Optimizing custom connectors through enhanced built-in validations

We are pleased to announce that we are optimizing custom connectors through enhanced validations. This means that all of the connectors you use, whether it’s one of the almost 300 out-of-box connectors provided by the Power Platform, or one of the custom connectors built within your organization, will see fewer errors when they run, leading to a more consistent, and maintainable, experience.

Improving custom connectors success

Custom connectors enable automation experts and developers to add their own customized actions and triggers within the flow designer. They extend functionality beyond what is available within the out-of-box connectors provided by the Power Platform (Learn more on custom connectors and Power Automate here).

Thousands of customers are leveraging custom connectors to facilitate REST API usage in many innovative scenarios specific to their industries and business objectives. On the other hand, we also understand the challenges many have faced, updating, maintaining, and resolving issues while building and testing them. Therefore, we are providing enhanced connector validations to raise awareness of connector standards, and to enable those making custom connectors to resolve errors and/or problematic configurations which would impact flows running with that connector.

Validation for built-in connectors

We began testing and refining connector validation early in 2019, refining our own connectors (see full list here), and setting an example in the same best practices we would recommend to our customers who are designing custom connectors as well. We have evidence that these new validation standards will contribute greatly to consumer adoption of all connectors, and will expedite better automation outcomes.

Expected impacts to your service

We do not expect that these validations will impact any of your flow runs. Enhanced connector validation does not break any flows which are active and running today.  With that said, we recommend the following proactive actions to prevent issues which may occur in adding, editing, or updating actions and/or triggers which are associated with a connector that has been flagged with a validation error. As connectors are validated, although flows will continue to run without issue, the connector actions may be locked as to changes.  When locks occur, flow makers will be unable to edit existing actions, and may not see the custom connector when adding new actions in the flow editor.

• VALIDATE CUSTOM CONNECTORS: Review your custom connectors to be sure that validation has not flagged them with an error. Respond to alerts as needed to remove any validation flags.
• REPORT UNEXPECTED ALERTS: If you do encounter an unexpected alert on an out-of-box connector, please report these immediately via the community forums (if non-blocking), or through support options, if urgency is required.

We thank you again for your continued feedback. We will continue to drive proactive performance enhancements, like these embedded validations, at every opportunity so as to optimize better business outcomes every where.