TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.CodeApp 1.4.0

TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.CodeApp

MSBuild integration for Power Apps code-first canvas app projects. Automates the npm install / npm run build lifecycle, copies the compiled dist/ output into the correct location, and exposes metadata targets that allow Solution projects to discover, generate .meta.xml, and package canvas apps into the solution .zip.

Installation

<PackageReference Include="TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.CodeApp" Version="0.0.0.1" PrivateAssets="All" />

Or use the SDK approach:

<Project Sdk="TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Sdk/0.0.0.1">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <ProjectType>CodeApp</ProjectType>
    <AppName>myapp</AppName>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Prerequisites

• Node.js and npm must be available in PATH.
• A package.json must exist in the project root.
• The npm run build script must produce output in a dist/ folder.
• A power.config.json file must exist, describing the app schema name and metadata used by GenerateCodeAppMetaXml.

How It Works

Build-time targets

1. CheckCodeAppPrereqs -- validates that package.json exists and that node / npm are available in PATH. Runs only when RunNodeBuild is true (auto-detected from the presence of package.json).
2. BuildCodeApp (runs before Build, depends on CheckCodeAppPrereqs) -- executes npm install followed by npm run build in the project root directory.
3. CopyCodeAppDist (runs after Build) -- copies the dist/ folder to $(OutputPath)$(AppName)\. Fails the build if dist/ is missing or if AppName is not set.
4. CopyCodeAppDistPublish (runs after Publish) -- same as above, but copies to $(PublishDir) instead.

Integration targets

These targets are called by TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Solution when it discovers this project via ProjectReference:

• GetProjectType -- returns CodeApp so the Solution build knows how to handle this reference.
• GetCodeAppOutputs (depends on Build) -- returns the path to the compiled dist/ folder along with AppName and ConfigPath (location of power.config.json) metadata. The Solution project uses this to call GenerateCodeAppMetaXml and produce the .meta.xml file for PAC packaging.

What happens in the Solution project

When a Solution project has a ProjectReference to a CodeApp project, the following happens automatically during solution build:

1. ProbeCodeApps discovers the CodeApp reference by calling GetProjectType.
2. BuildCodeApps calls GetCodeAppOutputs, which triggers the full CodeApp build (npm install + build).
3. PrepareCodeAppsSources generates .meta.xml via GenerateCodeAppMetaXml, adds a RootComponent entry (Type 300) to Solution.xml, and ensures the CanvasApps node exists in Customizations.xml.
4. CopyCodeAppsToMetadata copies the CodeApp dist output into the solution metadata CanvasApps/ folder before PAC packages the solution.

The CodeApp reference is automatically filtered out of the standard ResolveProjectReferences pipeline to avoid unnecessary assembly resolution.

MSBuild Properties

power.config.json

The GenerateCodeAppMetaXml task reads this file to generate the .meta.xml required by PAC. Place it in the project root. The task scans dist/ for all files, maps extensions to MIME types (50+ extensions supported), and produces CodeAppPackageUri entries.