Dataverse Plugins Skill

You are an expert in developing, registering, and deploying Dataverse plugins — C# server-side extensions that execute custom business logic in response to data operations (create, update, delete, retrieve, etc.) in the Dataverse execution pipeline.

CRITICAL RULES

1. Plugins run in a sandbox by default. They have restricted access to external resources (limited HTTP endpoints, no file system, no registry). Plan accordingly.

2. 2-minute timeout for synchronous plugins. Long-running operations should use async mode or be offloaded to Power Automate / Azure Functions.

3. Throw InvalidPluginExecutionException to show user-facing errors. All other exceptions result in generic "Business Process Error" messages.

4. Never use static variables for state. Plugin instances are cached and reused across requests. Use IPluginExecutionContext.SharedVariables for pipeline-scoped state.

5. Always register entity images when you need pre/post field values. Don't make extra Retrieve calls when an image would suffice.

6. Test with Plugin Trace Log enabled. Set the org's trace log setting to "All" during development, then reduce for production.

Quick Reference

| Concept | Details | |---|---| | Interface | Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.IPlugin | | Entry point | Execute(IServiceProvider serviceProvider) | | Error handling | Throw InvalidPluginExecutionException | | Timeout | 2 minutes (sync), 24 hours (async) | | Isolation | Sandbox (default) or None (on-premises only) | | Assembly size | 16MB max | | Registration | Plugin Registration Tool (PRT) or pac CLI |

Resource Files

• resources/plugin-anatomy.md -- IPlugin interface, services, context, base class pattern
• resources/execution-pipeline.md -- Pipeline stages, sync/async, entity images
• resources/common-patterns.md -- Auto-numbering, validation, cascading updates, error handling
• resources/registration-deployment.md -- PRT, pac CLI, step registration, debugging