Develop

Path: Get started > Develop · tier official · system none · narrative reviewed (checked by Opus)

Overview

The Develop section is for partners and developers who want to extend Business Central or sell apps. It begins with the business case (the SMB opportunity, Connect and Add-on app types) and the components Microsoft provides versus what partners build, then moves to practical steps: becoming a partner, registering as a publisher, getting a unique object range, and building the solution.

Customization is covered for tenants (Designer, or AL extensions in Visual Studio Code, tested in sandbox first) and for localization solutions. Publishing pages explain adding an app to Marketplace, with technical and marketing validation and special handling for embed apps. Two subtopics go deeper: Marketplace validation and Embed apps.

After release, the lifecycle pages describe how service updates, app updates, bug fixes and breaking changes interact with apps. They also cover partner duties for preview testing and update periods, Microsoft’s responsibilities online, and how to discontinue an app. A good start is “Get started building apps”, then “Add your App to Marketplace”.

Key points

• Getting started: become a partner, register as a publisher in Partner Center, get a unique object range, develop, then submit for technical validation.
• Customizing tenants uses the in-client Designer for UI changes or AL extensions (page and table extensions, business logic) in Visual Studio Code, tested in sandbox or Docker before production.
• Marketplace submission requires technical and marketing validation; embed apps have special handling. The Marketplace validation subtopic has 15 pages of checklists and FAQ.
• Embed apps subtopic covers partner qualification, application family name use in URLs, LCS deployment, customer access management and the App Management API.
• Lifecycle pages describe five scenarios: service updates, app updates, bug fixes, critical bugs and breaking changes, including rollback and data retention.
• Partners must keep apps current with major and minor releases: preview testing, update period, grace period, enforced update period, and automatic removal of incompatible apps.
• Microsoft handles infrastructure, capacity, high availability, disaster recovery, platform security and the base application online; partners maintain their own apps.
• Discontinuing an app: update the listing (for example Contact Me type), notify customers, use stop selling, then delete the offer after an appropriate period.

Subtopics

• Marketplace validation (15 pages)
• Embed apps (10 pages)

More Learn pages

• Add your App to Marketplace: Read about how to get your app added to the Microsoft marketplace, Marketplace.
• Components and capabilities: Discover Dynamics 365 Business Central App Components & Deployment Steps - Microsoft’s Base Application, Platform Updates, & Ecosystem Integrations.
• Customizing Tenants: Read about how to build fully custom functionality or adapt what is already available out-of-the box.
• Development of a Localization Solution: Comply with regulatory requirements in Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Discontinuing a Marketplace app: Learn how to discontinue an app that is available on Marketplace.
• Get started building apps: Learn how you can get started building apps for Dynamics 365 Business Central in six easy steps.
• Lifecycle of apps and extensions: Overview of the process of updating an app for Business Central.
• Maintain Marketplace apps and per-tenant extensions: Learn about resources available to you as the publisher of an app or per-tenant extension for keeping your code in compliance with the base product.
• Microsoft’s responsibilities for apps on Business Central online: Learn about what Microsoft does for your apps and your customers.
• The SMB opportunity for app publishers: Learn about the business opportunity we see for software companies in the SMB space if you build your solution on Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Update Lifecycle for Tenant Customizations: Overview of the process of ensuring extension compatibility with update versions

Source: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0). Descriptions are Learn’s own.