Flowline 0.6.0

Flowline

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Flowline is a Dataverse ALM CLI — structured workflow, Git-tracked solutions, and a fast push to DEV without the enterprise overhead.

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Why Flowline?

PAC CLI gives you the primitives — Flowline gives you the workflow. Export, unpack, pack, and import are building blocks; Flowline turns them into a defined project structure with a clone → push → sync → deploy loop, plus attribute-driven plugin registration and a direct push that skips the pack/import/register cycle. Unlike Power Platform Pipelines — which require Managed Environments and managed solutions — Flowline requires neither.

Pipelines are buried steel — permits, compressors, years to commission. A flowline goes where the pipeline can't.

Flowline is the opinionated successor to spkl — the same attribute-driven plugin registration that now supports Custom APIs, push web resources without spkl.json mapping, a full Git-based ALM workflow, and modern PAC auth.

For small teams that want simple ALM with Git. clone bootstraps an existing solution into the repo and unpacks it per component so git diff shows real changes — not a binary blob. sync captures DEV's state into source control; deploy packages from the repo and imports into the target.

What sets Flowline apart:

• Scaffolded WebResources project. clone creates a web resources project with Rollup + TypeScript already set up — dist/ is automatically wired to push. Swap in any bundler you prefer.
• Fast push for code assets. push syncs plugin assemblies and web resources directly to DEV without a full solution import. Use it from a Flowline project, or point it at a standalone plugin file and web resource folder. --scope assemblyonly updates only the assembly bytes — useful in hot iteration loops when registrations haven't changed.
• Keeps Dataverse in sync with source. Plugin steps, images, and web resources missing from source are deleted or removed (if exist in another solution) on push — no manual cleanup. Use --no-delete to skip.
• Dry-run everything. --dry-run previews every change before it touches Dataverse.
• Human-readable sync summary. After sync, Flowline translates the git diff into a developer-friendly summary — entities and components added, changed, or removed. No raw XML noise.
• Attribute-driven plugin registration. Decorate IPlugin classes with [Step], [Filter], [PreImage], [PostImage], and [CustomApi]; Flowline reads the compiled assembly and handles Dataverse registrations.
• Plugins, workflow activities, and Custom APIs in one assembly. Flowline reads all supported types from a single assembly in one pass.
• One-command environment provisioning. provision copies PROD to a fresh DEV or TEST environment — no manual admin center clicks.
• Modern auth. Flowline reuses the PAC CLI token cache. No passwords, no client secrets in scripts, no Windows Credential Manager.

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Install

dotnet tool install --global Flowline

Prerequisites (PAC CLI and Git):

winget install Microsoft.PowerAppsCLI
winget install Git.Git

Authenticate with PAC CLI before using Flowline:

pac auth create --environment https://your-org.crm4.dynamics.com

Authenticating in CI/CD pipelines:

- run: pac auth create --kind ServicePrincipal --applicationId $CLIENT_ID --clientSecret $CLIENT_SECRET --tenant $TENANT_ID
- run: flowline deploy prod

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Full Project Workflow

Use this when Flowline owns the local solution structure. clone creates .flowline, the unpacked solution, a Plugins project, and a WebResources project.

# Create a Git repo for the Flowline project
mkdir contoso-flowline
cd contoso-flowline
git init

# One-time: bring an existing solution into the repo
flowline clone ContosoSales --prod https://contoso.crm4.dynamics.com

# Daily dev loop
flowline push
flowline sync
git commit -m "feat: add validation"

# Promote
flowline deploy test
flowline deploy prod

Project mode expects this structure:

.flowline                                 # environment URLs and solution config
└── solutions/
    └── ContosoSales/
        ├── ContosoSales.sln
        ├── Package/                      # PAC-managed — do not edit manually
        │   ├── Package.cdsproj
        │   └── src/                      # unpacked solution XML (pac clone / sync)
        ├── Plugins/                      # plugin assembly project
        │   ├── Plugins.csproj
        │   └── Models/                   # early-bound C# types — generated by flowline generate
        ├── WebResources/                 # web resource files
        │   └── dist/                     # files here are synced to Dataverse by push
        └── artifacts/                    # deployment zips (generated by clone, sync, deploy)

Files under WebResources/dist/ are synced to Dataverse by flowline push. Files named *_nosync.* are excluded.

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Commands

Command	What it does
clone <solution>	Bootstrap an existing solution from production into the repo. Sets up the full project structure.
push [solution]	Build and sync project assets to DEV, or push standalone artifacts with --pluginFile / --webresources.
sync [solution]	Pull the current solution state from DEV and unpack it into the repo.
deploy <target>	Pack the solution from the repo and import it into TEST, PROD, or an explicit URL.
provision [dev\|test]	Provision a DEV or TEST environment by copying from production.
generate [solution]	Generate early-bound C# types for the solution's entities and custom APIs into Plugins/Models/. Works standalone outside a Flowline project with -o <PATH>.
status	Show environment info, Flowline version, and PAC CLI status.

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clone

Bootstraps an existing Dataverse solution into a new Git repo. Creates .flowline, unpacks the solution XML into src/, and scaffolds the Plugins and WebResources projects.

flowline clone ContosoSales --prod https://contoso.crm4.dynamics.com

Argument / Option	Description
<solution>	Solution to clone into this repo
--prod <url>	Production environment URL to clone solution from
--test <url>	Test environment URL to clone solution from
--dev <url>	Development environment URL to clone solution from
--managed	Include managed artifacts
-v, --verbose	Show command details
-f, --force	Skip confirmation prompts
--no-cache	Refresh validation checks instead of using the local validation cache

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push

In project mode, builds the solution and syncs plugin assemblies and web resources to DEV. Files under WebResources/dist/ are synced; files named *_nosync.* are excluded.

flowline push

Argument / Option	Description
[solution]	Solution to push (optional in project mode)
-s, --scope <scope>	Limit the push scope: all, webresources, plugins, or assemblyonly. Can be specified multiple times.
-pf, --pluginFile <path>	Prebuilt plugin assembly (.dll) to push without using a Flowline project
-wr, --webresources <path>	Web resource folder to push without using a Flowline project
--dev <url>	Dev environment URL
--no-delete	Push without deleting Dataverse assets that are missing from source
--dry-run	Preview changes without touching Dataverse
-v, --verbose	Show command details
-f, --force	Skip confirmation prompts
--no-cache	Refresh validation checks instead of using the local validation cache

Use --scope assemblyonly to update only the assembly bytes without touching step or Custom API registrations — useful in hot iteration loops when registrations haven't changed:

flowline push --scope assemblyonly

Standalone

Use this when you only want Flowline's direct Dataverse push. You do not need a Flowline project, .flowline, Git repo, solutions/ folder, Plugins project, or WebResources project.

Run it from a normal folder that is not a Flowline project folder:

flowline push ContosoSales --pluginFile ./bin/Release/MyPlugins.dll --dev https://contoso-dev.crm4.dynamics.com
flowline push ContosoSales --webresources ./dist --dev https://contoso-dev.crm4.dynamics.com
flowline push ContosoSales --pluginFile ./bin/Release/MyPlugins.dll --webresources ./dist --dev https://contoso-dev.crm4.dynamics.com

To update only the assembly bytes without touching step or Custom API registrations:

flowline push ContosoSales --pluginFile ./bin/Release/MyPlugins.dll --scope assemblyonly --dev https://contoso-dev.crm4.dynamics.com

If --dev is omitted, Flowline uses the current resource-specific PAC auth profile.

Standalone rules:

• --pluginFile must point to an already-built plugin assembly (.dll).
• --webresources points directly at the folder whose files should be synced.
• --scope is optional. Without it, scope is derived from the provided options. With it, the given scope must match what was provided — --scope plugins or --scope assemblyonly requires --pluginFile; --scope webresources requires --webresources.
• .flowline is not read in standalone mode.
• If .flowline exists in the current folder, standalone mode stops because that usually means project mode and standalone mode were mixed.
• The target solution must be unmanaged.

Plugin and Custom API Registration

Add the Flowline.Attributes NuGet package to your Plugins project:

<PackageReference Include="Flowline.Attributes" Version="1.0.0" PrivateAssets="all" />

Decorate your plugin classes. No base class is needed:

[Step("account")]
[Filter("name", "creditlimit")]
[PreImage("name", "creditlimit")]
public class AccountPreUpdatePlugin : IPlugin
{
    public void Execute(IServiceProvider sp) { ... }
}

flowline push reads the compiled assembly and creates or updates plugin types, steps, images, and Custom API registrations in Dataverse.

Full attribute reference: Flowline.Attributes README Nugget package: Flowline.Attributes

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sync

Pulls the current solution state from DEV and unpacks it into the repo. Run this after making changes in the Dataverse maker portal to capture them in source control.

flowline sync

Argument / Option	Description
[solution]	Solution to sync (optional in project mode)
--dev <url>	Development environment URL
--managed	Include managed artifacts
--bump <component>	Version component to increment: patch, minor, or major (default: patch)
-v, --verbose	Show command details
-f, --force	Skip confirmation prompts
--no-cache	Refresh validation checks instead of using the local validation cache

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deploy

Packs the solution from the repo and imports it into the target environment.

flowline deploy test
flowline deploy prod
flowline deploy https://contoso-uat.crm4.dynamics.com

Argument / Option	Description
<target>	Target environment: prod, test, or a URL
--solution <name>	Solution to deploy
--managed	Deploy the managed package
-v, --verbose	Show command details
-f, --force	Skip confirmation prompts
--no-cache	Refresh validation checks instead of using the local validation cache

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provision

Provisions a DEV or TEST environment by copying from production. Use this once when setting up a new environment.

flowline provision dev --prod https://contoso.crm4.dynamics.com
flowline provision test --prod https://contoso.crm4.dynamics.com

Argument / Option	Description
[role]	Target role: dev or test (default: dev)
--prod <url>	Production environment URL to copy from
--copy <type>	Copy type: minimal (no data) or full (with data) (default: minimal for dev, full for test)
--suffix <text>	Target URL suffix (default: role name)
--allow-overwrite	Overwrite an existing target environment
-v, --verbose	Show command details
-f, --force	Skip confirmation prompts
--no-cache	Refresh validation checks instead of using the local validation cache

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generate

flowline generate wraps pac modelbuilder build with opinionated defaults.

Argument / Option	Description
[solution]	Solution to generate types for (optional in project mode)
--namespace <ns>	Model namespace — saved to .flowline for future runs
--extra-tables <tables>	Comma-separated extra tables to include; replaces the saved list
--dev <url>	Dev environment URL
-o, --output <path>	Output folder for generated types (required outside a Flowline project)
-v, --verbose	Show command details
-f, --force	Skip confirmation prompts
--no-cache	Refresh validation checks instead of using the local validation cache	It auto-discovers the solution's entities and custom APIs from DEV, generates early-bound C# types into Plugins/Models/, and saves the namespace to .flowline.

# First run — namespace derived from Plugins.csproj and saved to .flowline
flowline generate

# Subsequent runs pick up namespace and extra tables from .flowline automatically
flowline generate

# Override or set namespace permanently
flowline generate --namespace Contoso.Plugins.Models

# Include extra tables not in the solution
flowline generate --extra-tables account,contact

Generated types land in Plugins/Models/ alongside your plugin code — no separate assembly, no ILMerge. Running generate again fully replaces the folder, so stale files from removed entities are cleaned up automatically.

Requires an active pac auth create session against the DEV environment. The namespace is derived in order from <RootNamespace>, then <PackageId> (set by pac plugin init --name), then the csproj filename, then <SolutionName>.Models. Once derived, it is saved to .flowline and reused on every subsequent run.

Standalone mode: Run flowline generate outside a Flowline project by supplying -o (output path), --dev, and the solution name. Useful for CI pipelines or repos that don't use the full Flowline structure.

flowline generate ContosoSales \
  --dev https://contoso.crm4.dynamics.com \
  --namespace Contoso.Plugins.Models \
  -o ./src/Models

Outside a Flowline project, --dev and -o are required. --namespace is optional — defaults to <SolutionName>.Models. Nothing is saved to .flowline.

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status

Shows environment info, Flowline version, and PAC CLI authentication status.

flowline status

Option	Description
-v, --verbose	Show command details
-f, --force	Skip confirmation prompts
--no-cache	Refresh validation checks instead of using the local validation cache