Introduction

Microsoft Power Platform – comprising Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents – has revolutionized how businesses build apps and automate processes. As organizations increasingly rely on Power Platform, managing changes, collaborating, and maintaining code quality become crucial. This is where Git integration comes into play.

Git is the world’s leading version control system that tracks changes, supports collaboration, and enhances the software development lifecycle. Integrating Git with Power Platform allows developers to apply modern Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) practices, enabling better control, teamwork, and automation.

In this guide, we’ll explore why Git integration is essential, how to set it up with Power Platform, and best practices to get the most from this powerful combination.

Why Use Git with Power Platform?

Power Platform development often involves multiple stakeholders making frequent updates. Without source control, tracking changes, reverting errors, and coordinating team efforts can become chaotic.

Git integration provides several key benefits:

• Collaboration: Multiple developers can work simultaneously, managing changes via branches and merges.
• Version Control: Track every change with detailed history, making it easy to review or rollback updates.
• Code Management: Store your solution files and app code securely and maintain clean workflows.
• DevOps Enablement: Git acts as the foundation for Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, automating build and deployment.

How Git Integration Works with Power Platform

Microsoft Power Platform stores its components as solutions and app files, which can be exported as files. These exported files (usually in zip format) can be managed in Git repositories.

Tools that facilitate Git integration include:

• Power Platform CLI (Command Line Interface): Allows exporting and unpacking solutions into source files suitable for Git tracking.
• ALM Accelerator: A Microsoft-supported tool that automates the sync between Power Platform and Git repositories, enabling CI/CD.

Developers can export solutions, commit changes to Git, and pull updates to keep everyone synchronized.

Step-by-Step Guide to Integrate Git with Power Platform

Prerequisites

• A GitHub, Azure DevOps, or other Git repository account.
• Access to a Power Platform environment with proper permissions.
• Installed Power Platform CLI tool.

Export Solution and Setup Git Repo

• Export your solution from Power Platform as a managed or unmanaged solution.
• Use Power Platform CLI to unpack the solution into source files:

pac solution unpack --zipFile yourSolution.zip --folder ./source

• Initialize a Git repository inside the source folder:

git init git add . git commit -m "Initial commit of Power Platform solution"

• Connect your local repo to a remote Git repo (GitHub, Azure DevOps).
• Push your changes to the remote repository.

Pulling and Merging Changes

• Team members can clone the repo to work locally.
• After changes, export updated solutions, unpack, and commit the changes.
• Use Git branching and merging strategies to manage features and releases.

Using Git with Power Platform ALM Accelerator

The ALM Accelerator is an open-source tool from Microsoft that automates Git integration with Power Platform. It handles exporting/importing solutions, synchronizing changes, and triggering deployment pipelines using Git triggers.

This reduces manual overhead and improves deployment reliability, making Git-based ALM seamless.

Benefits of Git Integration in Power Platform

• Better collaboration with clear change tracking and conflict resolution.
• Faster deployments via automated CI/CD pipelines.
• Improved quality due to easier code reviews and version audits.
• Reduced errors and easier rollback in case of issues.

Challenges and Considerations

• Low-code assets are often stored in binary formats, which are harder to diff and merge.
• Managing solution dependencies and versioning requires discipline.
• Teams may need training to adopt Git workflows effectively.
• Some Power Platform components have limited export capabilities, so integration may need custom tooling.

Conclusion

Git integration in Power Platform empowers teams with robust version control, collaboration, and automation. By combining Power Platform’s low-code power with Git’s source control strengths, organizations can modernize their ALM practices and deliver quality apps faster.

Start integrating Git today to unlock better teamwork and efficiency in your Power Platform projects.