Dataverse Explorer — User Guide

Overview

Dataverse Explorer is a Postman-style HTTP client built for the Dataverse Web API. Build and execute GET, POST, PATCH, and DELETE requests with an entity picker, OData query builder, schema-aware body editor, and structured response viewer — all within MSDC Toolbox.

Prerequisites

An active connection to a Dataverse environment
Appropriate Dataverse privileges for the operations you intend to perform

Getting Started

Select Dataverse Explorer from the sidebar
Wait for the plugin to connect and load the entity list

Interface Layout

Area	Description
Request builder (top)	Method selector, URL bar, OData query options
Body editor (middle)	Schema-aware JSON editor for POST/PATCH payloads
Response viewer (bottom)	Table view or raw JSON of the response
History panel (side)	Saved recent requests

Workflow

1. Build a Request

Select the HTTP method:

GET — Read one or many records
POST — Create a new record
PATCH — Update an existing record
DELETE — Delete a record

Set the URL:

Use the entity picker to choose a table — the collection endpoint is auto-filled (e.g. /api/data/v9.2/accounts)
For a single record, append the GUID in parentheses: /api/data/v9.2/accounts(00000000-...)

**Add OData query options (GET only)😗*

Option	Example
`$select`	`name,emailaddress1`
`$filter`	`statecode eq 0`
`$orderby`	`createdon desc`
`$top`	`50`
`$expand`	`primarycontactid($select=fullname)`

2. Edit the Request Body (POST / PATCH)

The body editor is pre-populated with the entity schema
Remove fields you are not setting — Dataverse ignores unknown fields
Lookup fields use the @odata.bind syntax: "[email protected]": "/contacts(guid)"

3. Execute

Click Send — the response appears immediately below.

4. View the Response

Table view — Columns from the OData value array in a sortable grid
Raw JSON — Full response body with syntax highlighting
HTTP status code and response time are shown in the response header bar

5. Save to History

Successful requests are saved automatically. Open the History panel to re-run or edit a previous request.

Tips

Tip	Detail
Use `$select` on every GET	Reduces payload size and avoids rate limiting on large tables
Test PATCH before DELETE	Retrieve the record first to confirm the GUID before deleting
Check formatted values	Add `Prefer: odata.include-annotations="*"` to see display labels for option sets and lookups

Troubleshooting

Problem	Resolution
401 Unauthorized	Your token may have expired — switch away and back to refresh
404 on entity endpoint	Confirm the collection name (e.g. `accounts`, not `account`)
Body validation error	Ensure JSON is valid and lookup fields use `@odata.bind` format
Response is paginated	Follow the `@odata.nextLink` URL to fetch subsequent pages