ppds-metadata

name	ppds-metadata
description	Browse and author Dataverse schema with PPDS — list entities/tables, inspect attributes/columns and relationships, create or update tables, columns, relationships, alternate keys, and global choices/option sets, compare schemas across environments, and adjust views and forms. Use when the user wants to know what columns or relationships an entity has, create or modify a table or column, manage option sets or keys, diff schema between environments, or edit a view or form definition. Read ppds-core first for auth and safety rules.
license	MIT
metadata	{"ppds_cli_version_tested":"1.2.0","ppds_mcp_version_tested":"1.0.0"}

PPDS Metadata — schema as a first-class surface

Exact flags: references/cli-metadata.md, references/cli-schema.md, references/cli-views.md, references/cli-forms.md.

Surface routing: browsing is CLI or MCP; schema authoring is one of the few places MCP is unusually strong — the released server ships typed authoring tools (ppds_metadata_create_table, ppds_metadata_add_column, ppds_metadata_update_column, ppds_metadata_create_relationship, ppds_metadata_create_choice, ppds_metadata_create_key, ppds_metadata_add_option_value, and update variants). In a terminal the CLI equivalents live under the ppds metadata subgroups: entity, attribute, relationship, key, optionset.

Browsing schema

ppds metadata entities -f json                  # all tables
ppds metadata entity account                    # full metadata for one table
ppds metadata attributes account                # columns, types
ppds metadata relationships account             # 1:N, N:1, N:N
ppds metadata keys account                      # alternate keys
ppds metadata optionsets                        # global choices
ppds metadata optionset <name>

MCP equivalents: ppds_metadata_entities, ppds_metadata_entity, ppds_data_schema (per-entity field list with option values).

Authoring schema (mutations — safety model applies)

The authoring verbs hang off the noun subgroups; see references/cli-metadata.md for each subcommand's exact flags before generating a command — column/table creation has many typed options.

ppds metadata entity create --help        # check real flags first
ppds metadata attribute create --help
ppds metadata relationship create --help
ppds metadata key create --help

After metadata changes, publish: ppds metadata publish <names> (alias for ppds publish --type entity).

Note: the table, column, and choice subgroups are deprecated aliases of entity, attribute, and optionset — prefer the canonical names.

Cross-environment schema comparison

ppds schema compare --help                # compare environments / data packages

Use this before solution import to spot drift between source and target.

Views and forms (maker-portal gap fillers)

Saved queries (views) and system forms are editable from the CLI — column layout, sort, filter, raw FetchXML on views; tabs/sections/fields on forms. These write systemquery/systemform records: unmanaged-layer mutations, so confirm the environment first, and managed components will refuse edits (View.ManagedComponentNotEditable).

ppds views list --entity account
ppds views set-filter --entity account --view "Active Accounts" --filter-file ./filter.xml
ppds forms list --entity account

Common mistakes (do not invent these)

Wrong	Correct
ppds metadata list-entities	ppds metadata entities
ppds metadata entity account --attributes	ppds metadata attributes account
ppds metadata create-table	ppds metadata entity create ... (check --help for flags)
Editing managed views/forms	edit in the unmanaged source environment instead
Forgetting publish	metadata edits need ppds metadata publish <names> (or ppds publish) to take effect in apps

Skill boundaries

Need	Use instead
The data inside the tables	ppds-query (reads/DML), ppds-data (bulk)
Ship schema changes to another environment	ppds-solutions-alm
Web resource files referenced by forms	ppds-webresources
Auth, environment selection, error codes	ppds-core