
Business Rules vs Power Fx vs Plug-ins: Where to Put Dataverse Logic
A practical Dataverse logic placement guide comparing business rules, Power Fx, JavaScript form scripts, and C# plug-ins for scale.
6 min read
Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales: What It Does and How to Configure It
Configure Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales with practical guidance on summaries, email drafting, meeting prep, data readiness, and governance.
6 min read
Model-Driven App Forms: Customization Patterns That Scale
Design scalable model-driven app forms with tabs, sections, quick views, business rules, form scripts, security, and performance patterns.
6 min read
Alternate Keys and Upsert in Dataverse: Reliable Integrations Without Duplicates
Use Dataverse alternate keys and Web API upsert to build idempotent integrations that match business identifiers, avoid duplicates, and simplify retries.
6 min read
Calculated and Rollup Columns in Dataverse: Patterns and Limits
Compare Dataverse calculated, rollup, and formula columns with practical examples, platform limits, timing tradeoffs, and when plug-ins are safer.
6 min read
Securing Power Pages with Dataverse Table Permissions and Web Roles
Secure Power Pages data with Dataverse table permissions, access scopes, web roles, column profiles, and testing practices that prevent data leaks.
7 min read
Configuring SLAs and Entitlements in Dynamics 365 Customer Service
Configure Dynamics 365 Customer Service SLAs, KPI timers, business hours, pause rules, Power Automate actions, and entitlements without surprises.
6 min read
Querying the Dataverse Web API: FetchXML, OData, and When to Use Each
Choose OData or FetchXML for Dataverse Web API queries with practical examples for select, filter, joins, aggregation, paging, and performance.
7 min read
D365 Unified Routing: Skills-Based Assignment That Works
Master Dynamics 365 Customer Service unified routing with skills-based assignment, capacity profiles, and overflow rules to cut handle time and boost CSAT.
6 min read
MCP Explained: How Claude Connects to Your Dataverse Data
An introduction to the Model Context Protocol and how the Dataverse MCP server lets Claude read and write business data through natural language.
6 min read
Querying Dataverse from Claude: A Practical MCP Walkthrough
A hands-on example of using the Dataverse MCP server with Claude to query tables, create records, and update data in Dynamics 365 through natural language.
4 min read
What's New in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform — 2026 Release Wave 1
The standout features from Microsoft's 2026 Release Wave 1 for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, and what they mean for your projects.
8 min read
Building Custom Copilot Plugins for D365 Sales: Your First Action Step by Step
A hands-on tutorial for creating custom Copilot plugins in Dynamics 365 Sales — from defining a custom API to registering a plugin that Copilot can invoke, with real examples and permission gotchas.
9 min read
Autonomous AI Agents in D365 Sales and Customer Service: What You Actually Need to Know
A practical breakdown of the Sales Qualification Agent, Case Management Agent, and the governance framework you need before deploying them.
9 min read
Dual-Write Between D365 F&O and Dataverse: Pitfalls and Patterns That Actually Work
A field-tested guide to dual-write configuration between D365 Finance & Operations and Dataverse — covering initial sync failures, conflict resolution, performance tuning, and when to use alternatives like virtual entities or data export service.
9 min read
Dataverse Security Roles: A Practical Guide to Getting Them Right
How Dataverse security roles actually work, common mistakes that leave data exposed, and the layered model you should be using in 2026.
3 min read
Detecting Create vs Update Triggers in Dataverse Power Automate Flows
How to distinguish between create and update operations in Dataverse-triggered flows, filter Change type at the trigger, and handle the missing pre-image problem.
3 min read
Dataverse Solution Components: A 2026 Quick Reference
A practical reference for solution component types, their IDs, and how to work with solution XML in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.