DataverseMetadataMCPServer

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides tools for querying Microsoft Dataverse/Power Platform metadata. This server allows AI assistants like GitHub Copilot to interact with Dataverse environments to retrieve entity and attribute metadata.

Overview

This MCP server exposes Dataverse metadata through a standardized protocol, enabling AI-powered tools to:

• List all entities in a Dataverse environment
• Retrieve detailed metadata for specific entities including attributes, types, and option sets
• Access lookup relationships and picklist values

Prerequisites

• .NET 8.0 SDK or later (for building from source)
• Dataverse environment with appropriate access credentials
• Dataverse connection string - See Microsoft documentation for connection string format

Building the Project

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/WycliffeAssociates/DataverseMetadataMCPServer.git
cd DataverseMetadataMCPServer

# Build the project
dotnet build

# Build for release
dotnet build -c Release

Create NuGet Package

# Pack the project (creates .nupkg file in bin/Release)
dotnet pack -c Release

The project is configured to build self-contained executables for multiple platforms:

• win-x64 - Windows 64-bit
• win-arm64 - Windows ARM64
• osx-arm64 - macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon)
• linux-x64 - Linux 64-bit
• linux-arm64 - Linux ARM64
• linux-musl-x64 - Linux musl-based (Alpine, etc.)

Running the Server

Environment Variables

The server requires a Dataverse connection string to be set as an environment variable:

# Set the connection string environment variable
export DATAVERSE_CONNECTION_STRING="AuthType=OAuth;[email protected];Password=yourpassword;Url=https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com;AppId=your-app-id-guid;RedirectUri=app://your-redirect-uri-guid;LoginPrompt=Auto"

Connection String Components:

• AuthType - Authentication type (OAuth, Office365, etc.)
• Url - Your Dataverse environment URL
• Username / Password - Credentials (if using Office365 auth)
• AppId - Azure AD application ID
• RedirectUri - OAuth redirect URI
• Additional parameters as needed for your authentication method

Run from Source

# Run the server directly
dotnet run --project DataverseMetadataMCPServer/DataverseMetadataMCPServer.csproj

Configure in VS Code

Create or update .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "DataverseMetadataMCPServer": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--project",
        "/absolute/path/to/DataverseMetadataMCPServer/DataverseMetadataMCPServer.csproj"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATAVERSE_CONNECTION_STRING": "AuthType=OAuth;[email protected];..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure in Visual Studio

Create .mcp.json in your solution directory:

{
  "servers": {
    "DataverseMetadataMCPServer": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--project",
        "C:\\path\\to\\DataverseMetadataMCPServer\\DataverseMetadataMCPServer.csproj"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATAVERSE_CONNECTION_STRING": "AuthType=OAuth;[email protected];..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

The server provides the following MCP tools:

1. GetListOfEntitiesAsync

Description: Gets a list of all entities in the Dataverse environment with their display names.

Parameters: None

Returns: A dictionary mapping entity logical names to their display names.

Example Usage:

User: "Show me all the entities in the Dataverse environment"
AI: Uses GetListOfEntitiesAsync to retrieve and display the list

Sample Output:

{
  "account": "Account",
  "contact": "Contact",
  "opportunity": "Opportunity",
  "lead": "Lead"
}

2. GetEntityMetadataAsync

Description: Gets detailed metadata for all attributes of a specified entity.

Parameters:

• logicalEntityName (string, required) - The logical name of the entity to retrieve metadata for

Returns: A list of AttributeMetadataInfo objects containing:

• LogicalName - The logical name of the attribute
• DisplayName - The user-friendly display name
• AttributeType - The data type of the attribute (String, Integer, Lookup, Picklist, etc.)
• LookupTargetEntity - For lookup fields, the target entity/entities
• OptionSetValues - For picklist/multi-select fields, a dictionary of option values to labels

Example Usage:

User: "What are the attributes of the account entity?"
AI: Uses GetEntityMetadataAsync with logicalEntityName="account"

Sample Output:

[
  {
    "LogicalName": "accountid",
    "DisplayName": "Account",
    "AttributeType": "Uniqueidentifier",
    "LookupTargetEntity": null,
    "OptionSetValues": null
  },
  {
    "LogicalName": "name",
    "DisplayName": "Account Name",
    "AttributeType": "String",
    "LookupTargetEntity": null,
    "OptionSetValues": null
  },
  {
    "LogicalName": "primarycontactid",
    "DisplayName": "Primary Contact",
    "AttributeType": "Lookup",
    "LookupTargetEntity": "contact",
    "OptionSetValues": null
  },
  {
    "LogicalName": "accountcategorycode",
    "DisplayName": "Category",
    "AttributeType": "Picklist",
    "LookupTargetEntity": null,
    "OptionSetValues": {
      "1": "Preferred Customer",
      "2": "Standard"
    }
  }
]

Publishing to NuGet.org

1. Update package metadata in DataverseMetadataMCPServer.csproj:

   • Set <PackageId> to a unique name
   • Update <PackageVersion>
   • Add <Authors>, <Company>, etc.

2. Pack the project:

   dotnet pack -c Release

3. Publish to NuGet.org:

   dotnet nuget push bin/Release/*.nupkg --api-key <your-api-key> --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

4. Configure clients to use published package:

   {
     "servers": {
       "DataverseMetadataMCPServer": {
         "type": "stdio",
         "command": "dnx",
         "args": [
           "DataverseMetadataMCPServer",
           "--version",
           "0.1.0-beta",
           "--yes"
         ],
         "env": {
           "DATAVERSE_CONNECTION_STRING": "..."
         }
       }
     }
   }

Architecture

The server is built using:

• .NET 8.0 - Modern, cross-platform runtime
• ModelContextProtocol.Server.Stdio - MCP SDK for .NET
• Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.Client - Official Dataverse client library
• Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting - For application hosting and DI

The server uses standard input/output (stdio) for communication, making it compatible with any MCP-compliant client.

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

If you encounter connection errors:

1. Verify your connection string is correct
2. Ensure you have appropriate permissions in the Dataverse environment
3. Check that network access to the Dataverse URL is available
4. Verify the AppId and RedirectUri are registered in Azure AD (for OAuth)

Missing Environment Variable

If the server fails to start with "DATAVERSE_CONNECTION_STRING environment variable is not set":

• Ensure the environment variable is set in your shell or IDE configuration
• The variable must be available to the process running the server

Additional Resources

• Model Context Protocol Documentation
• MCP Specification
• Microsoft Dataverse Documentation
• Dataverse Connection Strings
• Use MCP servers in VS Code
• Use MCP servers in Visual Studio

License

See LICENSE file for details.