Setup and Installation

Solution Components

API Builder is delivered as Dataverse managed solutions. It depends on Flowon Base and can optionally integrate with Logic Composer.

Solution Dependencies

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      SOLUTION DEPENDENCIES                                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                                 │
│                      ┌─────────────────────┐                                    │
│                      │    Flowon Base      │                                    │
│                      │   (Foundation)      │                                    │
│                      └──────────┬──────────┘                                    │
│                                 │                                               │
│              ┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐                            │
│              │                  │                  │                            │
│              ▼                  ▼                  ▼                            │
│   ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐                   │
│   │  Logic Composer   │ │   API Builder    │ │  Process Orchestrator     │      │
│   │   (Optional)    │ │   (Runtime)     │ │   (Optional)    │                   │
│   └─────────────────┘ └────────┬────────┘ └─────────────────┘                   │
│                                │                                                │
│                                ▼                                                │
│                       ┌─────────────────┐                                       │
│                       │ API Builder      │                                      │
│                       │   Studio        │                                       │
│                       │  (Designer)     │                                       │
│                       └─────────────────┘                                       │
│                                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Solution Details

Solution	Description	Dependency
Flowon Base	Core platform components shared across all Flowon products	None (install first)
API Builder	The API runtime engine that dynamically generates REST endpoints	Flowon Base
API Builder Studio	The visual designer for configuring API endpoints	Flowon Base, API Builder

Import Order

Step	Solution	Required
1	Flowon Base	Yes
2	API Builder	Yes
3	API Builder Studio	Design environments only

Environment Recommendations

Environment	Flowon Base	API Builder	API Builder Studio
Development	✅ Required	✅ Required	✅ Required
Test/UAT	✅ Required	✅ Required	⚠️ Optional
Production	✅ Required	✅ Required	❌ Not Required

Security Configuration

API Builder Customizer Security Role

When you import the API Builder solutions, a security role called API Builder Customizer is automatically created. This role grants permissions to design and manage API configurations.

Deployment

API Builder can be deployed to any environment that supports .NET 9 runtime. The API runtime is distributed as a NuGet package.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Details
Runtime	.NET 9
Package	Flowon.Xrm.Api.AspNetCore.Rest
Source	nuget.org/profiles/Flowon

Installation

Add the API Builder package to your ASP.NET Core project:

<PackageReference Include="Flowon.Xrm.Api.AspNetCore.Rest" Version="1.0.218" />

Or via .NET CLI:

dotnet add package Flowon.Xrm.Api.AspNetCore.Rest --version 1.0.218

Deployment Options

API Builder can be hosted on any platform supporting .NET 9:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS                              │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                      │
│  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐       │
│  │     Azure       │  │       AWS       │  │    On-Premise   │       │
│  │   App Service   │  │   Lambda/ECS    │  │      IIS        │       │
│  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘       │
│                                                                      │
│  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐       │
│  │     Docker      │  │   Kubernetes    │  │  Linux Service  │       │
│  │   Container     │  │     Cluster     │  │   (systemd)     │       │
│  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘       │
│                                                                      │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Platform	Notes
Azure App Service	Native .NET 9 support, easy scaling
Azure Container Apps	Container-based deployment with auto-scaling
AWS Elastic Beanstalk	Managed .NET hosting
AWS ECS/Fargate	Container orchestration
Docker	Containerized deployment anywhere
Kubernetes	Enterprise container orchestration
IIS (Windows)	Traditional Windows hosting
Linux (systemd)	Direct Linux service hosting

Minimal Deployment Example

// Program.cs
using Flowon.Xrm.Api.AspNetCore.Rest;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Add API Builder services
builder.Services.AddFlowonApi(options =>
{
    options.ConnectionString = builder.Configuration["Dataverse:ConnectionString"];
});

var app = builder.Build();

// Map API Builder endpoints
app.MapFlowonApi();

app.Run();

Configuration

Configure the API runtime via appsettings.json:

{
  "Dataverse": {
    "ConnectionString": "AuthType=ClientSecret;Url=https://org.crm.dynamics.com;ClientId=...;ClientSecret=..."
  },
  "FlowonApi": {
    "ApiName": "CustomerPortalAPI",
    "Version": "1.0"
  }
}