Prerequisites — Install PAC CLI

The user wants to work with PCF components using the Power Platform CLI (pac).

Argument provided: $ARGUMENTS

Prerequisites — Install PAC CLI

All pac commands (pac pcf init, pac pcf push, pac solution) work on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Do not tell the user otherwise.

Step 1 — Check if pac is already installed:

pac help

If this prints the command list, skip to Step 3.

Step 2 — Install pac (if not found):

Detect the OS and run the matching commands:

macOS / Linux:

# Requires .NET 9+
dotnet --version
# If dotnet is not installed: brew install dotnet

# PAC CLI 2.x has a broken NuGet package on macOS — use 1.52.1
dotnet tool install --global Microsoft.PowerApps.CLI.Tool --version 1.52.1

Windows:

dotnet tool install --global Microsoft.PowerApps.CLI.Tool

Or use the standalone MSI installer: https://aka.ms/PowerAppsCLI

Step 3 — Authenticate pac:

pac auth list

If no profiles exist, check whether the user already authenticated via the MCP authenticate tool. If so, reuse those credentials to create a pac profile automatically:

pac auth create \
  --name MCP \
  --url ACTIVE_ENVIRONMENT_URL \
  --applicationId MCP_CLIENT_ID \
  --clientSecret "MCP_CLIENT_SECRET" \
  --tenant MCP_TENANT_ID

Replace the values with the credentials the user provided to the MCP authenticate tool. This avoids asking the user to authenticate twice.

If the user has NOT authenticated via MCP either, use the pac-auth skill.

Workflows

"Create a new PCF component"

1. Initialize the project:

mkdir MyControl && cd MyControl
pac pcf init --namespace Contoso --name MyControl --template field

• --template field for field-level controls (bound to a single field)
• --template dataset for dataset controls (grids, galleries)
• --namespace should match the publisher prefix (e.g. Contoso, MyCompany)
• --framework react to use React framework (optional but recommended)

With React:

pac pcf init --namespace Contoso --name MyControl --template field --framework react

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Key files to edit:

• MyControl/index.ts — Main control logic (init, updateView, destroy)
• ControlManifest.Input.xml — Declares properties, resources, feature usage
• For React: MyControl/HelloWorld.tsx — React component

4. Build and test locally:

npm run build
npm start watch

This opens a test harness at http://localhost:8181 with hot reload.

5. Push to environment (dev iteration):

pac pcf push --publisher-prefix contoso

This creates a temporary solution and pushes to the connected environment. Quick for dev, not for production.

6. Package for solution deployment:

mkdir Solution && cd Solution
pac solution init --publisher-name Contoso --publisher-prefix contoso
pac solution add-reference --path ../MyControl
dotnet build

On Windows you can also use msbuild /t:build /restore instead of dotnet build.

"Build and test an existing PCF project"

cd /path/to/pcf-project
npm install
npm run build        # one-time build
npm start watch      # dev server with hot reload

"Add a new property to my PCF control"

Edit ControlManifest.Input.xml:

<property name="myNewProp" display-name-key="My New Property"
  description-key="Description" of-type="SingleLine.Text"
  usage="bound" required="true" />

Common of-type values:

• SingleLine.Text, Multiple, WholeNumber, Decimal, Currency
• DateAndTime.DateOnly, DateAndTime.DateAndTime
• TwoOptions (boolean), OptionSet, Lookup.Simple
• FP (floating point)

Then rebuild: npm run build

"Deploy PCF to production via solution"

1. Build the solution:

cd Solution
dotnet build --configuration Release

2. The .zip file is in Solution/bin/Release/
3. Import via the admin portal or using the MCP's import_solution tool (base64 encode the zip first)

ControlManifest.Input.xml reference

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<manifest>
  <control namespace="Contoso" constructor="MyControl" version="1.0.0"
    display-name-key="MyControl" description-key="Description"
    control-type="standard">

    <!-- Bound property -->
    <property name="value" display-name-key="Value"
      of-type="SingleLine.Text" usage="bound" required="true" />

    <!-- Input-only property -->
    <property name="label" display-name-key="Label"
      of-type="SingleLine.Text" usage="input" required="false"
      default-value="Default Label" />

    <!-- Dataset (for dataset template only) -->
    <data-set name="dataSet" display-name-key="DataSet" />

    <resources>
      <code path="index.ts" order="1" />
      <css path="css/MyControl.css" order="1" />
      <resx path="strings/MyControl.1033.resx" version="1.0.0" />
    </resources>

    <!-- Feature usage declarations -->
    <feature-usage>
      <uses-feature name="Device.captureImage" required="true" />
      <uses-feature name="Utility" required="true" />
      <uses-feature name="WebAPI" required="true" />
    </feature-usage>
  </control>
</manifest>

Common patterns

Access Web API from PCF

// In updateView or init:
const result = await this._context.webAPI.retrieveMultipleRecords(
  "account", "?$select=name&$top=10"
);

Use React in PCF

// index.ts
import * as React from "react";
import { createRoot, Root } from "react-dom/client";
import { MyComponent } from "./MyComponent";

export class MyControl implements ComponentFramework.StandardControl<IInputs, IOutputs> {
  private _root: Root;

  public init(context, notifyOutputChanged, state, container) {
    this._root = createRoot(container);
  }

  public updateView(context) {
    this._root.render(React.createElement(MyComponent, { value: context.parameters.value.raw }));
  }

  public destroy() { this._root.unmount(); }
}

Troubleshooting

• "pac: command not found" → See install steps above. macOS requires --version 1.52.1.
• "DotnetToolSettings.xml not found" → You're installing PAC 2.x on macOS. Use --version 1.52.1 instead.
• "No auth profiles" → Run pac auth create or use the pac-auth skill
• Build errors → Check Node.js version (16+), run npm install first
• Push fails → Verify auth is connected to the right environment: pac auth list
• MSBuild not found → Use dotnet build instead (works on all platforms)