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AssociateAB-400

Extending Microsoft Power Platform Solutions with Code and AI

upcoming.Beta exam — scores are released after the beta period closes.

PL-400 becomes AB-400 on October 16, 2026. Registration for PL-400 closes that day and opens for AB-400 alone; anyone registered for PL-400 by then can still take it through October 30, 2026. The certification earned is unchanged — Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Developer Associate. Microsoft announced the renumbering on September 15, 2026; registration for AB-400 is open now.

Study Hours
40h
Prep Time
~3 months

Topics Covered

Custom Connectors
PCF Controls
Plugins
Power Apps Component Framework
Azure Integration

Skills measured

Official study guide

Microsoft's own objectives, in the order the exam presents them. Each area links to its section on Microsoft Learn. Checked 2026-10-05.

  1. Build Microsoft Power Platform solutions15–20%
    This area on Microsoft Learn

    Design the technical architecture

    • Analyze the technical architecture to identify solution components and their implementation approach
    • Design authentication and authorization for solution components
    • Determine whether requirements can be met with out-of-the-box functionality
    • Determine where to implement business logic including cloud services, client-side processing, business rules, plug-ins, and automation
    • Determine when to use standard tables, virtual tables, elastic tables, or connectors
    • Assess the impact of Microsoft Power Platform security features on solution components, including managed environments, data policies, security roles, teams, business units, and row sharing
    • Determine when to use deterministic or non-deterministic methods to implement business logic
    • Determine when to use code apps, generative pages, Power Apps component frameworks (PCFs), web resources, interactive agents, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) app widgets to implement the user experience
    • Determine when to use Microsoft Foundry or Microsoft Copilot Studio to build agents

    Design solution components

    • Design Power Apps reusable components including generative pages, code components (PCF), and client scripting
    • Design custom connectors and MCP servers for use with Microsoft Power Platform solutions
    • Design Dataverse code components, including plug-ins and custom APIs
    • Design automations, including Power Automate cloud flows and Copilot Studio workflows
    • Design inbound and outbound integrations using Dataverse and Microsoft Azure
    • Design custom interfaces by using Power Apps code apps
    • Design custom agents that integrate with Microsoft Power Platform
    • Design monitoring and alerting, including Azure Monitor Application Insights and Microsoft Power Platform monitor alerts

    Implement application lifecycle management (ALM)

    • Manage solution dependencies
    • Create and use environment variables
    • Manage solution layers
    • Implement and extend Microsoft Power Platform Pipelines
    • Create Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) automations using Microsoft Power Platform Build Tools
  2. Extend the user experience25–30%
    This area on Microsoft Learn

    Apply business logic in model-driven apps by using client scripting

    • Build code that targets the Client API object model
    • Determine an event handler registration approach
    • Create client scripting that targets the Dataverse Web API
    • Configure commands and buttons by using Power Fx and JavaScript
    • Implement navigation, dialogs, and notifications by using the Client API

    Create PCF code components

    • Demonstrate the use of the different lifecycle events
    • Configure a code component manifest
    • Implement component interfaces
    • Package, deploy, and consume a component
    • Configure and use Device, Utility, and Web API features in component logic

    Build Power Apps code apps

    • Configure code apps to use Microsoft Power Platform connections
    • Configure code apps to use Dataverse tables
    • Perform table and metadata operations on Dataverse data
    • Perform Dataverse actions and functions
    • Configure code apps to use Power Automate cloud flows
    • Configure code apps to use agents built in Copilot Studio
    • Configure code apps to use environment variables

    Deploy and manage Power Apps code apps

    • Configure Content Security Policy (CSP) settings
    • Implement monitoring by using Azure Application Insights
    • Package, deploy, and share code apps
    • Troubleshoot code apps by using Monitor and other browser-based debugging tools
    • Optimize code app performance and resource usage
  3. Extend Microsoft Power Platform35–40%
    This area on Microsoft Learn

    Create a Dataverse plug-in

    • Demonstrate the use of the different event execution pipeline stages
    • Develop a plug-in that uses the execution context
    • Develop a plug-in that implements business logic
    • Implement images to support plug-in logic
    • Perform operations in plug-ins by using the Organization service
    • Optimize plug-in performance
    • Configure a Dataverse custom API message
    • Register plug-in components by using the Plug-in Registration Tool
    • Develop a plug-in that implements a custom API
    • Configure Dataverse business events
    • Configure Microsoft Power Platform managed identity for plug-ins

    Perform operations by using platform APIs

    • Perform operations by using the Dataverse Web API
    • Perform operations by using the Organization service
    • Implement API limit retry policies
    • Optimize solution components for performance, concurrency, transactions, and bulk operations
    • Implement and troubleshoot authentication by using OAuth
    • Perform asynchronous logic by using background operations
    • Perform operations by using Dataverse SDKs for .NET and Python

    Process workloads by using Microsoft Azure Functions

    • Process long-running operations by using Azure Functions for Microsoft Power Platform solutions
    • Implement scheduled and event-driven triggers in Azure Functions for Microsoft Power Platform solutions
    • Authenticate to Microsoft Power Platform by using managed identities

    Configure Power Automate cloud flows and Copilot Studio workflows

    • Implement complex expressions in flow steps
    • Implement flow control actions including error handling
    • Configure trigger filter and retry policies
    • Develop reuseable logic by using child flows
    • Implement authentication for the Dataverse connector by using service principals

    Build Microsoft Foundry agents by using code that integrates with the Microsoft Power Platform

    • Integrate custom agents by using Microsoft Power Platform MCP servers
    • Connect custom agents to Copilot Studio agents
    • Integrate custom agents with Dataverse data by using Work IQ
    • Consume Copilot Studio agents by using the Copilot Studio client library
  4. Develop integrations10–15%
    This area on Microsoft Learn

    Publish and consume Dataverse events

    • Publish a Dataverse event by using the IServiceEndpointNotificationService
    • Publish a Dataverse event by using the Plug-in Registration Tool
    • Register service endpoints including webhooks, Azure Service Bus, and Azure Event Hub
    • Recommend options for listening to Dataverse events

    Implement synchronization for Dataverse data

    • Perform data synchronization by using change tracking
    • Develop code that uses alternate keys
    • Synchronize data by using the UpsertRequest message

    Create custom connectors

    • Implement authentication for custom connectors
    • Configure policy templates to modify connector behavior at runtime
    • Import definitions from existing APIs including Open API definitions, Azure services, and GitHub
    • Create a custom connector for an Azure service
    • Develop an Azure Function to be used in a custom connector
    • Extend the Open API definition for a custom connector
    • Develop code for a custom connector to transform data

What to Study Next

AB-100
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