Codex Power Apps Canvas

Coauthor live Microsoft Power Apps Canvas Apps from Codex through Microsoft's Canvas Authoring MCP.

The plugin connects Codex to the app currently open in Power Apps Studio, synchronizes its .pa.yaml source, discovers supported controls and data sources, and compiles edits back into the live coauthoring session.

Important

Microsoft's Canvas Authoring MCP is a preview package. Back up important apps and review generated changes before publishing them.

What the plugin includes

• Microsoft's Microsoft.PowerApps.CanvasAuthoring.McpServer, downloaded directly from NuGet through dnx.
• A configure-canvas-mcp skill for parsing Studio links, connecting, authenticating, and verifying the session.
• A powerapps-canvas skill for sync, control discovery, .pa.yaml editing, Power Fx validation, and compile/apply workflows.
• Microsoft-derived technical, design, and QA references with attribution in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

No tenant ID, environment ID, app ID, token, cookie, or coauthoring link is bundled with the plugin.

Requirements

• Codex CLI
• .NET SDK 10 or newer (dotnet --list-sdks)
• dnx, included with supported .NET 10 SDK installations
• Edit access to a Canvas App in Power Apps Studio
• Coauthoring enabled under Settings → Updates → Coauthoring

Windows is the smoothest authentication environment because Microsoft can reuse the signed-in Windows account. Linux and SSH hosts may require device-code or browser authentication, subject to the tenant's Conditional Access policy.

Install

Direct Codex installation

codex plugin marketplace add samcex/codex-powerapps-canvas --ref main
codex plugin add powerapps-canvas@samcex-powerapps

Start a new Codex thread after installation so the MCP tools and skills are loaded.

Setup helper

Clone the repository and run the helper for your platform:

git clone https://github.com/samcex/codex-powerapps-canvas.git
& .\codex-powerapps-canvas\install.ps1

git clone https://github.com/samcex/codex-powerapps-canvas.git
./codex-powerapps-canvas/install.sh

The helpers verify Codex, .NET 10, and dnx; configure the marketplace; and install the plugin. They do not install system packages or collect credentials.

Use

1. Open the target app in Power Apps Studio.
2. Enable Settings → Updates → Coauthoring and keep the tab open.
3. Copy the full URL from the browser address bar.
4. In a new Codex thread, say:

Use $powerapps-canvas to connect to this Studio link and build the requested changes: <studio-url>

Codex extracts the environment and app IDs, calls connect, verifies the session with list_controls, and syncs the live source before editing.

The Studio link identifies the app but does not bypass Microsoft authentication. Every user needs their own Power Apps permission and account session.

Authentication notes

• Windows: omit an explicit auth flow first. Microsoft's broker or cached browser account may sign in silently.
• Headless Linux/SSH: device-code authentication requires MCP elicitation support and tenant permission.
• Conditional Access: if the organization blocks device code, run Codex on the signed-in Windows machine or use an approved interactive browser flow.
• Guest accounts: the connect tool supports a resource tenant_id with the guest user's login_hint.

Never post coauthoring links, callback URLs, authentication codes, or tokens in issues or public logs.

Updating

codex plugin marketplace upgrade samcex-powerapps
codex plugin add powerapps-canvas@samcex-powerapps

Start a new Codex thread after updating.

Uninstall

codex plugin remove powerapps-canvas@samcex-powerapps
codex plugin marketplace remove samcex-powerapps

Project status

This community plugin is not an official Microsoft or OpenAI product. It packages Microsoft's public preview MCP server for Codex and adapts the open-source Microsoft Canvas Apps workflow.

License

The original work in this repository is available under the MIT License. Microsoft-derived material remains covered by Microsoft's MIT license and attribution described in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.