Use PowerShell and Visual Studio Code with the Dataverse Web API

Artikel
10/30/2024

This article expands on the Quick Start Web API with PowerShell article to describe advanced capabilities using PowerShell and Visual Studio Code with the Dataverse Web API to:

Create reusable functions
Handle exceptions
Manage Dataverse service protection limits
Debug using Fiddler
Download the Dataverse Web API CSDL $metadata document

Note

The instructions in this article should work for Windows, Linux, and macOS, but these steps have only been tested on Windows. If changes are needed, let us know by using the Feedback section at the bottom of this article.

Prerequisites

The content of this article has the same prerequisites as the Quick Start Web API with PowerShell article.

Install or verify that the following are installed

Install Visual Studio Code. See Download Visual Studio Code
Install the PowerShell extension for Visual Studio Code. See PowerShell for Visual Studio Code
Install PowerShell 7.4 or higher. See Install PowerShell on Windows, Linux, and macOS
Install the Az PowerShell module version 11.1.0 or higher. See How to install Azure PowerShell

To update an existing installation to the latest version, use Update-Module -Name Az -Force

Verify installation

Open Visual Studio Code.
In the Terminal menu, select New Terminal.
In Visual Studio Code navigation pane, select the icon for the PowerShell extension.

Copy and paste the following script in the Visual Studio Code terminal window:

Write-Host 'PowerShell Version:'$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()
Write-Host 'PowerShell Az version:'(Get-InstalledModule Az).Version

Press Enter. The output should resemble the following:

PowerShell Version: 7.4.0
PowerShell Az version: 11.1.0

If you don't see results like this, install or update the prerequisites.

You'll also need

A valid user account for a Dataverse environment
The Url to the Dataverse environment you want to connect to. See View developer resources to learn how to find it. It looks something like this: https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/, where yourorg.crm is different.
Basic understanding of the PowerShell scripting language

Create reusable functions

Quick Start Web API with PowerShell introduced how to authenticate and call the WhoAmI function with Visual Studio Code. This approach might be all you need to for an ad-hoc test of one or more operations. However, as your scripts become more complex, you might find yourself typing the same code again and again.

In this section, we start creating a set of reusable functions in separate files that we can access using dot sourcing. Use dot sourcing to load a file containing PowerShell scripts that can contain functions and variables that become part of the local script scope.

Tip

You can find fully documented definitions of these functions and more in our GitHub PowerApps-Samples repo at PowerApps-Samples/dataverse/webapi/PS/

Create a Connect function

Let's put the code to authenticate to Dataverse in a function called Connect inside a file named Core.ps1 so we can reuse it in a single line of code.

Create a folder. In this example, we create a folder in C:\scripts.
Open the scripts folder within Visual Studio Code.
Create a text file in the scripts folder named Core.ps1.

Copy and paste the following Connect function into the Core.ps1 file.

function Connect {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $environmentUrl
   )

   ## Login interactively if not already logged in
   if ($null -eq (Get-AzTenant -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
      Connect-AzAccount | Out-Null
   }

   # Get an access token
   $secureToken = (Get-AzAccessToken `
      -ResourceUrl $environmentUrl `
      -AsSecureString).Token

   # Convert the secure token to a string
   $token = ConvertFrom-SecureString `
      -SecureString $secureToken `
      -AsPlainText

   # Define common set of headers
   $global:baseHeaders = @{
      'Authorization'    = 'Bearer ' + $token
      'Accept'           = 'application/json'
      'OData-MaxVersion' = '4.0'
      'OData-Version'    = '4.0'
   }

   # Set baseURI
   $global:baseURI = $environmentUrl + 'api/data/v9.2/'
}

Note

The script adds the baseURI and baseHeaders variables to the global context using the $global scope modifier so that they are available to other scripts in the same session.

Create another text file in Visual Studio Code named test.ps1 in your scripts folder.
Copy and paste the following script into the test.ps1 file:
```
. $PSScriptRoot\Core.ps1

Connect 'https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/' # change to your organization
# Invoke WhoAmI Function
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri ($baseURI + 'WhoAmI') -Method Get -Headers $baseHeaders
| ConvertTo-Json
```
. $PSScriptRoot\Core.ps1 at the top of the file uses dot sourcing to direct the script to load the contents of that file.

Remember to change https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/ to match the URL for your environment.

To run the script, press F5.

The output might look similar to this output:

PS C:\scripts> . 'C:\scripts\test.ps1'
{
"@odata.context": "https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/api/data/v9.2/$metadata#Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.WhoAmIResponse",
"BusinessUnitId": "3a277578-5996-ee11-be36-002248227994",
"UserId": "2c2e7578-5996-ee11-be36-002248227994",
"OrganizationId": "97bf0e8b-aa99-ee11-be32-000d3a106c3a"
}

Create a WhoAmI function

Let's put the code to invoke the WhoAmI function in a function called Get-WhoAmI inside a file named CommonFunctions.ps1 so we can type just 11 characters rather than 100 each time you want to use the WhoAmI function

Create a new text file named CommonFunctions.ps1 in your scripts folder.
Copy and paste the following function definition in the CommonFunctions.ps1.
```
function Get-WhoAmI{

   $WhoAmIRequest = @{
      Uri = $baseURI + 'WhoAmI'
      Method = 'Get'
      Headers = $baseHeaders
   }

   Invoke-RestMethod @WhoAmIRequest
}
```
Note

This function definition uses a technique called splatting. Splatting makes your commands shorter and easier to read because it passes a collection of parameter values to a command as a unit.
Save the CommonFunctions.ps1 file.

Change the test.ps1 file to look like the following script:

. $PSScriptRoot\Core.ps1
. $PSScriptRoot\CommonFunctions.ps1

Connect 'https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/' # change to your organization
# Invoke WhoAmI Function
Get-WhoAmI | ConvertTo-Json

Remember to change the https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/ value to match the URL for your environment.

To run the script, press F5.

The output should look exactly like it did before.

Create table operations functions

Let's put functions to perform common table operations a file named TableOperations.ps1 so we can reuse them.

Create a new text file named TableOperations.ps1 in your scripts folder.

Copy and paste the following function definitions in the TableOperations.ps1.

function Get-Records {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $setName,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $query
   )
   $uri = $baseURI + $setName + $query
   # Header for GET operations that have annotations
   $getHeaders = $baseHeaders.Clone()
   $getHeaders.Add('If-None-Match', $null)
   $getHeaders.Add('Prefer', 'odata.include-annotations="*"')
   $RetrieveMultipleRequest = @{
      Uri     = $uri
      Method  = 'Get'
      Headers = $getHeaders
   }
   Invoke-RestMethod @RetrieveMultipleRequest
}

function New-Record {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $setName,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [hashtable]
      $body
   )
   $postHeaders = $baseHeaders.Clone()
   $postHeaders.Add('Content-Type', 'application/json')

   $CreateRequest = @{
      Uri     = $baseURI + $setName
      Method  = 'Post'
      Headers = $postHeaders
      Body    = ConvertTo-Json $body
   }
   Invoke-RestMethod @CreateRequest -ResponseHeadersVariable rh | Out-Null
   $url = $rh['OData-EntityId']
   $selectedString = Select-String -InputObject $url -Pattern '(?<=\().*?(?=\))'
   return [System.Guid]::New($selectedString.Matches.Value.ToString())
}

function Get-Record {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $setName,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [Guid] 
      $id,
      [String] 
      $query
   )
   $uri = $baseURI + $setName
   $uri = $uri + '(' + $id.Guid + ')' + $query
   $getHeaders = $baseHeaders.Clone()
   $getHeaders.Add('If-None-Match', $null)
   $getHeaders.Add('Prefer', 'odata.include-annotations="*"')
   $RetrieveRequest = @{
      Uri     = $uri
      Method  = 'Get'
      Headers = $getHeaders
   }
   Invoke-RestMethod @RetrieveRequest
}

function Update-Record {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $setName,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [Guid] 
      $id,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [hashtable]
      $body
   )
   $uri = $baseURI + $setName
   $uri = $uri + '(' + $id.Guid + ')'
   # Header for Update operations
   $updateHeaders = $baseHeaders.Clone()
   $updateHeaders.Add('Content-Type', 'application/json')
   $updateHeaders.Add('If-Match', '*') # Prevent Create
   $UpdateRequest = @{
      Uri     = $uri
      Method  = 'Patch'
      Headers = $updateHeaders
      Body    = ConvertTo-Json $body
   }
   Invoke-RestMethod @UpdateRequest
}

function Remove-Record {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String]
      $setName,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [Guid] 
      $id
   )
   $uri = $baseURI + $setName
   $uri = $uri + '(' + $id.Guid + ')'
   $DeleteRequest = @{
      Uri     = $uri
      Method  = 'Delete'
      Headers = $baseHeaders
   }
   Invoke-RestMethod @DeleteRequest
}

For information about how to compose these requests, see the following articles:

Save the TableOperations.ps1 file.

Copy the following code and paste it into the test.ps1 file.

. $PSScriptRoot\Core.ps1
. $PSScriptRoot\CommonFunctions.ps1
. $PSScriptRoot\TableOperations.ps1

Connect 'https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/' # change to your organization

# Retrieve Records
Write-Host 'Retrieve first three account records:'
(Get-Records `
   -setName accounts `
   -query '?$select=name&$top=3').value | 
Format-Table -Property name, accountid

# Create a record
Write-Host 'Create an account record:'
$newAccountID = New-Record `
   -setName accounts `
   -body @{
      name                = 'Example Account'; 
      accountcategorycode = 1 # Preferred
   }
Write-Host "Account with ID $newAccountID created"

# Retrieve a record
Write-Host 'Retrieve the created record:'
Get-Record `
   -setName  accounts `
   -id $newAccountID.Guid '?$select=name,accountcategorycode' |
Format-List -Property name,
accountid,
accountcategorycode,
accountcategorycode@OData.Community.Display.V1.FormattedValue

# Update a record
Write-Host 'Update the record:'
$updateAccountData = @{
   name                = 'Updated Example account';
   accountcategorycode = 2; #Standard
}
Update-Record `
   -setName accounts `
   -id $newAccountID.Guid `
   -body $updateAccountData
Write-Host 'Retrieve the updated the record:'
Get-Record `
   -setName accounts `
   -id  $newAccountID.Guid `
   -query '?$select=name,accountcategorycode' |
Format-List -Property name,
accountid,
accountcategorycode,
accountcategorycode@OData.Community.Display.V1.FormattedValue

# Delete a record
Write-Host 'Delete the record:'
Remove-Record `
   -setName accounts `
   -id $newAccountID.Guid
Write-Host "The account with ID $newAccountID was deleted"

Remember to change the https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/ value to match the URL for your environment.

To run the script, press F5.

The output might look similar to this output:

PS C:\scripts> . 'C:\scripts\test.ps1'
Retrieve first three account records:

name                     accountid
----                     ---------
Fourth Coffee (sample)   d2382248-cd99-ee11-be37-000d3a9b7981
Litware, Inc. (sample)   d4382248-cd99-ee11-be37-000d3a9b7981
Adventure Works (sample) d6382248-cd99-ee11-be37-000d3a9b7981

Create an account record:
Account with ID  a2c3ebc2-39a8-ee11-be37-000d3a8e8e07 created
Retrieve the created record:

name                                                          : Example Account
accountid                                                     : a2c3ebc2-39a8-ee11-be37-000d3a8e8e07
accountcategorycode                                           : 1
accountcategorycode@OData.Community.Display.V1.FormattedValue : Preferred Customer

Update the record:

Retrieve the updated the record:

name                                                          : Updated Example account
accountid                                                     : a2c3ebc2-39a8-ee11-be37-000d3a8e8e07
accountcategorycode                                           : 2
accountcategorycode@OData.Community.Display.V1.FormattedValue : Standard

Delete the record:

The account with ID  a2c3ebc2-39a8-ee11-be37-000d3a8e8e07 was deleted

Handle exceptions

So far in this article you copied and pasted code provided for you. But when you start writing and using your own functions, you can encounter errors. When these errors occur, they might be from Dataverse or your script.

Add a helper function that can help detect the source of the errors and extract relevant details from errors returned by Dataverse.

Add the following Invoke-DataverseCommands function to the Core.ps1 file:
```
function Invoke-DataverseCommands {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      $commands
   )
   try {
      Invoke-Command $commands
   }
   catch [Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.HttpResponseException] {
      Write-Host "An error occurred calling Dataverse:" -ForegroundColor Red
      $statuscode = [int]$_.Exception.StatusCode;
      $statusText = $_.Exception.StatusCode
      Write-Host "StatusCode: $statuscode ($statusText)"
      # Replaces escaped characters in the JSON
      [Regex]::Replace($_.ErrorDetails.Message, "\\[Uu]([0-9A-Fa-f]{4})", 
         {[char]::ToString([Convert]::ToInt32($args[0].Groups[1].Value, 16))} )

   }
   catch {
      Write-Host "An error occurred in the script:" -ForegroundColor Red
      $_
   }
}
```
The Invoke-DataverseCommands function uses the Invoke-Command cmdlet to process a set of commands within a try/catch block. Any errors returned from Dataverse are HttpResponseException errors, so the first catch block writes a An error occurred calling Dataverse: message to the terminal with the JSON error data.

The JSON data in $_.ErrorDetails.Message contains some escaped unicode characters. For example: \u0026 instead of & and \u0027 instead of '. This function includes some code that replaces those characters with the unescaped characters so that they exactly match errors you see elsewhere.

Otherwise, the errors are written back to the terminal window with a message: An error occurred in the script:
Save the Core.ps1 file.

Edit the test.ps1 file to add the following script that uses an invalid setName parameter value. The account parameter should be accounts. This error is common.

. $PSScriptRoot\Core.ps1
. $PSScriptRoot\CommonFunctions.ps1
. $PSScriptRoot\TableOperations.ps1

Connect 'https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/' # change this

Invoke-DataverseCommands {

   # Retrieve Records
   Write-Host 'Retrieve first three account records:'
      (Get-Records `
      -setName account `
      -query '?$select=name&$top=3').value | 
   Format-Table -Property name, accountid

}

Remember to change the https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/ value to match the URL for your environment.

To run the script, press F5.

The output might look similar to this output:

PS C:\scripts> . 'C:\scripts\test.ps1'
Retrieve first three account records:
An error occurred calling Dataverse:
StatusCode: 404 (NotFound)

{
"error": {
   "code": "0x80060888",
   "message": "Resource not found for the segment 'account'."
   }
}

Edit the test.ps1 file to throw a script error within the Invoke-DataverseCommands block:
```
Invoke-DataverseCommands {

   throw 'A script error'

}
```

To run the script, press F5.

The output should be almost the same as if it wasn't included in the Invoke-DataverseCommands block:

PS C:\scripts> . 'C:\scripts\test.ps1'
An error occurred in the script:
Exception: C:\scripts\test.ps1:8:4
Line |
   8 |     throw 'A script error'
     |     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     | A script error

Manage Dataverse service protection limits

Dataverse Service protection API limits help ensure that Dataverse provides consistent availability and performance. When client applications make extraordinary demands on server resources using the Web API, Dataverse returns 429 Too Many Requests errors and client applications must pause operations for the duration specified in the Retry-After header.

The PowerShell Invoke-RestMethod cmdlet MaximumRetryCount parameter specifies how many times PowerShell retries a request when a failure code is between 400 and 599, inclusive or 304 is received. This means PowerShell retries Dataverse service protection 429 errors when you include a value for this parameter. The MaximumRetryCount parameter can be used with the RetryIntervalSec to specify the number of seconds to wait. The default is 5 seconds. If the error response includes a Retry-After header for a 429 error, as Dataverse service protection errors do, that value is used instead.

You might never encounter a service protection limit error while you're learning how to use the Dataverse Web API with PowerShell. However, scripts you write might send a large number of requests that produce errors, so learn how you can best manage them using PowerShell.

If you add the MaximumRetryCount parameter to every Dataverse call using Invoke-RestMethod, PowerShell retries a broad range of errors. Retrying every error makes your scripts slow, especially when developing and testing. You would need to wait 10 to 15 seconds each time an error occurs, depending on how many retries you specify. An alternative approach is to encapsulate the Invoke-RestMethod in your own method that manages retries for specific errors.

The following Invoke-ResilientRestMethod function takes a request hashtable object as a mandatory parameter and a boolean returnHeader flag to indicate whether or not to return the response header. When $returnHeader is true, it sends the request using the Invoke-RestMethod command with the ResponseHeadersVariable parameter to capture the headers returned. The function uses Out-Null so the output that represents the empty response body isn't returned with the function. Otherwise, the function sends the request using Invoke-RestMethod with the request object and returns the response body.

If the Invoke-RestMethod fails with a 429 error, it checks if the request object has a MaximumRetryCount property. If the function succeeds, it creates a MaximumRetryCount property set to 3. The Invoke-RestMethod is then retried using the request object and the Retry-After response header value. If the returnHeader flag is true, it returns the response header. If the Invoke-RestMethod fails with any other error, it rethrows the exception.

function Invoke-ResilientRestMethod {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      $request,
      [bool]
      $returnHeader
   )
   try {
      if ($returnHeader) {
         Invoke-RestMethod @request -ResponseHeadersVariable rhv | Out-Null
         return $rhv
      }
      Invoke-RestMethod @request
   }
   catch [Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.HttpResponseException] {
      $statuscode = $_.Exception.Response.StatusCode
      # 429 errors only
      if ($statuscode -eq 'TooManyRequests') {
         if (!$request.ContainsKey('MaximumRetryCount')) {
            $request.Add('MaximumRetryCount', 3)
            # Don't need - RetryIntervalSec
            # When the failure code is 429 and the response includes the Retry-After property in its headers, 
            # the cmdlet uses that value for the retry interval, even if RetryIntervalSec is specified
         }
         # Will attempt retry up to 3 times
         if ($returnHeader) {
            Invoke-RestMethod @request -ResponseHeadersVariable rhv | Out-Null
            return $rhv
         }
         Invoke-RestMethod @request
      }
      else {
         throw $_
      }
   }
   catch {
      throw $_
   }
}

You can use a similar function in your reusable functions. When functions need to return values from the header of the response, they need to set the returnHeader value to $true. For example, the following New-Record function modifies the example function in Create table operations functions to use Invoke-ResilientRestMethod instead of Invoke-RestMethod directly.

function New-Record {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $setName,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [hashtable]
      $body
   )
   $postHeaders = $baseHeaders.Clone()
   $postHeaders.Add('Content-Type', 'application/json')
   
   $CreateRequest = @{
      Uri     = $baseURI + $setName
      Method  = 'Post'
      Headers = $postHeaders
      Body    = ConvertTo-Json $body

   }
   # Before: 
   # Invoke-RestMethod @CreateRequest -ResponseHeadersVariable rh | Out-Null

   # After:
   $rh = Invoke-ResilientRestMethod -request $CreateRequest -returnHeader $true
   $url = $rh['OData-EntityId']
   $selectedString = Select-String -InputObject $url -Pattern '(?<=\().*?(?=\))'
   return [System.Guid]::New($selectedString.Matches.Value.ToString())
}

Otherwise, Invoke-ResilientRestMethod can replace the Invoke-RestMethod as shown in this Get-Record example:

function Get-Record {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [String] 
      $setName,
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      [Guid] 
      $id,
      [String] 
      $query
   )
   $uri = $baseURI + $setName
   $uri = $uri + '(' + $id.Guid + ')' + $query
   $getHeaders = $baseHeaders.Clone()
   $getHeaders.Add('If-None-Match', $null)
   $getHeaders.Add('Prefer', 'odata.include-annotations="*"')
   $RetrieveRequest = @{
      Uri     = $uri
      Method  = 'Get'
      Headers = $getHeaders
   }
   # Before:
   # Invoke-RestMethod @RetrieveRequest

   # After: 
   Invoke-ResilientRestMethod $RetrieveRequest
}

The only difference is that you pass the hashtable ($RetrieveRequest) to the method instead of using splatting (@RetrieveRequest). Otherwise, you get a script error: A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'Headers'.

Debug using Fiddler

Fiddler is a web debugging proxy used to view HTTP traffic on your computer. Viewing this data is useful when debugging scripts. By default, HTTP requests and responses sent using Invoke-RestMethod cmdlet aren't visible when you use Fiddler.

To view HTTP traffic in Fiddler, set the Invoke-RestMethod Proxy parameter to the URL configured as the Fiddler proxy on your local computer. By default, the URL is http://127.0.0.1:8888. Your URL might be different.

For example, if you invoke the WhoAmI function with the -Proxy parameter set while Fiddler is capturing traffic:

Invoke-RestMethod `
   -Uri ($environmentUrl + 'api/data/v9.2/WhoAmI') `
   -Method Get `
   -Headers $baseHeaders `
   -Proxy 'http://127.0.0.1:8888'

In Fiddler, you can see all the details:

GET https://yourorg.api.crm.dynamics.com/api/data/v9.2/WhoAmI HTTP/1.1
Host: yourorg.api.crm.dynamics.com
OData-MaxVersion: 4.0
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Bearer [REDACTED]
OData-Version: 4.0
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Microsoft Windows 10.0.22631; en-US) PowerShell/7.4.0
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br


HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Cache-Control: no-cache
Allow: OPTIONS,GET,HEAD,POST
Content-Type: application/json; odata.metadata=minimal
Expires: -1
Vary: Accept-Encoding
x-ms-service-request-id: 7341c0c1-3343-430b-98ea-292567ed4776
Set-Cookie: ARRAffinity=f60cbee43b7af0a5f322e7ce57a018546ed978f67f0c11cbb5e15b02ddb091a915134d20c556b0b34b9b6ae43ec3f5dcdad61788de889ffc592af7aca85fc1c508DC0FC94CB062A12107345846; path=/; secure; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: ReqClientId=4fc95009-0b3d-4a19-b223-0d80745636ac; expires=Sun, 07-Jan-2074 21:10:42 GMT; path=/; secure; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: orgId=648e8efd-db86-466e-a5bc-a4d5eb9c52d4; expires=Sun, 07-Jan-2074 21:10:42 GMT; path=/; secure; HttpOnly
x-ms-service-request-id: 1ee13aa7-47f3-4a75-95fa-2916775a1f79
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
REQ_ID: 1ee13aa7-47f3-4a75-95fa-2916775a1f79
CRM.ServiceId: framework
AuthActivityId: 0b562cc3-56f6-44f0-a26e-4039cfc4be6a
x-ms-dop-hint: 48
x-ms-ratelimit-time-remaining-xrm-requests: 1,200.00
x-ms-ratelimit-burst-remaining-xrm-requests: 5999
OData-Version: 4.0
X-Source: 110212218438874147222728177124203420477168182861012399121919014511175711948418152
Public: OPTIONS,GET,HEAD,POST
Set-Cookie: ARRAffinity=f60cbee43b7af0a5f322e7ce57a018546ed978f67f0c11cbb5e15b02ddb091a915134d20c556b0b34b9b6ae43ec3f5dcdad61788de889ffc592af7aca85fc1c508DC0FC94CB062A12107345846; path=/; secure; HttpOnly
X-Source: 2302101791355821068628523819830862152291172232072372448021147103846182145238216119
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2024 21:10:42 GMT
Content-Length: 277

{"@odata.context":"https://yourorg.api.crm.dynamics.com/api/data/v9.2/$metadata#Microsoft.Dynamics.CRM.WhoAmIResponse","BusinessUnitId":"1647bf36-e90a-4c4d-9b61-969d57ce7a66","UserId":"24e34f5e-7f1a-43fe-88da-7e4b862d51ad","OrganizationId":"648e8efd-db86-466e-a5bc-a4d5eb9c52d4"}

If Fiddler isn't running, you get an error:

Invoke-RestMethod: C:\scripts\test.ps1:8:1
Line |
   8 |  Invoke-RestMethod `
     |  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     | No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

If you choose to route all your Invoke-RestMethod calls through a single function, such as the Invoke-ResilientRestMethod described in Manage Dataverse service protection limits, you might set some variables in the Core.ps1 file to configure this option in a single location.

# Set to true only while debugging with Fiddler
$debug = $true
# Set this value to the Fiddler proxy URL configured on your computer
$proxyUrl = 'http://127.0.0.1:8888'

Within your centralized function, you can set the -Proxy parameter with splatting and use the $request hash table only when debugging with Fiddler.

function Invoke-ResilientRestMethod {
   param (
      [Parameter(Mandatory)] 
      $request,
      [bool]
      $returnHeader
   )

   if ($debug) {
      $request.Add('Proxy', $proxyUrl)
   }

   ...

Learn about capturing web traffic with Fiddler

Download the Dataverse Web API CSDL $metadata document

The Common Schema Definition Language (CSDL) $metadata is the source of truth about Dataverse Web API capabilities. You can view it in a browser, but you might find it easier to download the file and view it within Visual Studio Code. The following script is a modified version of the script introduced in Quick Start Web API with PowerShell. The difference is that it uses the Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet, which is more appropriate for downloading an XML document.

$environmentUrl = 'https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/' # change to your organization
$writeFileTo =  'C:\temp\yourorg.xml' # change to your organization

## Login if not already logged in
if ($null -eq (Get-AzTenant -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
   Connect-AzAccount | Out-Null
}
# Get an access token
$secureToken = (Get-AzAccessToken `
   -ResourceUrl $environmentUrl `
   -AsSecureString).Token

# Convert the secure token to a string
$token = ConvertFrom-SecureString `
   -SecureString $secureToken `
   -AsPlainText


# Common headers
$xmlHeaders = @{
   'Authorization'    = 'Bearer ' + $token
   'Accept'           = 'application/xml'
   'OData-MaxVersion' = '4.0'
   'OData-Version'    = '4.0'
}

$doc = [xml](Invoke-WebRequest `
      -Uri ($environmentUrl + 'api/data/v9.2/$metadata?annotations=true') `
      -Method 'Get' `
      -Headers $xmlHeaders ).Content

$StringWriter = New-Object System.IO.StringWriter
$XmlWriter = New-Object System.XMl.XmlTextWriter $StringWriter
$xmlWriter.Formatting = 'indented'
$xmlWriter.Indentation = 2
$doc.WriteContentTo($XmlWriter)
$XmlWriter.Flush()
$StringWriter.Flush()
Set-Content -Path $writeFileTo -Value $StringWriter.ToString()
code $writeFileTo

Copy the script.
Edit the $environmentUrl and $writeFileTo variables to match your need.
Run the script in Visual Studio Code.

The Dataverse Web API CSDL $metadata document opens in Visual Studio Code.

You might get a notification saying: For performance reasons, document symbols are limited to 5,000 items. If a new limit is set, close and reopen this file to recompute document symbols.

The notification gives the option to change the Visual Studio Code XML extension xml.symbols.maxItemsComputed limit. For most Dataverse Web API CSDL $metadata documents, setting the limit to 500000 should be sufficient.

Troubleshooting

This section contains some guidance for issues you might encounter.

Error dialog: connect ENOENT\\.\pipe\<RANDOM_text> with Open 'launch.json' button

This error might occur when debugging with Visual Studio Code. To resolve the error:

Select View > Command Palette... from the Visual Studio Code menu, or press Ctrl+Shift+P.
Type restart and select Powershell: Restart session. See PowerShell/vscode-powershell GitHub Issue 4332 for more information.

Next steps

Learn more about Dataverse Web API capabilities by understanding the service documents.

Web API types and operations

Review and run sample code.

Web API Data operations Samples (PowerShell)

Dela via

Use PowerShell and Visual Studio Code with the Dataverse Web API

Prerequisites

Install or verify that the following are installed

Verify installation

You'll also need

Create reusable functions

Create a Connect function

Create a WhoAmI function

Create table operations functions

Handle exceptions

Manage Dataverse service protection limits

Debug using Fiddler

Download the Dataverse Web API CSDL $metadata document

Troubleshooting

Error dialog: connect ENOENT\\.\pipe\<RANDOM_text> with Open 'launch.json' button

Next steps

Feedback

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