This skill should be used when the user asks to "deploy to power pages", "upload site", "publish site", "deploy site", "push to power pages", "upload code site", or wants to deploy/upload an existing Power Pages code site to a Power Pages environment using PAC CLI.
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Plugin check: Run
node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/check-version.js"— if it outputs a message, show it to the user before proceeding.
Guide the user through deploying an existing Power Pages code site to a Power Pages environment using PAC CLI. Follow a systematic approach: verify tooling, authenticate, confirm the target environment, build and upload the site, and handle any blockers.
Initial request: $ARGUMENTS
Goal: Ensure PAC CLI is installed and available on the system PATH
Actions:
Create todo list with all 6 phases (see Progress Tracking table)
Run pac help to check if the PAC CLI is installed and available on the system PATH.
pac helpIf the command succeeds: PAC CLI is installed. Proceed to Phase 2.
If the command fails (command not found / not recognized):
Inform the user that PAC CLI is required but not installed.
Fetch installation instructions from https://aka.ms/PowerPlatformCLI using the following approach:
Tell the user: "PAC CLI is not installed. You can install it by running:"
dotnet tool install --global Microsoft.PowerApps.CLI.ToolIf dotnet is also not available, direct the user to https://aka.ms/PowerPlatformCLI for full installation instructions including .NET SDK setup.
After installation, verify by running pac help again.
If it still fails, stop and ask the user to resolve the installation manually.
Output: PAC CLI installed and verified
Goal: Ensure the user is authenticated with PAC CLI and has a valid session
Actions:
Run pac auth who to check the current authentication status.
pac auth whoIf authenticated: Extract the following values from the output:
Environment ID:Cloud: (e.g., Public, UsGov, UsGovHigh, UsGovDod, China)Proceed to Phase 3.
If not authenticated:
Inform the user they are not authenticated with PAC CLI.
Use AskUserQuestion to ask for the environment URL:
| Question | Header | Options |
|---|---|---|
You are not authenticated with PAC CLI. Please provide your Power Pages environment URL (e.g., https://org12345.crm.dynamics.com) so I can authenticate you. | Auth | (free text input via "Other") |
Provide two placeholder options to guide the user:
Once the user provides the URL, run the authentication command:
pac auth create --environment "<USER_PROVIDED_URL>"This will open a browser window for the user to sign in.
After the command completes, verify by running pac auth who again.
If authentication succeeds, proceed to Phase 3.
If authentication fails, present the error to the user and help them troubleshoot.
Output: Authenticated PAC CLI session with environment name and URL extracted
Goal: Ensure the user is deploying to the correct target environment
Actions:
Present the current environment information to the user and ask them to confirm.
Use AskUserQuestion with the following structure:
| Question | Header | Options |
|---|---|---|
| You are currently connected to environment: <ENV_NAME> (<ENV_URL>). Do you want to deploy to this environment? | Environment | Yes, use this environment, No, let me choose a different one |
If "Yes, use this environment": Proceed to Phase 4.
If "No, let me choose a different one":
Run pac org list to retrieve all available environments:
pac org listParse the output to extract environment names and URLs.
Use AskUserQuestion to present the available environments as options (pick up to 4 most relevant, or let user specify).
Once the user selects an environment, switch to it:
pac org select --environment "<SELECTED_ENV_ID_OR_URL>"Verify the switch by running pac auth who again.
Output: Confirmed target environment for deployment
Goal: Locate the project, build it, and upload to Power Pages
Actions:
Determine the project root directory. The project root is the directory containing powerpages.config.json. Use Glob to search for it:
**/powerpages.config.jsonIf found in the current working directory or a subdirectory, use that directory as PROJECT_ROOT. If multiple are found, ask the user which one to deploy using AskUserQuestion.
If not found, ask the user to provide the path to the project root.
If .powerpages-site already exists (i.e., this is not the first deployment), table permissions and site settings may have drifted from the code since the last deployment. Offer to audit before deploying.
Use AskUserQuestion:
| Question | Header | Options |
|---|---|---|
| This site has been deployed before. Would you like to run a permissions audit to verify table permissions match your current code before deploying? | Audit | Yes, audit permissions (Recommended), Skip — permissions are up to date |
If "Yes": Invoke /audit-permissions to run the audit. After the audit completes, resume with Step 4.3.
If "Skip": Proceed to Step 4.3.
If .powerpages-site does not exist (first deployment), skip this step — there are no existing permissions to audit.
Before uploading, ensure the site is built:
cd "<PROJECT_ROOT>"
npm run buildIf the build fails, stop and help the user fix the build errors before retrying.
Run the upload command:
pac pages upload-code-site --rootPath "<PROJECT_ROOT>"If the upload succeeds: Proceed to Phase 5 to verify the deployment.
If the upload fails: Check the error message:
.js) attachments → proceed to Phase 6.html type attachments are currently blocked → this is a misleading error. See Troubleshooting: HTML Blocked Attachment Error belowOutput: Site built and uploaded to Power Pages
Goal: Confirm the deployment was successful and handle post-deployment steps
Actions:
.powerpages-site FolderConfirm .powerpages-site exists and list its contents (web-roles/, site-settings/, table-permissions/).
Reference:
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/skill-tracking-reference.md
Follow the skill tracking instructions in the reference to record this skill's usage. Use --skillName "DeploySite".
Review the output from the pac pages upload-code-site command in Phase 4 (or Phase 6 retry). Verify it reported a successful upload with no errors.
Stage and commit deployment artifacts:
git add -A
git commit -m "Deploy site to Power Pages"Run the activation status check:
node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/check-activation-status.js" --projectRoot "<PROJECT_ROOT>"Evaluate the JSON result:
activated is true: Inform the user their site is already activated (show websiteUrl if present). Proceed to step 5.6, then skip to Suggest Next Steps. Do NOT ask about activation.activated is false: Proceed to step 5.5.1.error is present: Fall back to step 5.5.1. Do not block the deployment flow.Ask the user if they want to activate the site using AskUserQuestion:
| Question | Header | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Site deployed successfully! Would you like to activate (provision) the site now so it gets a live URL? | Activate | Activate now (Recommended) — Provision the site with a subdomain and make it live, Skip for now — I'll activate later |
If "Activate now": Invoke the /activate-site skill. After activation completes, proceed to step 5.6 to clear the site cache.
If "Skip for now": Suggest next steps (see Suggest Next Steps).
After confirming the site is activated (either it was already activated in step 5.5, or the user just activated it in step 5.5.1), offer to clear the runtime cache so the deployed changes are immediately visible.
Prerequisites: The site must be activated and the project root must be known (from Phase 4.1).
Use AskUserQuestion to confirm before proceeding:
| Question | Header | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Would you like to restart the site so your latest changes are immediately visible? This may cause a brief downtime (a few seconds). | Restart | Yes, restart site (Recommended), Skip — I'll restart later |
If "Skip": Skip to Suggest Next Steps.
If "Yes": Run the cache-clearing script, passing the project root:
node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/clear-site-cache.js" --projectRoot "<PROJECT_ROOT>"The script reads siteName from powerpages.config.json, looks up the website via the Power Platform admin API, and restarts it to flush the runtime cache.
Evaluate the result:
success is true: Inform the user: "Site cache cleared — your latest changes should now be visible at <websiteUrl>."success is false: Warn the user that cache clearing failed and show the error, but do not block the deployment flow. The deployment itself succeeded; cache will eventually refresh on its own. Suggest the user can manually clear cache from the Power Pages admin center if needed.Output: Deployment verified, changes committed, activation offered, cache cleared
Goal: Resolve blocked JavaScript attachment errors and retry deployment
Actions:
Tell the user:
"The upload failed because JavaScript (.js) file attachments are blocked in your Power Pages environment. This is a security setting that prevents uploading .js files. To deploy a code site, this restriction needs to be relaxed for .js files."
Use AskUserQuestion:
| Question | Header | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Would you like to remove the JavaScript (.js) block from the environment's blocked attachments list? This is required to deploy code sites. | Unblock JS | Yes, remove the .js block (Recommended), No, do not change environment settings |
If "No": Stop and inform the user that the deployment cannot proceed without unblocking .js attachments.
If "Yes": Proceed to 6.3.
Run pac env list-settings to retrieve the current environment settings:
pac env list-settingsFind the blockedattachments property in the output. It will contain a semicolon-separated list of file extensions (e.g., ade;adp;app;asa;ashx;asmx;asp;bas;bat;cdx;cer;chm;class;cmd;com;config;cnt;cpl;crt;csh;der;dll;exe;fxp;hlp;hta;htr;htw;ida;idc;idq;inf;ins;isp;its;js;jse;ksh;lnk;mad;maf;mag;mam;maq;mar;mas;mat;mau;mav;maw;mda;mdb;mde;mdt;mdw;mdz;msc;msh;msh1;msh1xml;msh2;msh2xml;mshxml;msi;msp;mst;ops;pcd;pif;prf;prg;printer;pst;reg;rem;scf;scr;sct;shb;shs;shtm;shtml;soap;stm;tmp;url;vb;vbe;vbs;vsmacros;vss;vst;vsw;ws;wsc;wsf;wsh).
Remove js from the list. Parse the semicolon-separated values, filter out js, and rejoin with semicolons.
Update the setting:
pac env update-settings --name blockedattachments --value "<UPDATED_LIST_WITHOUT_JS>"Confirm the update was successful.
Run the upload command again:
pac pages upload-code-site --rootPath "<PROJECT_ROOT>"If it succeeds: Proceed to Phase 5 to verify the deployment.
If it fails again with a different error, present the error to the user and help troubleshoot.
Output: JavaScript unblocked and site deployed successfully
If the upload fails with an error like:
Error: Unable to upload webfile name 'index.html' with record Id <GUID> as '.html' type attachments are currently blocked on this environment.This error is misleading. The .html extension is not actually blocked — the real cause is a stale environment manifest file in the .powerpages-site folder. This manifest maps local files to Dataverse record IDs from a previous upload. When the mapping becomes outdated (e.g., after environment changes or record deletions), the upload fails with this confusing error.
Locate the environment-specific manifest file in the .powerpages-site folder. It follows the naming pattern <environment-host>-manifest.yml (e.g., demo1.crm.dynamics.com-manifest.yml). List the folder contents to find it:
Get-ChildItem -Path "<PROJECT_ROOT>/.powerpages-site" -Filter "*-manifest.yml"Delete the manifest file:
Remove-Item -Path "<PROJECT_ROOT>/.powerpages-site/<environment-host>-manifest.yml"Retry the upload:
pac pages upload-code-site --rootPath "<PROJECT_ROOT>"If the retry succeeds, proceed to Phase 5. If it fails with a different error, present the error to the user and help them troubleshoot.
Important: Do NOT attempt to unblock
.htmlin the environment's blocked attachments list — the error is not caused by the attachment block setting.
If the user skips activation (or after activation completes), suggest:
/activate-site — Provision the site with a subdomain and make it live (if not already activated)/test-site — Test the deployed site in the browser (verify pages load, check API calls)/audit-permissions — Audit table permissions against current code (recommended after redeployments)/setup-datamodel — Create Dataverse tables for dynamic content/add-seo — Add meta tags, robots.txt, sitemap.xml, faviconpac pages uploadAlways use pac pages upload-code-site — never use pac pages upload. The pac pages upload command is designed for portal-studio-style sites and will corrupt code site metadata if used on a code site project. This applies to every upload step in this skill (Phase 4.4, Phase 6.4, and troubleshooting retries).
powerpages.config.json found, ask which project to deployBefore starting Phase 1, create a task list with all phases using TaskCreate:
| Task subject | activeForm | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Verify PAC CLI installation | Verifying PAC CLI | Check if PAC CLI is installed, install if missing |
| Verify authentication | Verifying authentication | Check current auth status, authenticate if needed |
| Confirm target environment | Confirming environment | Show current environment, let user confirm or switch |
| Deploy the code site | Deploying site | Locate project root, build, and upload via pac pages upload-code-site |
| Verify deployment | Verifying deployment | Confirm .powerpages-site folder exists, review upload output, commit changes, offer activation |
| Handle blocked JavaScript | Resolving JS block | If upload fails due to blocked JS, offer to unblock and retry |
Mark each task in_progress when starting it and completed when done via TaskUpdate. Phase 6 may be marked completed immediately if no JavaScript blocking issue is encountered. This gives the user visibility into progress and keeps the workflow deterministic.
Begin with Phase 1: Verify PAC CLI
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