I discovered that you can use Power Fx from Power Automate with the Instant Plugin feature of the Dataverse Accelerator, so I’m making a note of it.
*Note: This feature is in preview as of April 1, 2025.
Understanding Dataverse Accelerator, Low-Code Plugins, and Instant Plugins
The Dataverse Accelerator is an application that provides development tools for Dataverse.
Low-code plugins are one of the tools offered by the Dataverse Accelerator, allowing you to build plugins using Power Fx.
*You can think of plugins as a way to bundle and register business logic.
Instant plugins are a type of low-code plugin that are “called and executed” rather than “automatically executed.”
In this guide, we’ll explore how to use Power Apps functions (Power Fx) from Power Automate using these instant plugins.
Preparation
Basic Usage
Creating an Instant Plugin
First, create an Instant Plugin. Select [Instant Plugin] from the [New Plugin] option.
On the plugin creation screen, define the [Display Name], [Arguments], [Return Value], and [Expression], then click save. *As an example, we’ve defined an expression that uses a regular expression to check postal codes.
Optionally, you can set the solution to save to and the physical name from the [Advanced Options].
This completes the plugin creation process.
Calling from Power Automate
When calling from Power Automate, use the “Perform an unbound action” option.
After adding it, select the plugin you just created.
Enter the arguments.
When you run the flow, the result of the expression is returned.
This demonstrates how you can use Power Fx in Power Automate through plugins.
Useful Functions to Use from Power Automate
Being able to use Power Fx functions from Power Automate provides many convenient benefits.
Regular Expressions: IsMatch, Match
First are the previously mentioned IsMatch and Match functions.
Until now, when handling regular expressions in Power Automate, we had to use things like Office scripts. Now it’s much more convenient as we can write them easily using functions like IsMatch.
Calculations: Sum, Average
Next are the Sum and Average functions.
Power Automate previously lacked these functions, so being able to calculate them easily with functions is extremely convenient.
Here’s how you can define the plugin: *Note: Since plugins can’t accept arrays directly, we pass them as JSON strings and restore them using ParseJSON.
When called from Power Automate:
You can easily calculate sums and averages.
Basic Arithmetic
Another convenient feature is the ability to write arithmetic operations in a clean manner.
For example, even writing something as simple as “1 + 2 – 3 * 4” would become nested and difficult to read in Power Automate:
When defined in a plugin, the expression is more readable, and the calculation intent is clearer.
Of course, the results are the same.
Date Difference: DateDiff
The DateDiff function for calculating date differences is also very useful.
Although Power Automate introduced the dateDifference function, Power Fx’s version allows you to specify units and is easier to handle the function results.
Here’s how it looks when used in Power Automate:
Finding the End of the Month: EOMonth
While in Power Automate we used to calculate the end of the month, with EOMonth we can easily determine it.
Here’s how it looks when called from Power Automate:
Removing Duplicates: Distinct
Removing duplicates, which used to be done using the Union function in Power Automate, can now be achieved with the Distinct function.
Here’s how it looks when called from Power Automate:
If you’re concerned about the Power Fx-specific “Value” property name being added, you can convert it to an array using the “Select” action.
Table Operations: AddColumns, DropColumns, ShowColumns
Table operations such as adding or removing columns are also possible.
For example, suppose you have a table like this:
By using AddColumns in a plugin:
You can add columns to the table.
Having to exchange arrays and collections in JSON format is a bit cumbersome, but expressions that are easier to write in Power Fx might be convenient to use with this plugin in the future (once it’s out of preview).
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