Extend The Power Platform with Custom Connectors - CollabDays NL 2022
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Daniel Laskewitz, a senior developer advocate at Microsoft, presented on extending the Power Platform with custom connectors during the #collabdaysnl event. The presentation covered the definition and types of connectors, the step-by-step process to build them, and included multiple demos showcasing connector creation and management. Resources for further learning and certification processes for independent publisher connectors were also shared.
Extend The Power Platform with Custom Connectors - CollabDays NL 2022
- 1. #CollabDaysNL | @CollabDaysNL | www.collabdays.org/2022-nl Daniel Laskewitz Senior Developer Advocate, Microsoft Extend the Power Platform with Custom Connectors
- 2. #CollabDaysNL | @CollabDaysNL | www.collabdays.org/2022-nl OUR SPONSORS
- 3. Daniel Laskewitz Developer Advocate @ Microsoft https://twitter.com/laskewitz https://linkedin.com/in/laskewitz
- 4. Agenda ž Connectors ž What is a connector? ž Why use custom connectors? ž Step by step: Build a connector ž Types of connectors ž Demo #1: build your first connector ž Independent Publisher Connectors ž Tools ž Demo #2: download, edit & update the connector ž Demo #3: Power Platform CLI – generate an app from a custom connector ž Resources ž Wrap up
- 5. Connectors What is a connector?
- 6. What is a connector? A formal definition of a REST API Allows the REST service to talk to Microsoft Power Apps, Power Automate, and Logic Apps Currently 800+ connectors in the product Connector Binary OpenAPI API Properties
- 7. Why use custom connectors? Add services that are not currently supported Expand connectors that currently don't have the trigger/action you want Custom connectors are simple to build, don't require a lot of coding Can be built using the wizard, a postman collection, or with your favourite IDE (for instance VS Code) Can be shared, packaged and certified via GitHub
- 8. Step by step: Build a connector Read the docs / know the API you want to build the connector for Start in one of the products (Power Apps, Power Automate or Logic Apps) Set up the authentication Define the operations (triggers / actions) for your connector Add code if needed (for now, C# code is supported) Save and test your connector
- 9. Types of connectors Custom Connector Certified Connector Independent Publisher Connector Internal Connector developer or someone else Public or private Everyone Connector developer Public Everyone Someone else Public API Availability Service Owner Audience Connector Type
- 10. Demo Build your first connector.
- 11. Independent Publisher Connectors An Independent Publisher connector is a premium connector developed and maintained by one or more Independent Publishers The connectors are submitted to the Power Platform Connectors GitHub repository There is an internal validation and certification process which will check connector quality Independent publishers don’t have to be owners of the API – they can be anyone: working at a partner, community members, or other enthusiasts.
- 12. Step 1 – Build a custom connector • Choose a connector from the “Top Connector Asks” or think about the products you use on a regular basis • Start building in Power Apps, Power Automate, or Logic Apps through an OpenAPI definition, Postman V2, or from the in-product wizard
- 13. Step 2 – Prepare your artifacts • You will be submitting the following files: • API Definition (Swagger) • API Properties • Readme.md (for documentation) • Use the paconn CLI to download the artifacts and add metadata such as publisher and stackOwner. • Make sure you’ve added: 1. Summaries and descriptions for your parameters 2. Schemas (so people can use the responses of your actions/triggers as dynamic content)
- 14. Step 3 – Submit to GitHub • Create your pull request and give it the title: • “Connector Name (Independent Publisher)” • Paste screenshots that show your operations are working within a Flow, that the entire Flow has succeeded, and the Tests operations section • You don’t need to submit an icon because we have a generic Independent Publisher connector icon! • Upon submission, you will see a “Swagger Validator” run and provide results
- 15. Step 4 – Follow through with comments • The certification engineers will test your connector and do manual validations to make sure that the connector is of high quality. • This process takes at least 2 weeks but can take a bit more time when there are a lot of connectors in the pipeline. • Read the GitHub labels to understand status: Validation phase -> certification phase -> deployment phase • Submit an update to the connector anytime after it’s deployed!
- 16. Step 5 – Time to show off your connector • Check out your connector in the product! • Create samples of how to use your connector • Share your connector from your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts • Monthly new Independent Publisher connector blog released by Microsoft • Opportunities to demo • Bi-weekly PnP Microsoft Dev call on Thursdays • YouTube video recording for Microsoft Dev channel
- 17. Tools Help with building your custom connectors.
- 18. Tools (1/2) • Paconn CLI • Helps with the ALM story of Custom Connectors • You can deploy, download and update your connectors with the CLI through the following commands: • Paconn login • Paconn download • Paconn create • Paconn update (*) • Power Platform Connectors (VS Code Extension) • Helps you to easily add properties and other objects in Visual Studio Code by providing snippets
- 19. Tools (2/2) • Power Platform CLI • ‘pac canvas create’ command generates a canvas app from a custom connector • This is great for pro code dev to hand-off their connector to citizen devs / makers
- 20. Demo Download, edit & update the connector.
- 21. Demo Generate a Canvas App with pac CLI
- 22. Resources Handy links that will help you.
- 23. Resources (1/2) • Docs https://aka.ms/connectors • Get your connector certified https://aka.ms/ConnectorCertification • Power Platform Connectors GitHub repository https://github.com/Microsoft/PowerPlatformConnectors • Extend an OpenAPI Definition https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/openapi- extensions • Custom code in custom connectors https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/write-code
- 24. Resources (2/2) • Create a connector from a Postman Collection https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/define-postman- collection • Custom Connectors Coding Standards https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/coding-standards • Policy support in Custom Connectors https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/policy-templates • Paconn CLI https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/paconn-cli • Power Platform Connectors (VS Code Extension) https://aka.ms/ppc-vscode • Power Platform CLI https://aka.ms/powerplatformcli
- 26. Wrap-up • Check out the top connector asks on GitHub and pick one • Build your first connector • Test, test, test! • Spread the word about custom connectors
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