Prerequisites

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

Argument provided: $ARGUMENTS

Prerequisites

Step 1 — Verify pac is installed:

pac help

If not installed, follow the install steps for the user's OS:

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 2 — Verify authentication:

pac auth list

If no profiles exist, check whether the user already authenticated via the MCP authenticate tool. If so, reuse those credentials:

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

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

Workflows

"Unpack a solution" (for source control)

This decomposes a solution .zip into individual XML/JSON files that can be version-controlled.

pac solution unpack --zipfile ./MySolution.zip --folder ./MySolution-unpacked

Options:

• --packagetype Unmanaged (default) / Managed / Both
• --allowDelete true — Remove files from target folder that aren't in the zip
• --allowWrite true — Overwrite existing files
• --localize — Extract localized labels into separate RESX files
• --map mapfile.xml — Use a mapping file for file organization
• --sourceLoc auto — Extract source locale strings

Typical source control workflow:

# Export from environment (use MCP export_solution tool or pac)
pac solution export --name MySolution --path ./MySolution.zip --managed false

# Unpack for source control
pac solution unpack --zipfile ./MySolution.zip --folder ./src/MySolution

# Commit to git
cd ./src/MySolution
git add -A
git commit -m "Export MySolution v1.2.3"

"Pack a solution" (from source files)

Reassembles unpacked source files into a deployable .zip:

pac solution pack --folder ./MySolution-unpacked --zipfile ./MySolution.zip

Options:

• --packagetype Unmanaged / Managed / Both
• --localize — Include localized content
• --map mapfile.xml — Use mapping file

Deployment workflow:

# Pack from source
pac solution pack --folder ./src/MySolution --zipfile ./MySolution_managed.zip --packagetype Managed

# Import to target (use MCP import_solution or pac)
pac solution import --path ./MySolution_managed.zip --activate-plugins

"Clone a solution" (create a local project linked to environment)

Creates a VS project that can build the solution:

pac solution clone --name MySolution --outputDirectory ./MySolution-project

This creates a .cdsproj file you can build with:

cd MySolution-project
dotnet build

The built .zip appears in bin/Debug/ or bin/Release/.

"Compare solutions across environments"

Use the MCP tools for API-based comparison, plus pac for file-level diffs:

1. Export from both environments:

pac auth select --index 1  # DEV
pac solution export --name MySolution --path ./dev-export.zip --managed false

pac auth select --index 2  # UAT
pac solution export --name MySolution --path ./uat-export.zip --managed false

2. Unpack both:

pac solution unpack --zipfile ./dev-export.zip --folder ./dev-unpacked
pac solution unpack --zipfile ./uat-export.zip --folder ./uat-unpacked

3. Diff:

diff -rq ./dev-unpacked ./uat-unpacked
# Or use git diff:
git diff --no-index ./dev-unpacked ./uat-unpacked

"Check solution for issues"

pac solution check --path ./MySolution.zip

This runs the Solution Checker (Power Apps checker) and returns warnings/errors about:

• Deprecated API usage
• Performance issues
• Security concerns
• Web resource best practices

Options:

• --outputDirectory ./results — Save results to a folder
• --ruleset solution-checker — Specify ruleset
• --geo Europe — Specify geography for the checker service

"Sync solution from environment" (pull latest changes)

pac solution sync --solution-folder ./src/MySolution --packagetype Unmanaged

This exports from the connected environment and unpacks in one step. Equivalent to export + unpack.

Unpacked solution structure

After unpacking, you'll see:

MySolution/
├── Other/
│   ├── Customizations.xml          # Main customization file
│   ├── Solution.xml                # Solution metadata
│   └── Relationships.xml           # Entity relationships
├── Entities/
│   ├── account/
│   │   ├── Entity.xml
│   │   ├── FormXml/
│   │   │   └── main/
│   │   │       └── {guid}.xml      # Forms
│   │   ├── SavedQueries/
│   │   │   └── {guid}.xml          # Views
│   │   └── RibbonDiff.xml
│   └── contact/
│       └── ...
├── OptionSets/                     # Global option sets
├── Workflows/                      # Cloud flows + workflows
├── PluginAssemblies/               # Plugin DLLs (base64)
├── WebResources/                   # JS, HTML, CSS, images
├── Roles/                          # Security roles
├── SiteMap/                        # App site maps
└── CanvasApps/                     # Canvas app packages

Mapping file for custom folder structure

Create a map.xml to control unpacking layout:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Mapping>
  <FileToPath map="Entities/account/*.xml" to="entities\account" />
  <FileToPath map="WebResources/*.js" to="webresources\scripts" />
  <FileToPath map="WebResources/*.css" to="webresources\styles" />
  <FileToPath map="WebResources/*.html" to="webresources\pages" />
  <FileToPath map="Workflows/*.json" to="flows" />
</Mapping>

Use with: pac solution unpack --map map.xml ...

CI/CD integration

For Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions:

# GitHub Actions example
- name: Install .NET
  uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v4
  with:
    dotnet-version: '9.0.x'

- name: Install PAC
  run: dotnet tool install --global Microsoft.PowerApps.CLI.Tool

- name: Auth
  run: pac auth create --url ${{ secrets.D365_URL }} --applicationId ${{ secrets.CLIENT_ID }} --clientSecret ${{ secrets.CLIENT_SECRET }} --tenant ${{ secrets.TENANT_ID }}

- name: Export
  run: pac solution export --name MySolution --path ./solution.zip

- name: Pack managed
  run: pac solution pack --folder ./src/MySolution --zipfile ./managed.zip --packagetype Managed

- name: Import to target
  run: |
    pac auth create --url ${{ secrets.TARGET_URL }} --applicationId ${{ secrets.CLIENT_ID }} --clientSecret ${{ secrets.CLIENT_SECRET }} --tenant ${{ secrets.TENANT_ID }}
    pac solution import --path ./managed.zip --activate-plugins

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.
• "Solution not found" → Check the unique name (not display name): pac solution list
• Unpack fails on large solutions → Increase timeout: pac solution unpack --processCanvasApps
• Pack produces empty zip → Verify folder structure matches expected layout
• Check fails → Ensure you have the right geography set: --geo Europe for EMEA orgs