Managing the application lifecycle in Power Platform has always involved balancing the needs of citizen developers, professional developers, and IT administrators. With the introduction of native Git integration in Dataverse, Microsoft has significantly simplified this process — making source control accessible to the entire team without requiring deep DevOps expertise.
What Is Dataverse Git Integration?
Dataverse Git integration allows development teams to synchronize solutions and solution objects across one or more Microsoft Dataverse environments using a supported Git provider such as Azure DevOps or GitHub. The integration is built natively into the solutions experience in Power Apps (make.powerapps.com), meaning makers can interact with source control directly through familiar interfaces — no extra tooling required.
The core recommendation: use Git integration with developer environments only. Use build pipelines to create solution artifacts, and use Pipelines in Power Platform to handle deployments to test and production.
ALM in Power Platform — The Bigger Picture
Power Platform already includes robust out-of-the-box ALM capabilities: solutions as containers for platform objects, environment management, and deployment via pipelines. Git integration takes this further by providing a streamlined, native path to version control — one that works for both makers and developers alike.
Key Benefits of Using Git Integration
- Source Control as the Source of Truth: Previously, many organizations relied on maker environments as the de facto source of truth simply because non-native Git integration required specialized IT skills to set up. Native Git integration removes that barrier — it can be enabled in just a few steps and offers a familiar interface for all team members.
- Safety, Auditing, and Compliance: By adopting Git integration, teams automatically follow Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) best practices. This includes version control, code reviews, and static analysis — all contributing to higher quality, more reliable, and more secure solutions. Traceability and audit trails are built in, helping teams meet compliance requirements.
- Short-Lived Development Environments: Because your environment’s customizations and configurations are stored in source control, you can spin up new development environments quickly and tear them down just as fast. This reduces storage overhead, encourages experimentation, and enables faster iteration cycles.
- Fusion Development Teams: Teams that blend low-code makers and professional developers (“fusion teams”) benefit enormously. Each contributor can work independently in their own environment and collaborate by syncing to a shared repository — enabling parallel development without stepping on each other’s work.
- Protection and Recovery: Storing solutions in source control provides a reliable safety net. If unintended changes occur in an environment, you can quickly restore to any previous version.
Key Concepts to Understand
Unmanaged vs. Managed Solutions
Solutions stored in source control originate from unmanaged solutions in a maker’s environment. Makers can freely add, remove, and update objects that sync to source control when committed. Managed solutions, on the other hand, are built from source control and deployed into downstream environments (test, production) where they cannot be directly edited. This separation ensures source control remains the single source of truth and that all changes flow through the proper channels.
File Formatting for Solution Objects
Git integration introduces a new, human-readable file format for solution objects stored in source control. This format makes it easier to review changes over time. A key improvement: solution objects are no longer duplicated per solution — instead, they’re stored once and can be shared across multiple solutions in the same repository and folder, reducing redundancy.
Code-First Development with Git
Power Platform supports both low-code and code-first development paths. Code-first developers using tools like the Power Platform CLI, Visual Studio, and VS Code extensions can now be fully integrated into the same Git workflow as low-code makers.
Without Git integration, managing code-first objects like Power Apps component framework (PCF) controls and Dataverse plug-ins was difficult — these objects are deployed as compiled assets and aren’t directly editable in the maker portal. Git integration bridges this gap, giving code-first developers a native home in the workflow.
Best Practice: Build Process for Code-First Objects
When code-first objects (such as plug-ins or PCF controls) are deployed directly to an unmanaged solution and then committed to source control, only the compiled (binary) version is stored — not the source code. This can lead to two versions of the same object in the repository, causing confusion and potential drift.
The recommended approach is to build code-first objects through a formal solution build process and import the generated unmanaged solution into the maker environment. This keeps source code as the single source of truth and the built artifacts in sync. You can automate this with Azure Pipelines or GitHub Actions workflows that generate artifacts for use in Power Platform pipelines and Git sync processes.
Getting Started
If your organization is looking to modernize its Power Platform ALM practices, native Dataverse Git integration is a compelling starting point. It lowers the barrier to entry for source control adoption, supports both makers and developers, and integrates naturally with existing Azure DevOps or GitHub workflows.
To dive deeper, check out the official Microsoft documentation on Dataverse Git Integration Overview, and explore how Azure DevOps and GitHub repositories can supercharge your team’s delivery process.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Power Platform ALM documentation