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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/dataverse-cloud-zapier.rst

⇱ Build Automated Microsoft Dataverse-Connected Workflows in Zapier

Build Automated Microsoft Dataverse-Connected Workflows in Zapier

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use CData Connect AI to connect to live Microsoft Dataverse data and build automated workflows in Zapier.

Zapier is an online automation tool that connects your apps and services. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to live Microsoft Dataverse data for your workflows. This article shows how to connect to Microsoft Dataverse and build workflows with live Microsoft Dataverse data in Zapier.

About Microsoft Dataverse Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Microsoft Dataverse (formerly the Common Data Service). Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Access both Dataverse Entities and Dataverse system tables to work with exactly the data they need.
  • Authenticate securely with Microsoft Dataverse in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to manage Microsoft Dataverse entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.

CData customers use our Dataverse connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources)or analyze live Dataverse data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).


Getting Started


Connect to Microsoft Dataverse from Zapier

To work with Microsoft Dataverse in Zapier, we need to connect to Microsoft Dataverse from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Microsoft Dataverse data.

Connect to Microsoft Dataverse from Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. 👁 Adding a Connection
  2. Select "Microsoft Dataverse" from the Add Connection panel
    3. 👁 Selecting a data source
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Microsoft Dataverse.

    You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.

    • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
    • OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
    • Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.

    When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.

    👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Dataverse Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Microsoft Dataverse Endpoints for Zapier

After connecting to Microsoft Dataverse, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

  1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace). 👁 The Workspaces page.
    👁 Adding a new Workspace.
  2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
  3. Select the Microsoft Dataverse connection (e.g. CDS1) and click Next. 👁 Selecting an Asset (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm. 👁 Selecting Tables (Salesforce is shown).
  5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Microsoft Dataverse data from Zapier.

Connect to Microsoft Dataverse Data in Zapier Workflows

To establish a connection from Zapier to CData Connect AI using the OData protocol, follow these steps.

  1. Log into Zapier.
  2. Click Create Zap.
  3. In the dialog that appears, search for "Webhooks by Zapier", and click the option underneath. 👁 Creating a Webhooks by Zapier Zap.
  4. Under Event, select Retrieve Poll. 👁 Creating a Retrieve Poll event.
  5. Fill in the connection details:
    • URL: Enter the OData URL (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}).
    • Key: Enter "value.name."
    • Authentication details: Fill in the Basic Auth or Headers. The basic option requires a user (your Connect AI username, e.g. [email protected]) and password (the PAT you've previously created) separated by a pipe symbol: |. The headers option requires a request type header with encoded credentials.
    👁 Configuring the connection to Connect AI OData or Workspace URLs.
  6. Click Test. If the connection is set up properly, sample records will appear. 👁 Testing the connection.

Simplified Access to Microsoft Dataverse Data from Cloud Applications

At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Microsoft Dataverse data from Zapier. For more information on gaining simplified access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources in cloud applications like Zapier, refer to our Connect AI page.