Mastering Connectors in the Power Platform: A Complete Guide
Connectors are the backbone of the Power Platform, enabling seamless communication between different services and systems. Whether you’re automating business processes with Power Automate, enhancing your apps with Power Apps, or building complex data flows with Azure Logic Apps, connectors are what make it all work behind the scenes.
This comprehensive guide will explore the ins and outs of connectors, including out-of-the-box connectors and custom connectors. By the end of this article, you’ll have a solid understanding of how connectors work, how to create your own, and best practices for managing and protecting them.
What Are Connectors?
Connectors are wrappers around APIs that allow the Power Platform to interact with external systems, services, and data sources. They act as bridges, enabling Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Azure Logic Apps to communicate with services like SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, and hundreds of other platforms.
Types of Connectors
Connectors come in three main types:
Standard Connectors – These are available out of the box and maintained by Microsoft. Examples include SharePoint, Outlook, Excel, and Dynamics 365.
Premium Connectors – These require additional licensing and provide access to more complex services like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and SQL Server.
Custom Connectors – These are user-defined connectors that allow you to connect to any REST or SOAP-based API not covered by standard or premium connectors.
Connector Architecture
Understanding how connectors work under the hood helps with troubleshooting and customization. At a high level, connectors consist of the following components:
1. Actions and Triggers
Actions – Operations performed by the connector (e.g., sending an email).
Triggers – Events that start a workflow (e.g., a new file in a SharePoint library).
2. Authentication
Connectors support various authentication types:
OAuth 2.0
API Key
Basic Authentication
3. Data Handling
Connectors pass data through JSON structures, which are mapped to input and output parameters. Connectors handle serialization and deserialization automatically.
Out-of-the-Box Connectors
Microsoft offers over 1,000 out-of-the-box connectors for popular services and platforms. These connectors simplify integration with widely used systems like:
Microsoft 365 (Outlook, SharePoint, Teams)
Dynamics 365 (Finance and Operations, Sales)
Azure Services
Third-Party Services (Slack, Twitter, Google Sheets)
Explore the full list of connectors: Connector Reference
These pre-built connectors significantly reduce development time and allow low-code users to build powerful automation without writing complex code.
Custom Connectors
While out-of-the-box connectors cover many common scenarios, there are times when you need to integrate with a system that isn’t supported by Microsoft. That’s where custom connectors come in.
Custom connectors let you wrap any REST or SOAP-based API into a Power Platform connector, enabling seamless communication with proprietary or niche services.
When to Use a Custom Connector
Your business uses a proprietary internal system.
No pre-built connector exists for the service you want to connect to.
You need to tailor the behavior of a connector to meet specific business requirements.
How to Create a Custom Connector
You can create a custom connector in several ways, depending on the type of API you're working with:
1. Start from Blank
You can create a custom connector from scratch by defining the API's endpoints, authentication, and data structure manually.
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2. Use an OpenAPI Definition
You can import an OpenAPI (Swagger) definition to quickly define the connector structure.
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3. Import from a Postman Collection
If you’ve already tested the API using Postman, you can import the Postman collection directly into the custom connector wizard.
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4. Use the PACONN CLI
The Power Platform Connectors CLI (PACONN) allows you to create and manage custom connectors using the command line, which is useful for automation and version control.
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Best Practices for Custom Connectors
Follow Coding Standards
Maintain consistency by following Microsoft’s coding standards for custom connectors. This ensures better performance, easier maintenance, and scalability.
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Use Environment Variables
Using environment variables allows you to define connector settings (like API keys and URLs) dynamically across different environments.
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Add Security
Custom connectors should follow secure design principles:
Use OAuth 2.0 whenever possible.
Secure sensitive data using Azure Key Vault.
Implement rate limiting and logging to protect against abuse.
Optimize Performance
Avoid over-fetching data.
Use batching to reduce API calls.
Implement retry logic for handling failures.
Advanced Scenarios for Custom Connectors
Creating a Web API Connector
If you have an internal or proprietary REST API, you can create a Web API-based custom connector to expose it securely to Power Platform.
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Packaging Custom Connectors into Solutions
You can bundle custom connectors into Power Platform solutions for easy deployment and versioning across environments.
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Building a Custom API
You can go beyond standard REST and SOAP connectors by creating a fully custom API that exposes business logic directly to the Power Platform.
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Protecting Connectors
Protecting connectors ensures that sensitive data remains secure and prevents unauthorized access. Microsoft recommends using the following techniques:
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Policies
Create DLP policies to control which connectors can share data.
Restrict the use of certain connectors in high-security environments.
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Secure Authentication
Always use OAuth 2.0 over API keys where possible.
Rotate credentials periodically to minimize risk.
Examples and Templates
Microsoft provides several sample custom connectors that you can use as a starting point:
Conclusion
Connectors are a critical component of the Power Platform, enabling smooth integration between diverse systems. While out-of-the-box connectors cover most use cases, custom connectors unlock even more possibilities by allowing you to integrate proprietary and third-party services.
By following best practices, using secure authentication methods, and optimizing connector performance, you can build scalable and secure integrations that enhance business productivity.
Whether you’re automating business processes, building complex Power Apps, or enabling cross-system communication, mastering connectors is essential for taking full advantage of the Power Platform.
Ready to build your first custom connector?
Start here:
Custom Connector Overview
