I finally did it.
After a long weekend of reverse engineering, hard-coding and vibe-coding, (and sacrificing ☹️ this week's video on AI-Assisted Model Driven App Development) I've finally managed to address a need I had for a while: being able to leverage pacx to streamline the Dataverse plugins registration workflow!
Please welcome the new pacx plugin namespace.
🤝 Working Hand-in-Hand with Power Platform CLI
PACX it's designed to work alongside Power Platform CLI commands, filling gaps and smoothing out rough edges in the plugin development workflow. Think of PACX as the Swiss Army knife that complements your standard toolkit, offering specialized tools for specific scenarios where the standard CLI might feel a bit clunky.
⚡ The PACX Plugin Command Arsenal
The pacx plugin namespace provides a focused set of commands that address common pain points in plugin development:
📦 pacx plugin push – Deploy Without the Hassle
The crown jewel of the PACX plugin commands, pacx plugin push solves a fundamental frustration with the standard pac plugin push command. Here's the game-changer: while pac plugin push requires you to know the plugin ID upfront (making it unsuitable for initial deployments), PACX simply uses the assembly or package name to intelligently handle both new registrations and updates.
# PACX way - works for both initial upload and updates
pacx plugin push --path "MyPlugin.nupkg" --solution "MySolution"
# vs. the traditional pac way - requires plugin ID for updates
pac plugin push --id "plugin-guid-here" --path "MyPlugin.nupkg"
👁️ pacx plugin list – Intelligence at Your Fingertips
Need to see what's deployed? pacx plugin list provides flexible filtering options to view plugin steps by assembly, class, table, or solution. It's like having X-ray vision into your plugin ecosystem, with options to include or exclude system plugins and format output as tables or JSON for automation scenarios.
🔄 pacx plugin step Commands – Complete Step Lifecycle Management
The plugin step command group covers the entire lifecycle of plugin step management:
pacx plugin step register– Register new plugin steps with intelligent defaults and fuzzy class name matching. No more typing out fully qualified class names when a partial match will do!pacx plugin step disable/enable– Perfect for debugging. Temporarily disable problematic steps without deleting them, then re-enable when you've sorted things out. It's like having a pause button for your business logic.pacx plugin step unregister– Clean removal of plugin steps when they're no longer needed.
All step management commands offer flexible identification – use either the step's unique ID or a combination of class name, message, and table for easier human-friendly operations.
✨ The Developer Experience Difference
What sets PACX apart isn't just the functionality – it's the developer experience. The tool embraces conventions over configuration, provides sensible defaults, and uses fuzzy matching to reduce the cognitive load of remembering exact names and IDs. It's plugin management designed by developers, for developers.
Whether you're working on your first plugin or managing a complex solution with dozens of customizations, PACX plugin commands provide the streamlined, intuitive experience that makes plugin development feel less like wrestling with infrastructure and more like crafting great business solutions.
🤖 AI-Powered Development Made Simple
Here's where things get really exciting: PACX's intuitive command structure makes it perfect for AI-assisted development. AI assistants can easily learn the PACX command patterns and suggest the proper commands to run at any time. This means you won't need to leave Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code to manage plugin registration anymore – simply ask your favorite copilot what command to run, and it can guide you through the entire process.
The clear, logical syntax of PACX commands makes them ideal for AI comprehension and generation, turning your development environment into a truly integrated experience where plugin management becomes as natural as writing code.
Ready to give PACX a try? Your future self (and your CI/CD pipeline) will thank you for making the switch to more intelligent plugin management.
Want to learn more about PACX and its other powerful features? Check out the complete documentation and discover how PACX can streamline your entire Power Platform development workflow.
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