dataverse-plugins

Dataverse Plugins (Server-Side .NET)

Purpose: emit C# plugins / custom workflow activities and their registration so logic runs inside the Dataverse transaction -- the pro-code escape hatch when Power Automate / business rules cannot enforce a rule reliably.

When to Use (and When Not To)

Use a plugin when you need synchronous, transactional, low-latency server enforcement:

• Cross-record validation that MUST block a save
• Derived/calculated values that must be set in the same transaction
• Integration that must commit-or-rollback with the record

Prefer low-code first: business rules (form logic), calculated/rollup columns, and Power Automate flows (async, no compile/deploy). A plugin adds a C# build, signing, and deployment pipeline -- only pay that cost when the low-code options cannot meet the requirement.

The Event Pipeline

A plugin registers against a message + table + stage. Dataverse runs it when that message fires.

Stage	Value	Runs	Use for
PreValidation	10	Before the transaction	Cheap blocking validation, cross-table checks
PreOperation	20	In transaction, before main op	Mutate the inbound Target before save
PostOperation	40	In transaction, after main op	React to the saved record, write related rows

Mode: Synchronous (blocks the call, can throw to roll back) or Asynchronous (background, cannot block the user).

IPlugin

public sealed class ValidateIssue : IPlugin
{
    public void Execute(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
    {
        var context = (IPluginExecutionContext)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IPluginExecutionContext));
        var factory = (IOrganizationServiceFactory)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IOrganizationServiceFactory));
        var service = factory.CreateOrganizationService(context.UserId);
        var tracing = (ITracingService)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(ITracingService));

        if (context.InputParameters.TryGetValue("Target", out var t) && t is Entity target)
        {
            if (target.GetAttributeValue<string>("agx_name") is null or "")
            {
                throw new InvalidPluginExecutionException("Issue name is required.");  // rolls back
            }
            tracing.Trace("ValidateIssue passed for {0}", target.Id);
        }
    }
}