Postman and API Testing for Microsoft Dataverse and Power Platform

Introduction to Postman

Postman is one of the most popular tools for developing and testing REST APIs. It allows developers to create, execute, and document HTTP requests visually and interactively, quickly testing endpoints such as the Dataverse Web API or Power Platform APIs. The tool is freely available, with premium versions for advanced development teams, on the official postman.com website.

Within the Microsoft Power Platform ecosystem, Postman is especially useful for:

• Validating Dataverse and Power Platform endpoints during development;
• Testing OAuth 2.0 authentication with Azure Active Directory;
• Creating standardized request collections for development teams;
• Performing integration tests with external services like Azure Functions, Logic Apps, or custom APIs.

The ability to save environments and variables makes it easy to handle multiple configurations such as development, testing, and production Dataverse environments.

Configuring Postman for Dataverse

To use Postman with Microsoft Dataverse, you must correctly configure authentication and your workspace environment. Dataverse exposes its APIs via REST endpoints authenticated through Azure Active Directory. Follow these steps to set up a complete testing environment:

1. Register an application in Azure AD: Log in to the Azure portal and register a new app to obtain the client ID, tenant ID, and client secret.
2. Set up authentication in Postman: Open the “Authorization” tab and select “OAuth 2.0.” Enter the parameters obtained from Azure AD, specifying the token URL and scope https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/.default.
3. Create a Postman environment: Define global variables such as tenant_id, client_id, base_url, and access_token to make requests reusable.
4. Import Dataverse collections: You can create or import preconfigured request collections for CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations and test interactions with Dataverse tables and columns.

An example of a testable Dataverse endpoint:

GET https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com/api/data/v9.2/accounts

After obtaining a valid OAuth token, the response will return the list of account records from the selected Dataverse environment.

Authentication and Security

Security is a key aspect of API testing. Postman supports several authentication methods:

• OAuth 2.0 – recommended for Dataverse and Power Platform, allowing tokens authenticated by Azure AD;
• Basic Authentication – useful only in legacy or private development environments;
• API Key – used for custom APIs or third-party services;
• No Auth – for public endpoints or preliminary tests.

When working with the Dataverse Web API, ensure that tokens have the correct permissions and that requests comply with the tenant’s Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies.

Collections and Testing Environments

Postman collections are sets of requests that can be organized and shared to perform repeatable tests. In Power Platform development, collections can automate Dataverse API testing, such as:

• Inserting records for integration testing;
• Validating HTTP 200/400/401 responses;
• Checking performance and response times;
• Testing Power Automate flows that use custom connectors.

Postman allows defining environment variables to manage multiple environments (development, test, production) and to run automated tests with JavaScript scripts in the “Tests” section.

pm.test("Response status code is 200", function () {
  pm.response.to.have.status(200);
});

Integration with Azure and Power Platform

Postman integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Azure architectures and Power Platform. You can test Power Platform Developer Tools endpoints or custom automation APIs, such as:

• Azure Functions exposed as REST APIs for server-side integrations;
• Custom connectors developed for Power Apps or Power Automate;
• Webhooks and Service Bus configured for Dataverse events.

With Postman, you can quickly validate connections between Power Platform and underlying Azure services, ensuring reliability and proper data flow.

Complementary Testing Tools

In addition to Postman, the Power Platform ecosystem offers other tools for testing and debugging:

• Easy Repro – Microsoft library for automated UI testing of model-driven apps (GitHub Easy Repro);
• Fiddler – network traffic analyzer for inspecting HTTP requests and responses (Telerik Fiddler);
• FakeXrmEasy – .NET framework for simulating Dataverse backend components;
• CRMRestBuilder – community tool for building Dataverse REST queries (GitHub CRMRestBuilder).

These tools, combined with Postman, make the development and testing cycle more efficient and controlled.