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Dynamics 365 Business Central Developer and IT Pro Documentation

repository·main·Indexed 41 days ago

https://github.com/microsoftdocs/dynamics365smb-devitpro-pb

Technical guides, API references, and best practices for building, deploying, and managing Dynamics 365 Business Central environments. Covers AL Language and extensions, REST APIs (v1.0, v2.0), Dataverse integration, AL-Go for GitHub DevOps automation, and the Business Central Administration Center API.

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What's inside Dynamics 365 Business Central

  1. Overview of the Performance Toolkit extension (BCPT)

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    The Performance Toolkit extension (BCPT) is designed for Independent Solution Vendors (ISVs) and Value Added Resellers (VARs) to simulate realistic workloads in Business Central. It allows developers to test the performance of their solutions and ensure that new versions do not introduce performance regressions as user volume grows.

    Key Capabilities:

    • Simulate concurrent user workloads in realistic scenarios.
    • Compare performance between different builds of a solution.
    • Answer questions regarding whether Business Central can handle specific user/transaction loads.

    Limitations:

    • It is designed to simulate workloads, not to calculate specific throughput metrics like "how many orders can be processed per hour."

  2. Overview of the Business Central Administration Center API

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    The Business Central Administration Center API allows administrators to programmatically manage a Business Central tenant. Key capabilities include:

    • Environment Management: Query and work with both production and sandbox environments.
    • Notifications: Set up administrative notifications.
    • Telemetry: View telemetry data for tenant events.

    The API is located at: https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com.

  3. Overview of Dynamics 365 Business Central documentation

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    This repository contains the source documentation for Dynamics 365 Business Central, specifically targeting developers and IT Professionals. The primary published content is located in the dev-itpro/ directory and is hosted on Microsoft Learn.

    Developers can use this repository to find technical references for:

    • AL Language & Extensions: Development best practices and testing.
    • APIs: REST API references (v1.0, v2.0), Dataverse integration, and IRS 1099 reporting.
    • Deployment & Administration: Tenant management, cloud migration, and system requirements.
    • Automation: AL-Go for GitHub DevOps automation.
    • Integrations: Power Platform (Power Automate, Power Apps) and Web Services (OData, SOAP, REST).

  4. Overview of Dynamics NAV Client and Service Types

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    Dynamics NAV interacts with the database through a server. Clients and services are categorized into user-facing interfaces and programmatic service types:

    User Clients

    • Windows Client: A versatile Windows application. This is the only client type that you explicitly install and configure using Dynamics NAV Setup.
    • Web Client: An alternative to the Windows Client that allows data access over the Internet via a web browser.
    • Tablet and Phone Clients: Mobile interfaces for accessing data on tablets or phones. Development for these is similar to Web Client development.

    Service Types

    • SOAP Web Services: Best for industry-standard interoperability (e.g., Java) or non-HTTP channels. Defined and published in the Role Center (RTC) and managed via the Administration tool.
    • OData Web Services: Recommended for general-purpose client applications requiring a uniform, REST-based interface. They are lightweight and use URIs for functionality. Defined and published in the Role Center (RTC) and managed via the Administration tool.
    • NAS Services: A middle-tier component for executing business logic without a UI. Used for task scheduling, client offloading, and specialized integrations. Managed via the Administration tool.

  5. Overview of the AI Development Toolkit

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    The AI development toolkit is a preview environment for Dynamics 365 Business Central that allows developers, product owners, and domain experts to prototype, validate, and refine AI-powered capabilities by building agents.

    It is designed for experimenting with AI interactions with the Business Central UI and data, testing prompts, and demonstrating capabilities before committing to full AL extension development.

    When to use:

    • Prototyping AI features before AL development.
    • Testing AI interactions with UI and data.
    • Validating use cases and gathering requirements.
    • Experimenting with prompts in a controlled environment.

    When NOT to use:

    • For compliance or security evaluations.
    • For final production implementations (use AL extensions instead).
    • For end-user training (use production-ready Copilot features).

  6. Overview of customizing Microsoft Dataverse integrations

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    Customizing an integration between Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dataverse involves developing AL extensions to map and synchronize data between the two platforms.

    Key tasks in the customization process include:

    1. Developing an AL extension to integrate tables.
    2. Creating an integration table object in Business Central to map a Dataverse table to a Business Central record type.
    3. Using the integration table as a data source for Business Central pages to display Dataverse data.
    4. Extending pages to enable coupling and synchronization of table rows.
    5. Using events to create integration tables, field mappings, and custom integration field mappings.
    6. Creating table extensions for existing integration table objects.

    Note: Customization is performed within Business Central and does not involve modifying the Microsoft Dataverse solution itself.

  7. Overview of Business Central integration with Microsoft Teams

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    The Business Central app for Microsoft Teams allows users to interact with business data directly within Teams. Developers can customize this experience using AL code to influence how data is displayed in cards, tabs, and detail views.

    Key integration features include:

    • Tabs: Embed Business Central data (like filtered lists) at the top of Teams channels or chats.
    • Cards: Compact summaries of Business Central records that appear when links are pasted into conversations or when searching for contacts.
    • Card Details: An embedded window within Teams that allows users to view FactBoxes, charts, and full record details without switching apps.
    • Direct Actions: Users with proper permissions can edit fields, create records, and start workflows directly from Teams cards or tabs.

  8. Overview of AL Development Environment

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    The AL Development Environment is the primary workspace for developing extensions using the AL programming language. It includes resources for the AL Programming Guide, object definitions (Tables, Pages, Codeunits, etc.), and API references for handling HTTP, JSON, and XML. Developers can also manage multiple AL project folders within a single workspace.

  9. Overview of developer tools for Copilot

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    The developer tools for Copilot is a specialized toolkit designed for AL developers to integrate Azure OpenAI Service directly into Business Central extensions. It allows for the implementation of generative AI features that feel native to the Business Central user experience, rather than requiring developers to build AI integrations from scratch using external APIs.

  10. Overview of Business Central integration ecosystems

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    Business Central integrates with several major ecosystems:

    Microsoft 365

    Supports integrations with Excel, Field Service, Microsoft Graph, OneDrive for Business, Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, and Word.

    Power Platform

    Supports Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Power Pages, and Copilot Studio.

    Dynamics 365

    • Sales: Integrated via Dataverse to allow users to view Business Central data (like inventory) within Dynamics 365 Sales.
    • Field Service: Streamlines service operations by coupling financials, inventory, and procurement with service delivery.

    E-commerce

    • Shopify: Integrated via the Shopify Connector app to manage business insights and store data in one unit.

  11. New and updated features in Business Central 2026 release wave 1 - Update 28.0

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    Update 28.0 for the 2026 release wave 1 introduces a wide range of features across several product areas. Key updates include:

    • Copilot and agents: Enhanced agentic experiences via MCP server, Payables Agent email discovery, item insights with advanced KPIs, and dedicated task panes for managing agent tasks.
    • Development: New capabilities for AL developers, including defining data analysis definitions in apps, downloading symbols from NuGet feeds, evaluating AL coding agents with BC-Bench, and running AL tests from Visual Studio Code.
    • Ecommerce: Improved Shopify integration, including custom collections for exported items, product options based on item attributes, and syncing product variant images.
    • Supply Chain Management: Enhancements to item variant management (pictures and attributes), requisition worksheet approvals, and improved drop shipment handling.
    • Reporting and Data Analysis: New APIs for analyzing approval workflows and permissions, enhanced subscription billing with Power BI, and modernized analytical reports for inventory.
    • Sustainability: New APIs for sustainability integration and sales document report layouts that display carbon footprint data.

    For a full list of features and their availability (General Availability vs. Public Preview), refer to the official release plan.

  12. Business Central on-premises to online migration overview

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    This guide provides a high-level overview of the end-to-end process for migrating data from Business Central on-premises to the Business Central online (SaaS) environment. It covers the migration roadmap, the components involved, data migration mechanics, and the necessary phases for a successful transition to the cloud.