Skill: Data — Create, Update, Delete, and Bulk Import

This skill uses Python exclusively. Do not use Node.js, JavaScript, or any other language for Dataverse scripting. If you are about to run npm install or write a .js file, STOP — you are going off-rails. See the overview skill's Hard Rules.

Use the official Microsoft Power Platform Dataverse Client Python SDK for all data write operations.

Official SDK: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerPlatform-DataverseClient-Python PyPI package: PowerPlatform-Dataverse-Client (this is the only official one — do not use dataverse-api or other unofficial packages) Status: Preview — breaking changes are possible

Skill boundaries

Need	Use instead
Query or read records	dv-query
Create tables, columns, relationships, forms, views	dv-metadata
Export or deploy solutions	dv-solution

---

Before Writing ANY Script — Check MCP First

If MCP tools are available (create_record, update_record) and the task is ≤10 records, use MCP directly — no script needed. Only write a Python script when the task requires: bulk operations (10+ records), data transformation, retry logic, CSV import, or operations the SDK supports that MCP cannot (upsert, file uploads). Sequential MCP tool calls are not "multi-step logic" — use MCP for those.

SDK-First Rule

If an operation is in the "supports" list below, you MUST use the SDK — not urllib, requests, or raw HTTP.

Correct imports (always preceded by sys.path.insert in a full script — see Setup below):

from auth import get_credential, load_env
from PowerPlatform.Dataverse.client import DataverseClient

WRONG for SDK-supported operations:

from auth import get_token, load_env  # WRONG for SDK-supported ops
import requests                        # WRONG for SDK-supported ops

get_token() and requests exist ONLY for operations the SDK does not support (forms, views, $apply, N:N $expand, unbound actions) — see dv-query and dv-metadata.

---

What This SDK Supports (Data Operations)

• Record writes: create, update, delete
• Record reads within write workflows (e.g., lookup resolution) — for standalone queries see dv-query
• Upsert (with alternate key support)
• Bulk operations: CreateMultiple, UpdateMultiple, UpsertMultiple
• File column uploads (chunked for files >128MB)
• Context manager with HTTP connection pooling

What This SDK Does NOT Support

Use raw Web API (get_token()) for:

• Forms (FormXml) — see dv-metadata
• Views (SavedQueries) — see dv-metadata
• Global option sets — see dv-metadata
• N:N record association ($ref POST) — use raw Web API (POST /api/data/v9.2/<entity>(<id>)/<nav-property>/$ref)
• N:N $expand — see dv-query
• $apply aggregation — see dv-query
• Unbound actions (e.g., InstallSampleData)
• DeleteMultiple, general OData batching

---

Setup

import os, sys
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "scripts"))
from auth import get_credential, load_env
from PowerPlatform.Dataverse.client import DataverseClient

load_env()
client = DataverseClient(
    base_url=os.environ["DATAVERSE_URL"],
    credential=get_credential(),
)

get_credential() returns ClientSecretCredential (if CLIENT_ID + CLIENT_SECRET are in .env) or DeviceCodeCredential (interactive fallback). See scripts/auth.py.

For scripts that run to completion: wrap in with DataverseClient(...) as client: for automatic connection cleanup (recommended since b6). For notebooks and interactive sessions, the explicit client above is simpler.

---

Field Name Casing Rule

Getting this wrong causes 400 errors.

Property type	Convention	Example	When used
Structural (columns)	LogicalName — always lowercase	new_name, new_priority	Record payload keys
Navigation (lookups)	Navigation Property Name — case-sensitive, matches $metadata	new_AccountId	@odata.bind keys

The SDK lowercases structural keys automatically but preserves @odata.bind key casing.

---

Create a Record

guid = client.records.create("new_ticket", {
    "new_name": "Ticket 001",
    "new_priority": 100000002,          # choice column — integer value, not string
    "[email protected]": "/accounts(<account-guid>)",
})
print(f"Created: {guid}")

@odata.bind notes:

• Key is the Navigation Property Name: [email protected] (the SDK preserves casing automatically as of b6, but matching the schema name is still the correct form)
• Value is "/<EntitySetName>(<guid>)" — e.g., "/accounts(<guid>)"
• If you just created the lookup column, wait 5–10 seconds before inserting. Metadata propagation delays cause "Invalid property" errors.
• Choice columns use integer values, not strings: "new_priority": 100000002 (not "High")

Common @odata.bind patterns

Lookup	Correct key	Wrong
Custom: new_AccountId	[email protected]	[email protected]
System polymorphic: customerid	[email protected]	[email protected]
System: parentcustomerid	[email protected]	[email protected]

Find the Navigation Property Name

After creating a lookup via SDK: result.lookup_schema_name is the navigation property name.

For existing system tables, query:

GET /api/data/v9.2/EntityDefinitions(LogicalName='<entity>')/ManyToOneRelationships
  ?$select=ReferencingEntityNavigationPropertyName,ReferencedEntity

---

Update a Record

client.records.update("new_ticket", "<record-guid>",
    {"new_status": 100000001})

---

Delete a Record

client.records.delete("new_ticket", "<record-guid>")

---

Bulk Create (SDK uses CreateMultiple internally)

records = [{"new_name": f"Ticket {i}", "new_priority": 100000000} for i in range(500)]
guids = client.records.create("new_ticket", records)
print(f"Created {len(guids)} records")

Volume guidance: MCP create_record for 1-10 records. SDK for 10+ records.

Important: The SDK sends all records in a single POST to CreateMultiple. It does not chunk automatically. Dataverse has no fixed record count limit — the constraints are payload size and request timeout (SDK default: 120s for POST). For larger datasets, you must chunk in your script. The bulk_upsert and bulk_create helpers below use adaptive chunking: start at 1,000, double on success (up to 4,000), halve on payload/timeout failure, and cap at the last successful size. Tables with few columns can handle larger chunks than tables with many columns.

---

Bulk Update

# Broadcast same change to multiple records
client.records.update("new_ticket",
    [id1, id2, id3],
    {"new_status": 100000001})

---

DataFrame Write-Back

To create or update records from a pandas DataFrame, use the client.dataframe namespace. This is documented in dv-query (alongside client.dataframe.get()) but is a write operation — include it in your data write workflow:

# Update records — DataFrame must include the primary key column
client.dataframe.update("opportunity", df_updates, id_column="opportunityid")

# Create records — returns a Series of new GUIDs
guids = client.dataframe.create("opportunity", df_new_records)

See dv-query for the full client.dataframe reference including client.dataframe.get().

---

Upsert (Alternate Keys)

Idempotent — re-running the same import does not create duplicates. The alternate key must be defined on the table first — see dv-metadata.

Do NOT include alternate key columns in the record body. The alternate key identifies the record; the record body contains the data to set. If the same column appears in both, UpsertMultiple fails with "An unexpected error occurred" (single upsert tolerates it, bulk does not).

from PowerPlatform.Dataverse.models.upsert import UpsertItem

client.records.upsert("account", [
    UpsertItem(
        alternate_key={"accountnumber": "ACC-001"},
        record={"name": "Contoso Ltd", "description": "Primary account"},
    ),
    UpsertItem(
        alternate_key={"accountnumber": "ACC-002"},
        record={"name": "Fabrikam Inc"},
    ),
])

---

Bulk Import from CSV

For imports that may be re-run (most real-world cases), use UpsertItem with alternate keys instead of create() — see references/multi-table-fk-import.md. The create() pattern here is for one-shot loads only.

Volume	Tool	Why
1–10 records	MCP create_record	Simple, no script
10+ records	SDK client.records.create(table, list)	Uses CreateMultiple; chunk large datasets (start at 1K, adapt)

import csv, os, sys
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "scripts"))
from auth import get_credential, load_env
from PowerPlatform.Dataverse.client import DataverseClient

load_env()
client = DataverseClient(base_url=os.environ["DATAVERSE_URL"], credential=get_credential())

with open("data/customers.csv", newline="", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    rows = list(csv.DictReader(f))

records = [{"new_name": row["name"], "new_email": row["email"]} for row in rows]

# SDK sends all in one POST — chunk to avoid payload/timeout limits
# Start at 1000; for narrow tables (few columns) you can go higher
chunk_size = 1000
for i in range(0, len(records), chunk_size):
    guids = client.records.create("new_customer", records[i:i + chunk_size])
    print(f"Imported {i + len(guids)}/{len(records)} customers", flush=True)

Lookup resolution during import

If the CSV has a human-readable key (e.g., customer_email) but Dataverse needs a GUID, pre-resolve with a lookup dict:

# Build email -> GUID map first
email_to_guid = {}
for page in client.records.get("new_customer", select=["new_customerid", "new_email"]):
    for r in page:
        email_to_guid[r["new_email"]] = r["new_customerid"]

# Use it during import
records = []
for row in rows:
    customer_guid = email_to_guid.get(row["customer_email"])
    if not customer_guid:
        print(f"Skipping row — unknown email: {row['customer_email']}")
        continue
    records.append({
        "new_channel": row["channel"],
        "[email protected]": f"/new_customers({customer_guid})",  # verify entity set name via EntityDefinitions
    })

guids = client.records.create("new_interaction", records)

Required field discovery for system tables

Before bulk-creating in a system table (account, contact, opportunity):

1. Create a single test record with your intended minimal payload
2. If HttpError 400 is raised, the error message names the missing required field
3. Some required fields are plugin-enforced and not visible in describe_table
4. Delete the test record, then proceed with bulk create

---

Multi-Table Import with FK Dependencies

When importing data across multiple tables with foreign key relationships, the import must run in dependency order with UpsertItem + alternate keys (idempotent, safe for re-runs).

Quick reference:

1. Create tables with source ID columns + alternate keys + lookup relationships (see dv-metadata).
2. Import Level 0 (no FK deps) tables in parallel via ThreadPoolExecutor. Sequential chunks within each table (concurrent writes deadlock).
3. Build source-ID → GUID maps by querying back (upsert doesn't return GUIDs).
4. Repeat per dependency level — Level 1 needs Level 0's maps for @odata.bind.

For the full pattern — adaptive bulk_upsert helper, composite-key handling, post-import verification, and the first-time bulk_create variant — see references/multi-table-fk-import.md.

Key invariants (apply even without reading the reference):

• Parallelize across tables at the same level, sequential between levels, sequential chunks within a table.
• Alternate key columns must NOT also appear in the record body — UpsertMultiple fails.
• Catch per-table failures in the executor — one table failing must not kill the others.
• Start chunk_size=1000; the helper ramps up adaptively.

Error Handling

from PowerPlatform.Dataverse.core.errors import HttpError

try:
    guid = client.records.create("new_ticket", {"new_name": "Test"})
except HttpError as e:
    print(f"Status {e.status_code}: {e.message}")
    if e.details:
        print(f"Details: {e.details}")
    # 400 — bad field name, @odata.bind format, or missing required field
    # 403 — check security roles
    # 404 — table or record not found
    # 429 — rate limited; SDK retries automatically, reduce batch size if persistent

---

Windows Scripting Notes

• ASCII only in .py files — curly quotes and em dashes cause SyntaxError on Windows.
• No python -c for multiline code — write a .py file instead.
• Generate GUIDs in scripts: str(uuid.uuid4()), not shell backtick substitution.

---

Sample Data Generation

Generate realistic sample records inline — schema-driven, table-agnostic, PII-safe defaults (@example.com emails, 555-01xx phones).

Quick reference: confirm environment + count + table → query EntityDefinitions(LogicalName='<table>')/Attributes?$filter=AttributeOf eq null for required columns → dispatch by AttributeType (String / Memo / Integer / DateTime / Picklist / etc.) → client.records.create() (use CreateMultiple for count >= 10).

For the schema-driven fake() template, the EntityDefinitions query, and the safety rules, see references/sample-data-generation.md.

Key invariants:

• Skip Lookup, Uniqueidentifier, State, Status, Owner, Customer fields unless the user explicitly provides values.
• UserLocalizedLabel may be null — dereference safely.

Confirmation-flow examples

Generate N sample records (destructive — preview the snippet, ask for env):

• ❌ "Which environment should I target? Please provide the Dataverse URL."
• ✅ "I'll run the Sample Data Generation snippets with TABLE=\"contact\", COUNT=20. Uses CreateMultiple, .example.com emails, 555-01xx phones, against the active pac auth list environment. Confirm to proceed, or specify a different environment."

Sample data on a custom entity (schema unknown — prose is enough):

• ❌ "I need more info about the entity. What are the required fields?"
• ✅ "Custom entity — I'll query EntityDefinitions for cr123_project to discover required columns, then generate 5 records inline mapping each column to a generator by AttributeType and call client.records.create(\"cr123_project\", records). Confirm to proceed, or tell me a different count."