ppds-solutions-alm

name	ppds-solutions-alm
description	Dataverse solution ALM with PPDS — export/import solutions, watch import jobs, inspect components, manage environment variables and connection references, and generate/sync/validate deployment settings files for target environments. Use when the user wants to export or import a solution, move customizations between environments, check why a solution import failed, fix orphaned connection references, set environment variables, or prepare deployment settings for a pipeline. 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 Solutions ALM — move customizations, keep the receipts

Exact flags: references/cli-solutions.md, references/cli-importjobs.md, references/cli-environmentvariables.md, references/cli-connectionreferences.md, references/cli-deployment-settings.md, references/cli-connections.md, references/cli-publish.md.

Surface routing: mutations (export/import/publish/set) are CLI-first. MCP read tools for shell-less hosts: ppds_solutions_list, ppds_solutions_components, ppds_import_jobs_list, ppds_import_jobs_get, ppds_environment_variables_list/get/set, ppds_connection_references_list/get/analyze.

Solution round-trip

ppds solutions list -f json
ppds solutions get MySolution
ppds solutions components MySolution            # what's inside
ppds solutions export MySolution --managed -o ./out/MySolution_managed.zip
ppds solutions import ./out/MySolution_managed.zip --environment <target-url>
ppds importjobs wait <job-id> --timeout 30      # poll to completion
ppds solutions publish                          # publish-all after unmanaged changes
ppds solutions url MySolution                   # Maker portal deep link

• Import is a mutation against the target — safety model rules apply: state the target URL, get confirmation (especially Production), then run.
• export defaults unmanaged; --managed for the deployable artifact. --allow-outside-workspace is required to write outside the working dir.
• Import failed? ppds importjobs list, then ppds importjobs get <id> (and ppds importjobs data <id> for the raw result XML).

Target-environment configuration

# Environment variables (the supported way to vary config per environment)
ppds environmentvariables list -f json
ppds environmentvariables set <schema-name> "<value>"

# Connection references — find ones with no connection bound (import breaker)
ppds connectionreferences list --unbound
ppds connectionreferences analyze               # flow ↔ connection-reference map
ppds connections list                           # available connections to bind

# Deployment settings files (for pac/pipeline-style deployments)
ppds deployment-settings generate --solution MySolution --output ./deploy/dev.json
ppds deployment-settings sync --solution MySolution --file ./deploy/dev.json
ppds deployment-settings validate --solution MySolution --file ./deploy/dev.json

Common mistakes (do not invent these)

Wrong	Correct
ppds solutions export --name MySolution	positional: ppds solutions export MySolution
ppds solutions import --path file.zip	positional: ppds solutions import file.zip
ppds solutions import --async --max-async-wait-time (pac style)	import returns a job; ppds importjobs wait <id> does the waiting
ppds env-vars / ppds envvars	the group is ppds environmentvariables
ppds connectionreferences update --connection <id>	binding connections is not a CLI write today — analyze/list diagnose; bind in the Maker portal
ppds solutions checker / clone / pack	not in this CLI — use pac for those; PPDS covers list/get/export/import/components/publish/url

Skill boundaries

Need	Use instead
Reference data / records that ship with the solution	ppds-data
Plugin assemblies inside the solution	ppds-plugins
Entity/column changes before export	ppds-metadata
Web resources inside the solution	ppds-webresources
Auth, environment selection, error codes	ppds-core