Components and capabilities
When you build an app for Business Central, be it an AppSource app or an Embed App, you must be aware of which components and deployment steps are provided by Microsoft and which you must provide.
Components
Base application
The base application is the Business Central application provided by Microsoft, customized and extended to fit the needs of a market segment that an app wants to serve. Major releases and cumulative updates (CUs) of the base application are publicly available on Microsoft Download and as artifacts for use with Docker.
Pre-released versions of the base application are available as artifacts for participants of the “Ready and Go” program via Microsoft Collaborate for use with Docker. Although we recommend always using the latest version of the base application, partners can choose any version they need. The only requirement is that the partner makes sure that the base application version that they are targeting in their app is available in Business Central online production environments.
AppSource apps must specify the dependency of a specific base application in the settings for their app. In contrast, the base application is an optional part of an Embed App package. If the partner has implemented all required functionality in their library extensions, they do not have to include the base application itself with the Embed App. Instead they should specify, in the metadata of the Embed App, which version of the Business Central base application they are targeting, just like an AppSource app.
Microsoft recommends all partners to move towards a model where the code-customization of the base application isn't used. Keep track of new capabilities in the base application and platform in the release plans.
Platform
Partners who build apps for Business Central online must make sure that it is compatible with a supported version of Business Central platform.
The Microsoft platform is updated in the following way:
Minor updates
Microsoft will ship minor platform updates monthly and major platform updates every six months.
Minor updates can include bug fixes and improvements which should not affect the compatibility of the platform with the previous version of the application. In rare situations, partners may be asked to recompile their solution to work with a minor update of a Business Central platform.Major updates
Major updates will include changes that can require partners to perform a technical upgrade to make their application work with the new version of the platform. For more information, see the Dynamics 365 release plans
Ecosystem
Business Central online is part of a rich ecosystem of other Microsoft and 3rd party services, which partners and customers can decide to take advantage of.
The following integration capabilities of the Business Central can be considered:
| Integration capability | Status |
|---|---|
| Dynamics 365 API endpoint | Available if the base application objects are unchanged |
| Outlook Add-in | Available |
| Power BI | Available if the customer has a Power BI license |
| Power Automate | Available if the customer has a Power Automate license |
| Power Apps | Available |
| Microsoft 1st party integration apps included with Business Central (Yodlee, Quick Books, OCR, AMC, and others) | Available, but in many cases the partner must set up a separate agreement with these service providers |
| Azure Machine Learning | Available if the partner has an Azure ML subscription |
| Integration with Dynamics 365 Sales | Available |
| Microsoft Graph | Currently under evaluation |