Skill: Environment Admin — Bulk Delete, Retention, Org Settings, OrgDB, Recycle Bin

⚠️ Critical safety rules — read first

1. Bulk delete is irreversible and bypasses the recycle bin. pac data bulk-delete schedule without --fetchxml deletes every record in the table. Refuse to run until the user explicitly says ALL (or ALL RECORDS) and the entity logical name — e.g., "yes, delete ALL records in contact". Bare "yes" rejected. Empty-filter FetchXML does NOT bypass this gate. See Bulk Delete Commands for the full rule and disambiguation flow.
2. Settings allowlist is hard. Only the 37 PPAC toggles in Allowed settings may be read or updated. Any other setting must be refused: "That setting is out of scope for dv-admin. Use the Power Platform admin center."
3. Recycle bin disable is PATCH, never DELETE. PATCH statecode=1, statuscode=2, isreadyforrecyclebin=false. DELETE enqueues async opt-out and orphans per-entity configs — see references/recycle-bin.md.
4. System tables warning. Unfiltered bulk delete on systemuser, businessunit, organization, or role breaks the environment. Warn additionally before running.

Four mechanisms — pick based on where the setting lives:

Mechanism	Use for	How
PAC CLI (pac org update-settings / list-settings)	Columns on the organization entity (audit, plugin trace, typeahead, quick find, canvas/flow solutions, email validation, audit retention)	--name <column> --value <value> — accepts any org column, not just the legacy audit ones
Python SDK — OrgDB XML	Keys inside the orgdborgsettings XML blob (MCP, search, Fabric, Work IQ, TDS endpoint, attachment security, ownership, address records, block unmanaged, delete users, Excel AI)	Read XML → parse → modify → PATCH whole blob back on organizations({id})
Python SDK — recyclebinconfigs	Recycle bin on/off + retention days	CREATE/PATCH recyclebinconfigs entity record
Python SDK — settingdefinition + organizationsettings	App-level / plan-level security role toggles	Look up settingdefinition by uniquename → CREATE or PATCH organizationsettings row with value

Do NOT write Python scripts for operations PAC CLI can handle. Do NOT mix mechanisms (e.g., don't hand-PATCH an org column that PAC CLI already covers).

Skill boundaries

Use dv-data for record CRUD and sample data, dv-metadata for tables / columns / relationships, dv-query for reading records, dv-solution for solution export/import, dv-security for roles and self-elevate, pac admin --help for tenant governance (DLP, env lifecycle).

Allowed settings — hard allowlist

The 37 PPAC toggles below are the only ones this skill may read or update (35 unique backend keys — SearchAndCopilotIndexMode and auditretentionperiodv2 each cover two toggles). Examples that are out of scope and must be refused per the safety rule above: sessiontimeoutinmins, isautosaveenabled, maxuploadfilesize, inaborttimeoutinmins, IsArchivalEnabled, IsShadowLakeEnabled, EnableActivitiesFeatures. Do not run pac org list-settings without --filter, and do not dump the whole orgdborgsettings XML for a non-allowlisted setting.

Organization entity columns — use PAC CLI (14)

Use pac org list-settings --filter <column> to read, pac org update-settings --name <column> --value <value> to write. PAC CLI accepts any column on the organization entity — not just the legacy audit ones.

#	PPAC label	Column	Type
1	Start Auditing	isauditenabled	bool
2	Audit user access (Log access)	isuseraccessauditenabled	bool
3	Start Read Auditing (Read logs to Purview)	isreadauditenabled	bool
4	Plugin trace log setting	plugintracelogsetting	int: 0 Off, 1 Exception, 2 All
5	Single table search option	tablescopeddvsearchinapps	bool
6	Prevent slow keyword filter for quick find terms	allowleadingwildcardsinquickfind	int: 0 prevent, 1 allow (UI "prevent=On" flips to 0)
7	Quick Find record limits	quickfindrecordlimitenabled	bool
8	Use quick find view for searching on grids/subgrids	usequickfindviewforgridsearch	bool
9	Canvas apps in Dataverse solutions by default	enablecanvasappsinsolutionsbydefault	bool
10	Cloud flows in Dataverse solutions by default	enableflowsinsolutionbydefault	bool (note: solution singular)
11	Enable email address validation (preview)	isemailaddressvalidationenabled	bool
12	Minimum number of characters to trigger typeahead	lookupcharactercountbeforeresolve	int (0–MAX_INT, null = feature off)
13	Delay between character inputs that trigger a search	lookupresolvedelayms	int ms (default 250)
14	Audit log retention policy / Custom retention period (days)	auditretentionperiodv2	int days (-1 = Forever; presets 30/90/180/365/730/2555; max 365000)

OrgDB XML keys — use Python SDK on orgdborgsettings blob (17)

PascalCase is significant (IsMCPEnabled, not IsMcpEnabled). Full key list with PPAC labels and types lives in references/orgdb-settings.md. Notable keys: IsMCPEnabled, IsMCPPreviewEnabled, SearchAndCopilotIndexMode, IsLinkToFabricEnabled, IsFabricVirtualTableEnabled, ShowDataInM365Copilot, EnableWorkIQ, IsLockdownOfUnmanagedCustomizationEnabled, EnableSecurityOnAttachment, EnableTDSEndpoint, AllowAccessToTDSEndpoint, EnableOwnershipAcrossBusinessUnits, CreateOnlyNonEmptyAddressRecordsForEligibleEntities, EnableDeleteAddressRecords, BlockDeleteManagedAttributeMap, EnableSystemUserDelete, IsExcelToExistingTableWithAssistedMappingEnabled.

SearchAndCopilotIndexMode is one int (0–3) that encodes two UI toggles — Dataverse search × M365 Copilot search:

Value	Dataverse search	M365 Copilot search
0	Off	On
1	On	On
2	Off	Off
3	On	Off

recyclebinconfigs entity — use Python SDK (2, org-level only)

Two toggles operate on the org-level recyclebinconfigs row (filtered by the organization entity's MetadataId): on/off (statecode + statuscode + isreadyforrecyclebin) and cleanup days (cleanupintervalindays). Per-table toggles are out of scope — refuse requests like "enable recycle bin for contact only". Full lifecycle in references/recycle-bin.md.

settingdefinition + organizationsettings — use Python SDK (2)

Two allowlisted toggles, both bool stored as string: PowerAppsAppLevelSecurityRolesEnabled (canvas apps), PlanShareSecurityRolesEnabled (plan designer). Read default from settingdefinition, CREATE/PATCH organizationsettings for the override. Full Python in references/settings-overrides.md.

Preview Before Running

• Destructive / stateful (bulk delete schedule/cancel/pause/resume, settings updates, recycle bin toggle, role assignment, self-elevate, retention set) — preview in prose: what's changing, new value, target environment(s). Use placeholders (<ENV_URL>) for unknowns and ask for missing values in the same turn. Skip the raw CLI block.
• Read-only (list-settings, show job, read OrgDB / recycle bin status) — one-sentence prose preview is enough.

The user must be able to evaluate the action from your first response. A bare "which environment?" fails; a one-line prose preview passes.

Examples

Pause bulk delete (destructive, ID supplied):

• ❌ "The command requires approval. Please confirm to pause the job."
• ✅ "I'll pause bulk delete job <job-id> on the active environment. Confirm to proceed."

Audit status across N environments (read-only, multi-call):

• ❌ Sequential pac org fetch per env, or starting with Python/SDK because it "feels like a query."
• ✅ "I'll run pac org list-settings --filter audit in parallel across all N environments (one &-batch, single wait)."

How to Read or Update Org Settings

Org settings always go through pac org list-settings / pac org update-settings — never raw Web API, FetchXML, PowerShell, or Python for org columns. Use --filter <substring> for category reads in one call. Multi-environment work runs in parallel via & + wait in ONE bash call.

Single setting:

pac org list-settings --filter isauditenabled --environment <url>

Category read (returns every match, e.g. all audit settings in one call):

pac org list-settings --filter audit --environment <url>

Multi-environment — parallel in ONE bash call:

pac org list-settings --filter audit --environment <url1> &
pac org list-settings --filter audit --environment <url2> &
pac org list-settings --filter audit --environment <url3> &
wait

If pac org list-settings fails for a setting, that setting is NOT an org column — check the mechanism routing in the four-mechanism table at the top, then use the appropriate Python pattern. Do NOT fall back to Web API, PowerShell, FetchXML, or pac org fetch for org columns.

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Prerequisites

• PAC CLI latest .NET Framework build — pac data bulk-delete and pac data retention are only in the .NET Framework build, not the dotnet tool cross-platform version. Check with pac help (look for "Version: x.x.x (.NET Framework ...)"); if it shows .NET 10 or .NET 8, run pac install latest && pac use latest to switch.
• Authenticated (pac auth create), active profile (pac auth list), and System Administrator privilege on the target environment.

Multi-Environment Operations — Always Parallel

The same & + wait pattern from list-settings applies to every multi-env operation (update-settings, bulk-delete, etc.) — N backgrounded calls in ONE bash call, never sequential or for loops.

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Common Mistakes — Do NOT Use These

These flags do not exist. Using them will produce errors.

Bulk Delete

Wrong	Correct
--filter	use --fetchxml with a FetchXML string
--query / --where / --condition	use --fetchxml
--date / --before / --older-than	encode date in FetchXML <condition>
--job-id	use --id
--all / --purge / --truncate	omit --fetchxml to target all records (warn user first)

Retention

Wrong	Correct
--fetchxml	use --criteria (same FetchXML format, different flag name)
--filter / --query / --policy	use --criteria
--enable / --activate	use pac data retention enable-entity
--table	use --entity
--operation-id / --job-id / --guid	use --id

Org Settings

Wrong	Correct
--enable-audit / --audit	use --name isauditenabled --value true
--trace / --plugin-trace / --logging	use --name plugintracelogsetting --value 2
--setting / --key / --flag	use --name
String values like "all" or "enabled" for option sets	use integers: 0, 1, 2

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Bulk Delete Commands

Schedule a Bulk Delete Job

pac data bulk-delete schedule --entity activitypointer \
    --fetchxml "<fetch><entity name='activitypointer'><filter><condition attribute='createdon' operator='lt' value='2024-01-01'/></filter></entity></fetch>"
pac data bulk-delete schedule --entity email \
    --fetchxml "<fetch><entity name='email'><filter><condition attribute='createdon' operator='lt' value='2024-06-01'/></filter></entity></fetch>" \
    --job-name "Cleanup old emails" --recurrence "FREQ=DAILY;INTERVAL=1"

Argument	Alias	Required	Description
--entity	-e	Yes	Logical name of the table
--fetchxml	-fx	No	FetchXML filter. See the hard-stop rule below — if omitted, ALL records in the table are deleted.
--job-name	-jn	No	Descriptive name for the job
--start-time	-st	No	ISO 8601 start time. Defaults to now
--recurrence	-r	No	RFC 5545 pattern (e.g., FREQ=DAILY;INTERVAL=1)
--environment	-env	No	Target environment URL

Hard stop: no --fetchxml means ALL records

pac data bulk-delete schedule without --fetchxml targets every record in the table and is irreversible (does not go through recycle bin). Required gate:

1. Refuse until the user explicitly acknowledges with the word ALL (or ALL RECORDS) and the entity logical name — e.g., "yes, delete ALL records in contact". Bare "yes" rejected.
2. Disambiguate vague asks ("clean up old emails") — propose a FetchXML filter with date / statecode / owner conditions before showing any command.
3. Empty-filter FetchXML doesn't bypass the gate — <filter/> or <filter><condition><value/></condition></filter> still targets every record.
4. Scope: applies to bulk-delete schedule only. cancel, pause, resume, show, list don't need it.

For system tables (systemuser, businessunit, organization, role), additionally warn that unfiltered bulk delete breaks the environment.

Manage Jobs

pac data bulk-delete list --environment https://myorg.crm.dynamics.com
pac data bulk-delete show --id <job-id>
pac data bulk-delete pause --id <job-id>
pac data bulk-delete resume --id <job-id>
pac data bulk-delete cancel --id <job-id>

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Retention / Archival Commands

Data retention moves old records to long-term storage without permanently deleting them.

Agentic Flow

Step 1: pac data retention enable-entity --entity activitypointer
Step 2: pac data retention list
Step 3: pac data retention set --entity activitypointer --criteria "<fetchxml>..."
Step 4: pac data retention show --id <config-id>

Commands

pac data retention enable-entity --entity activitypointer --environment https://myorg.crm.dynamics.com
pac data retention set --entity activitypointer \
    --criteria "<fetch><entity name='activitypointer'><filter><condition attribute='createdon' operator='lt' value='2023-01-01'/></filter></entity></fetch>"
pac data retention list --environment https://myorg.crm.dynamics.com
pac data retention show --id <config-id>
pac data retention status --id <operation-id>

Argument	Alias	Required	Description
--entity	-e	Yes	Logical name of the table
--criteria	-c	Yes	FetchXML defining which records to archive
--start-time	-st	No	ISO 8601 start time. Defaults to now
--recurrence	-r	No	RFC 5545 recurrence pattern
--environment	-env	No	Target environment URL

Retention vs Bulk Delete

Scenario	Use
Data no longer needed, permanently delete	Bulk Delete
Data must be preserved for compliance	Retention (archive)

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Organization Settings Commands

List Settings

pac org list-settings --environment https://myorg.crm.dynamics.com
pac org list-settings --filter isauditenabled --environment https://myorg.crm.dynamics.com

Update a Setting

pac org update-settings --name isauditenabled --value true --environment https://myorg.crm.dynamics.com
pac org update-settings --name plugintracelogsetting --value 2 --environment https://myorg.crm.dynamics.com

Args: --name <column> (required), --value <value> (required; true/false for bool, int for option sets), --environment <url> (optional). Allowed columns are the 14 listed in Allowed settings — anything else is out of scope.

Batch workflow: pac admin list → filter targets → confirm → run all update-settings calls in parallel (& + wait) → render summary table.

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Advanced Settings (Python SDK — PAC CLI Cannot Handle These)

OrgDB, recycle bin, and settings-definition overrides each need raw Web API or the Python SDK — PAC CLI does not cover them. The four-mechanism routing table at the top of this skill (§ Skill) maps each setting to its mechanism. Sub-sections below summarise the patterns and link to the references for full Python.

OrgDB Settings (orgdborgsettings XML)

OrgDB settings live as PascalCase XML elements inside the orgdborgsettings column of the organizations entity. PAC CLI cannot read or write these — use raw Web API.

Quick reference: GET /organizations?$select=organizationid,orgdborgsettings → parse XML with xml.etree.ElementTree → modify or SubElement → PATCH /organizations({id}) with the serialized XML.

For the read / update / remove Python patterns and the 17-key allowlist, see references/orgdb-settings.md. Keys are case-sensitive (IsMCPEnabled, not IsMcpEnabled).

Recycle Bin Configuration

Recycle bin settings live in the recyclebinconfigs entity (NOT orgdborgsettings). PAC CLI cannot manage them — use raw Web API.

Quick reference: filter recyclebinconfigs by _extensionofrecordid_value eq <ORG_ENTITY_METADATA_ID> (the org-level metadata ID is a system constant: e1bd1119-6e9d-45a4-bc15-12051e65a0bd).

• Enable: PATCH statecode=0, statuscode=1, isreadyforrecyclebin=true (or POST a new config). isreadyforrecyclebin: true is required to force the synchronous opt-in path.
• Disable: PATCH statecode=1, statuscode=2, isreadyforrecyclebin=false. Do NOT DELETE — it enqueues async opt-out and orphans per-entity configs.
• Drain in-flight ProcessRecycleBin async jobs (operationtype eq 50, statecode ne 3) before any second toggle.

For the full Python lifecycle (read / enable / disable / async-drain helper), the cache-vs-DB race explanation, and the per-table out-of-scope rule, see references/recycle-bin.md.

Settings-Definition Overrides (app/plan security roles)

Two allowlisted toggles (PowerAppsAppLevelSecurityRolesEnabled, PlanShareSecurityRolesEnabled) live in a join: settingdefinition (defaults) + organizationsettings (overrides). PAC CLI doesn't manage these.

Quick reference: look up the settingdefinitionid by uniquename, then either CREATE an organizationsettings row with value (string "true"/"false") or PATCH the existing row. DELETE on the override row reverts to the default.

For the read + idempotent CREATE/PATCH Python and the gating notes, see references/settings-overrides.md.

Operational confirmation rules

The four rules in the safety callout at the top of this file cover the irreversible / destructive cases. The rules below cover the non-destructive but still impactful operations:

• Confirm before changing org settings that affect all users.
• For multi-environment updates, show the list of target environments and get confirmation first.
• For OrgDB settings, warn that incorrect values can break environment features.
• For recycle bin cleanup interval changes, warn that reducing the interval permanently deletes recycled records sooner.
• For recycle bin enable/disable specifically: always set isreadyforrecyclebin explicitly (true on enable, false on disable), and drain any in-flight ProcessRecycleBin async jobs before any second toggle. Omitting these can produce EntityBinUpdateAction called for entity <x> which is not enabled for RecycleBin on unrelated platform operations.