How to: interact with external services using server logic

In this guide, you'll set up a webpage that will use the server logic to read, write, update, and delete records from the external services httpclient server object.

Note

This example uses https://services.odata.org/TripPinRESTierService , but you could use other publicly available free testing tools.

Step 1: Create a server logic

Sign into Power Pages.
Select site + Edit.
Navigate to the Set up workspace, then select Server logic (preview)
Select +New server logic
Enter name for the server logic. This name is used in API as resource identifier while constructing the server logic API. For example:

Property Example Value

Name services.odata.org

Display Name Performing CRUD operations using OData service
Select +Add roles to assign appropriate web role. In this example, select Administrators and later sign in as administrator to proceed.
Select Add.
Select the server logic and select Edit code.
In the Edit in Microsoft Visual Studio Code for the Web dialog, select Open Visual Studio Code to author the custom logic.

You'll find pre-defined methods and scripts in the file.
Define server logic method to read, edit, create, delete operations using external service.

Add the following baseUrl constant before the get() method
```
 const baseUrl  = "https://services.odata.org/TripPinRESTierService";
```

Property	Example Value
Name	`services.odata.org`
Display Name	`Performing CRUD operations using OData service`

Replace the get, post, put, and del example functions with the following code


async function get() { 
   try { 
      Server.Logger.Log("GET called"); // Logger reference 
      if (!Server.Context.QueryParameters["username"]) { 
            const response = await Server.Connector.HttpClient.GetAsync( 
               `${baseUrl}/People?$select=UserName,FirstName,LastName,MiddleName,Age`, 
               {'content-type':'application/json'}); 
            return response; 
      } 
      else {             
            const id = Server.Context.QueryParameters["username"]; // Context reference 
            const response = await Server.Connector.HttpClient.GetAsync( 
               `${baseUrl}(${id})/People?$select=UserName,FirstName,LastName,MiddleName,Age`, 
               {'content-type':'application/json'}); 
            return response; 
      }         
   } catch (err) { 
      Server.Logger.Error("GET failed: " + err.message); 
      return JSON.stringify({ status: "error", method: "GET", message: err.message }); 
   } 
} 

async function post() { 
   try { 
      Server.Logger.Log("POST called"); 
      const data = JSON.parse(Server.Context.Body);            
      const url = `${baseUrl}/${data.serviceSession}/People`; 
      const { serviceSession, ...body } = data;  
      const response = await Server.Connector.HttpClient.PostAsync( 
            url,  
            JSON.stringify(body), 
            {'content-type':'application/json'}); 
      return response; 
   } catch (err) { 
      Server.Logger.Error("POST failed: " + err.message); 
      return JSON.stringify({ status: "error", method: "POST", message: err.message }); 
   } 
}  

async function put() { 
   try { 
      Server.Logger.Log("PUT called"); 
      const data = JSON.parse(Server.Context.Body);         
      const url = `${baseUrl}/${data.serviceSession}/People('${data.UserName}')`; 
      const { UserName, ...body1 } = data; 
      const { serviceSession, ...body } = body1; 
      const response = await Server.Connector.HttpClient.PatchAsync( 
            url,  
            JSON.stringify(body), 
            {'content-type':'application/json'}); 
      return response; 
   } catch (err) { 
      Server.Logger.Error("PUT failed: " + err.message); 
      return JSON.stringify({ status: "error", method: "PUT", message: err.message }); 
   } 
}    

async function del() { 
   try { 
      // "delete" keyword should not be used in script file. 
      Server.Logger.Log("DEL called"); 
      const username = Server.Context.QueryParameters["username"]; 
      const serviceSession = Server.Context.QueryParameters["serviceSession"]; 
      const url = `${baseUrl}/${serviceSession}/People('${username}')`; 
      const response = await Server.Connector.HttpClient.DeleteAsync( 
            url,  
            {'content-type':'application/json'}); 
      return response; 
   } catch (err) { 
      Server.Logger.Error("Deletion failed: " + err.message); 
      return JSON.stringify({ status: "error", method: "DEL", message: err.message }); 
   } 
}

Save the file.

Tip

Use Ctrl+S to save.

Step 2: Create Webpage

Launch Power Pages design studio.
In the Pages workspace, select + Page.
In the Describe a page to create it dialog, select Other ways to add a page.
In the Add a page dialog, enter details.
1. In the Name box, enter Server logic and select Start from blank layout.
2. Select Add.
Select the Edit Code option in the upper right-hand corner.
In the Edit in Visual Studio Code for the Web dialog, select Open Visual Studio Code.

Replace the code found in the HTML page with the following:

<div class="row sectionBlockLayout text-left" style="min-height: auto; padding: 8px;">
<div class="container" style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap;">
   <div class="col-md-12 columnBlockLayout" style="padding: 16px; margin: 60px 0px; min-height: 200px;">
      <!-- Sample code for Web API demonstration -->
      <style>
      #processingMsg {
         padding: 6px 12px;
         background: #eee;
         border-radius: 4px;
         position: fixed;
         top: 10px;
         left: 50%;
         transform: translateX(-50%);
         display: none;
         z-index: 9999;
         text-align: center;
         font-weight: bold;
      }

      table {
         border-collapse: collapse;
         width: 100%;
         margin-top: 10px;
         font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
      }

      th,
      td {
         border: 1px solid #ccc;
         padding: 6px;
         text-align: left;
      }

      button {
         cursor: pointer;
         border: 1px solid #aaa;
         padding: 4px 8px;
         border-radius: 4px;
         background: #fff;
         font-size: 14px;
         margin-right: 2px;
      }

      button.add {
         color: green;
      }

      button.save {
         color: green;
      }

      button.cancel {
         color: orange;
      }

      button.delete {
         color: red;
      }

      input {
         width: 95%;
         box-sizing: border-box;
      }

      td.actions {
         white-space: nowrap;
      }

      td[data-attribute="UserName"] {
         background: #f9f9f9;
         cursor: default;
      }
      </style>

      <div id="processingMsg">Processing...</div>
      <div id="dataTable"></div>

      <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
      <script>
      $(function () {

         // Safe WebAPI wrapper for Power Pages
         (function (webapi, $) {
            function safeAjax(opts) {
            var d = $.Deferred();
            shell.getTokenDeferred().done(function (token) {
               opts.headers = opts.headers || {};
               opts.headers["__RequestVerificationToken"] = token;
               $.ajax(opts)
                  .done((data, ts, jq) => validateLoginSession(data, ts, jq, d.resolve))
                  .fail(d.reject);
            }).fail(() => d.rejectWith(this, arguments));
            return d.promise();
            }
            webapi.safeAjax = safeAjax;
         })(window.webapi = window.webapi || {}, jQuery);

         // Notification overlay
         const notify = (() => {
            const $m = $('#processingMsg'); let s = 0, t;
            return {
            show: (msg = 'Processing...') => { $m.text(msg); if (!s) $m.show(); s++; },
            hide: () => { s = Math.max(0, s - 1); if (!s) t = setTimeout(() => $m.hide(), 200); }
            };
         })();

         function ajaxCall(msg, opts) {
            notify.show(msg);
            return webapi.safeAjax(opts)
            .fail(r => alert(r.responseJSON?.error?.message || 'Server error'))
            .always(notify.hide);
         }

         // Table columns
         const cols = [
            { name: 'UserName', label: 'User Name', editable: false },
            { name: 'FirstName', label: 'First Name' },
            { name: 'LastName', label: 'Last Name' },
            { name: 'MiddleName', label: 'Middle Name' },
            { name: 'Age', label: 'Age' }
         ];

         let data = [];
         let serviceSession = '';
         function render() {
            const html = `<table>
            <thead>
               <tr>
                  ${cols.map(c => `<th>${c.label}</th>`).join('')}
                  <th>Actions <button class="add">➕</button></th>
               </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
               ${data.map(r => `<tr data-UserName="${r.UserName}">
                  ${cols.map(c => `<td data-attribute="${c.name}" data-value="${r[c.name] || ''}">
                        ${r[c.name] || ''}
                  </td>`).join('')}
                  <td class="actions">
                        <button class="delete">🗑️</button>
                  </td>
               </tr>`).join('')}
            </tbody>
      </table>`;
            $('#dataTable').html(html);
         }

         // Double click row to edit except username
         $('#dataTable').on('dblclick', 'tr', function () {
            const $tr = $(this);
            if ($tr.hasClass('editing')) return;
            $tr.addClass('editing');
            $tr.find('td[data-attribute]').each(function () {
            const $td = $(this);
            if ($td.data('attribute') === 'UserName') return;
            const old = $td.text().trim();
            $td.html(`<input type="text" value="${old}" data-attr="${$td.data('attribute')}"/>`);
            });
            $tr.find('.actions').append('<button class="save">✅</button><button class="cancel">❌</button>');
         });

         $('#dataTable').on('click', '.save', function () {
            const $tr = $(this).closest('tr');
            const username = $tr.data('username');
            const updates = {};
            $tr.find('input').each(function () {
            const attr = $(this).data('attr');
            let value = $(this).val().trim();

            if (attr === 'Age') {
               value = Number(value);
               if (isNaN(value)) value = null; // safety fallback
            }

            updates[attr] = value;
            });

            ajaxCall('Updating...', {
            type: 'PUT',
            url: `/_api/serverlogics/services.odata.org`,
            contentType: 'application/json',
            data: JSON.stringify(Object.assign({ UserName: username, serviceSession: `${serviceSession}` }, updates)),
            success: () => { Object.assign(data.find(x => x.UserName === username), updates); render(); }
            });
         });

         $('#dataTable').on('click', '.cancel', () => render());

         $('#dataTable').on('click', '.delete', function () {
            const username = $(this).closest('tr').data('username');
            if (!confirm('Delete ' + username + '?')) return;
            ajaxCall('Deleting...', {
            type: 'DELETE',
            url: `/_api/serverlogics/services.odata.org?username=${username}&serviceSession=${serviceSession}`,
            success: () => { data = data.filter(x => x.UserName !== username); render(); }
            });
         });

         $('#dataTable').on('click', '.add', function () {
            const r = {
            serviceSession: `${serviceSession}`,
            UserName: 'user' + Math.floor(Math.random() * 9000 + 1000),
            FirstName: 'New',
            LastName: 'Person',
            MiddleName: '',
            Age: 25
            };
            ajaxCall('Adding...', {
            type: 'POST',
            url: `/_api/serverlogics/services.odata.org`,
            contentType: 'application/json',
            data: JSON.stringify(r),
            success: () => { data.unshift(r); render(); }
            });
         });

         // Initial load
         ajaxCall('Loading...', {
            type: 'GET',
            url: `/_api/serverlogics/services.odata.org`,
            contentType: 'application/json'
         }).done(resp => {
            const parsed = JSON.parse(resp.data);
            const body = JSON.parse(parsed.Body);

            const ctx = body['@odata.context'];
            const match = ctx.match(/\\S\\[^)]*\\/);
            serviceSession = match ? match[0] : '';

            data = (body.value || []).map(r => ({
            UserName: r.UserName,
            FirstName: r.FirstName,
            LastName: r.LastName,
            MiddleName: r.MiddleName,
            Age: r.Age
            }));
            render();
         });

      });
      </script>
   </div>
</div>
</div>

Save the file

Note

This code creates an interactive data table interface for demonstrating CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations with an external OData service using Power Pages server logic. It includes CSS styling for a responsive table layout, a processing notification overlay, and JavaScript functionality that allows users to view data retrieved from the external service, add new records by clicking the ➕ button, edit existing records by double-clicking on table rows (except the UserName field), save changes with ✅, cancel edits with ❌, and delete records using the 🗑️ button. The code uses jQuery and a safe WebAPI wrapper to make authenticated AJAX calls to the /_api/serverlogics/services.odata.org endpoint, handling the response data to parse OData context and manage a service session for subsequent operations.
Return to the Power pages designer.
In the You're editing code in Visual Studio Code for the Web dialog, follow the instructions and click the Sync button.

Step 3: Use the Server logic to read, view, edit, create, and delete

To test the server logic functionality:

Select Preview, and then choose Desktop.
Sign in to your site with the user account that's been assigned the Server logic User role you created earlier. As we selected the Administrators role in the previous step, in this example, sign in as administrator.
Go to the Server logic webpage created earlier.
Verify the operations.

Server logic overview
Author server logic
Server objects How to interact with Dataverse tables using Server logic

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Last updated on 2025-11-06

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How to: interact with external services using server logic

Step 1: Create a server logic

Step 2: Create Webpage

Step 3: Use the Server logic to read, view, edit, create, and delete

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