5.5 Actions

The actions section allows unique functionalities that may significantly boost productivity when working with SPFx projects.

It is possible to:

Upgrade project

Uses CLI for Microsoft 365 to create a .md report with upgrade guidance to the latest supported SPFx version by the extension. The upgrade guidance provides optional as well as required steps a user needs to take manually in order to upgrade the project. At the end of the guidance file, the user may find a summary of the steps in a single script and a couple of manual steps that need to be taken

For more information check out the spfx project upgrade command in the CLI for Microsoft 365 docs.

Validate current project

Creates a validation .md report against the currently used SPFx version in the project. The action will automatically detect the SPFx version used and will validate if the project is properly set up.

For more information check out the spfx project doctor in the CLI for Microsoft 365 docs.

Rename current project

The action will rename your project in the following places:

• package.json,
• .yo-rc.json,
• package-solution.json,
• deploy-azure-storage.json
• README.md.

When specified it will also generate a new solution ID.

For more information check out the spfx project rename in the CLI for Microsoft 365 docs.

Grant API permissions

The action will Grant all API permissions specified in the package-solution.json of the current project. This is especially helpful if you just want to debug your SPFx solution using Workbench. No longer do you need to bundle, package, and deploy the project to then go to the SharePoint admin portal and consent to the permissions. All of that is now done with just a single click

For more information check out the spfx project permissions grant in the CLI for Microsoft 365 docs.

Deploy project

This action will only work when the user is logged in to tenant and the sppkg file is present. The action will deploy the project to the selected (tenant or site) app catalog.

For more information check out the spo app add and spo app deploy in the CLI for Microsoft 365 docs.

Add new component

Allows scaffolding a new SPFx project as a new component of the currently opened project. The action under the hood uses the same SharePoint Yeoman generator to scaffold a new project and this feature is an abstraction UI layer. The extension will ask for the same information when adding a new component as the SPFx Yeoman generator. After that SharePoint Framework Toolkit will extend the currently opened project with a new component.

CI/CD Workflow

This action will allow you to generate yaml GitHub workflow or Azure DevOps pipeline to bundle, package, and deploy your project to any app catalog on every code push or on the manual run

SharePoint Framework Toolkit extends VS Code with additional UI to present you with a scaffolding form that will allow you to create a CI/CD Workflow in 3 easy steps.

It's important to know that many fields are already prefield and it is possible to hit create without changing any value to get a basic and default YAML workflow file.

GitHub

name: Deploy Solution test-solution
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  workflow_dispatch: null
jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3.5.3
      - name: Use Node.js 16.x
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3.7.0
        with:
          node-version: 16.x
      - name: Run npm ci
        run: npm ci
      - name: Bundle & Package
        run: |
          gulp bundle --ship
          gulp package-solution --ship
      - name: CLI for Microsoft 365 Login
        uses: pnp/action-cli-login@v2.2.2
        with:
          CERTIFICATE_ENCODED: ${{ secrets.CERTIFICATE_ENCODED }}
          CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD }}
          TENANT: ${{ secrets.TENANT_ID }}
      - name: CLI for Microsoft 365 Deploy App
        uses: pnp/action-cli-deploy@v3.0.1
        with:
          APP_FILE_PATH: sharepoint/solution/test-solution.sppkg
          SKIP_FEATURE_DEPLOYMENT: true
          OVERWRITE: true

Scaffolding form

1 step

In the first section of the form you may provide general information about your workflow like what will be its name, or what is the name of the branch that every push will trigger the flow to run. It is also possible to allow you to run the workflow manually using the GitHub UI

2 step

In the second step, you will need to decide how your flow will authenticate to your tenant. It is possible to pick between the user and application login method

for application, the following yaml will be generated for this step (this is the default option).

- name: CLI for Microsoft 365 Login
        uses: pnp/action-cli-login@v2.2.2
        with:
          CERTIFICATE_ENCODED: ${{ secrets.CERTIFICATE_ENCODED }}
          CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD }}
          APP_ID: ${{ secrets.APP_ID }}
          TENANT: ${{ secrets.TENANT_ID }}

It is also possible to generate a certificate and create a new Entra ID app registration directly within the form for your workflow. Simply check the additional checkbox and provide a password for your certificate and the name for your new app registration. Submitting the form will also create the file and the app and at the end, it will give you the generated values so that you may copy them to the secrets that are required to be created in GitHub repo for this authentication method.

for user, the following yaml will be generated for this step

- name: CLI for Microsoft 365 Login
        uses: pnp/action-cli-login@v2.2.2
        with:
          ADMIN_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.ADMIN_USERNAME }}
          ADMIN_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.ADMIN_PASSWORD }}

3 step

Here we may specify if we will deploy the app to tenant or site-level app catalog. When the site type is selected then an additional select field will be presented to specify the site app catalog url. For the site type the following yaml will be added to the last step

SCOPE: sitecollection
SITE_COLLECTION_URL: https://sharepoint.tenant.com/appcatalog

---

This action only generates the workflow yaml file. It does not do any additional setting on GitHub. Depending on which login method you select additional steps are needed.

Depending on which authentication method was selected in GitHub repo settings, you will need to create the following secrets:

For the application login method you will need to create the following secrets in GitHub repo settings:

• APP_ID - client id of the registered AAD application
• CERTIFICATE_ENCODED - application's encoded certificate
• CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD - certificate password. This applies only if the certificate is encoded which is the recommended approach
• TENANT - Tenant ID

This use case is perfect in a production context as it does not create any dependencies on an account.

For the user login method you will need to create the following secrets in GitHub repo settings:

• ADMIN_USERNAME - username
• ADMIN_PASSWORD - password

This use case is perfect for testing. It will not work if the specified account uses MFA.

Check it out in action 👇

For more information check out the spfx project github workflow add and how to automate your CI/CD workflow using CLI for Microsoft 365 GitHub Actions in the CLI for Microsoft 365 docs.

Azure DevOps

name: Deploy Solution demo-1
trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main
pool:
  vmImage: ubuntu-latest
variables:
  - name: CertificateBase64Encoded
    value: ""
  - name: CertificateSecureFileId
    value: ""
  - name: CertificatePassword
    value: ""
  - name: EntraAppId
    value: ""
  - name: TenantId
    value: ""
  - name: SharePointBaseUrl
    value: ""
  - name: PackageName
    value: demo-1.sppkg
  - name: SiteAppCatalogUrl
    value: https://tenanttocheck.sharepoint.com/sites/CLIDemo1/AppCatalog
stages:
  - stage: Build_and_Deploy
    jobs:
      - job: Build_and_Deploy
        steps:
          - task: NodeTool@0
            displayName: Use Node.js
            inputs:
              versionSpec: 18.x
          - task: Npm@1
            displayName: Run npm install
            inputs:
              command: install
          - task: Gulp@0
            displayName: Gulp bundle
            inputs:
              gulpFile: ./gulpfile.js
              targets: bundle
              arguments: --ship
          - task: Gulp@0
            displayName: Gulp package
            inputs:
              targets: package-solution
              arguments: --ship
          - task: Npm@1
            displayName: Install CLI for Microsoft 365
            inputs:
              command: custom
              verbose: false
              customCommand: install -g @pnp/cli-microsoft365
          - script: >
              
              m365 login --authType certificate --certificateBase64Encoded '$(CertificateBase64Encoded)' --password '$(CertificatePassword)' --appId '$(EntraAppId)' --tenant '$(TenantId)' 

              m365 spo set --url '$(SharePointBaseUrl)' 

              m365 spo app add --filePath '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/sharepoint/solution/$(PackageName)' --appCatalogScope sitecollection --appCatalogUrl '$(SiteAppCatalogUrl)' --overwrite 

              m365 spo app deploy --skipFeatureDeployment --name '$(PackageName)' --appCatalogScope sitecollection --appCatalogUrl '$(SiteAppCatalogUrl)'
            displayName: CLI for Microsoft 365 Deploy App

Scaffolding form

1 step

Here we need to specify what will be the name of the pipeline and what will be the branch name that will trigger the pipeline on every code push.

2 step

Here we need to decide what will be authentication method the pipeline will use to login to your tenant and deploy the app. Based on the selected method you will get different variables and different script used in the YAML pipeline file.

User login method is perfect for testing but is not the best fit for a pipeline that is supposed to be used in production. It also does not support multifactor authentication

Application login is perfect for a production pipeline. In this case, your pipeline will be created with a set of variables that are required to define the Entra application that will be used. Although you may populate those variables in the pipeline itself it is more recommended to create a dedicated variable group in Azure DevOps Library page and use it in your pipeline

It is also possible to generate a certificate and create a new Entra ID app registration directly within the form for your workflow. Simply check the additional checkbox and provide a password for your certificate and the name for your new app registration. Submitting the form will also create the file and the app and at the end, it will give you the generated values so that you may copy them to populate either the correct variables in your pipeline or in the dedicated variable group in Azure DevOps

3 step

Here we may specify if we will deploy the app to tenant or site-level app catalog. When the site type is selected then an additional select field will be presented to specify the site app catalog url. For the site type the following yaml will be added to the last step

---

This action only generates the workflow yaml file. It does not do any additional setting on Azure DevOps. After you generate the pipeline file you will need to commit and push it to Azure DevOps repo and next create a pipeline build based on this file. To do that please follow the guidance you will get after the flow is generated

Creating a new pipeline in Azure DevOps is a one-time operation and then every time you update the YAML definition Azure DevOps will automatically pick up the changes. In order to create a new pipeline go pipelines page in your Azure DevOps project

Next in the top right corner of the page hit on the New pipline button. After that follow the for by selecting the location of your repo, next the branch on which the YAML file is present and then select the option to create a new pipeline based on Existing Azure Pipelines YAML file

After that just confirm the create process and your ready to go!

Check it out in action 👇

Open sample/scenario galleries of the SPFx web part, extensions, or ACEs projects

SharePoint Framework Toolkit supports a couple of sample galleries that may be used to scaffold a new SPFx project. You may use the sample gallery to kick off a new solution or for inspiration for your current one.