New code apps release: SDK 1.2.12 and CLI 0.15.2

[Jordan Chodak (jordanchodakWork)]

We've released @microsoft/power-apps@1.2.12 (SDK) and @microsoft/power-apps-cli@0.15.2 (CLI), headlined by a redesigned CLI experience, app sharing from the CLI, and a streamlined run, plus several fixes to data source handling and local development. Thanks to everyone who filed issues; this release addresses customer-reported feedback along with a number of internal improvements.

Heads up before you upgrade

• Environment variables are now namespaced. All Power Apps CLI environment variables now use a PA_CLI_ prefix (for example, ENVIRONMENT_ID → PA_CLI_ENVIRONMENT_ID). If you set any of these in scripts, .env files, or CI pipelines, update them. System variables like CI and NO_COLOR are unchanged.

New features

• A redesigned CLI experience with pa. We've introduced a new, consistent command structure organized by noun and verb - pa app, pa connection, pa connector, and pa auth. It brings:
  • Consistent --json output on commands, making the CLI easier to script and automate with coding agents.
  • Clearer errors with remediation hints, so when something goes wrong you get an actionable next step.
  • Safer destructive operations - commands that delete or remove now require --force when run non-interactively, and give a clear "not found" error instead of failing silently.

Note: Your existing power-apps commands continue to work exactly as before, so you can adopt pa at your own pace. The next release will consider the npm-based CLI generally available, and the power-apps commands will no longer work at that time. This will happen sometime later in August.

• Share your app from the CLI. A new share command grants access to your code app without leaving the terminal. Pass one or more users or service principals with --principal (comma-separated emails or Entra object IDs) and choose the access level with --access — play (default) or edit.

• run now starts your dev server automatically. Running your app now launches the app dev server alongside the config server and waits until it's ready before printing the play URL — so you no longer need a separate npm run dev. Your package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn, or bun) is auto-detected. Use --config-only to opt out.

• Sign in on headless machines with --device-code. auth login now supports the OAuth 2.0 device code flow, printing a verification URL and code instead of opening a browser. Ideal for SSH sessions, containers, and machines without a local browser.

• First-class service principal authentication. Set PA_CLI_USE_SP_AUTH to authenticate with a service principal for headless and CI scenarios. (CI=true continues to work for compatibility.)

• Consistent CLI versions across your team. Initializing an app now pins the CLI version into your project's package.json as a dev dependency, so everyone working on the app uses the same version it was set up with.

Improvements

• Simpler delete-data-source for connectors. For connector data sources, --data-source-name now defaults to the connector name, so delete-data-source -a <connector> works without repeating the name (matching add-data-source). SQL and Dataverse still require an explicit name.

• Interactive paging for connection lists. Listing connections now pages results (20 rows per page, navigate with Enter/Esc) in the terminal.

• Clearer command grouping. list-datasets, list-tables, and list-procedures now live under pa connection, since they operate on a connection instance.

Bug fixes

• Same-named SQL tables in different schemas no longer collide (addresses [Bug] add-data-source discards the SQL schema qualifier from a table's identity — two same-named tables in different schemas silently overwrite each other #411). Adding two tables with the same name from different schemas (for example, [sales].[Contacts] and [ops].[Contacts]) previously caused one to silently overwrite the other. Qualified table names are now preserved and disambiguated correctly, and re-adding a data source is idempotent.

• Dataverse create and update requests no longer rejected. System-managed owner columns (ownerid, owneridtype, owneridname, owneridyominame) were being included in write requests and rejected by Dataverse. They're now treated as read-only and excluded from create/update operations.

• No more port conflicts on local run. Local runs could fail (or point the play URL at the wrong app) when the default ports were already in use. The CLI now automatically finds free ports and updates the play URL to match.

Learn more at aka.ms/pacodeapps

Thanks for building on Power Apps code apps. As always, please keep the feedback and issues coming.