How to deploy Canvas app using Custom Connectors to external environments

[loopio]

What we’re Trying to do

• Create a dynamics solution that can interact with our own API. Within our own platform we have this idea of projects which users can create and update. We want the ability to list project information/create project from within Dynamics.

Things we’ve tried

1. Create a custom connector to authenticate and interact with our own API
2. Using custom connector within flows
3. Using custom connector directly from a button within the canvas app. (calling api.createProject({…info}) in the onSelect of a button)
4. Exported managed solution that included the power app we created, then imported to separate environment

Findings

1. Flows unable to work with custom connectors on the environment different from the one that it was created in originally
2. Apps that are in solutions cannot trigger flows after clicking a button
3. Other environments receive permission error when trying to use the custom connector provided in the solution

This is the error we are receiving when trying to authenticate the connector

The caller with object id '76ac73b7-8d77-40ff-b962-08855b3e127a' does not have permission to custom connector 'shared_loopioapi.5fa294d43175b3fd7a.5f077d84b7572aeea5'.

Session ID: 71ce8be4-1fb1-4db4-9466-fcd82e0950c9

Questions:

1. Are we going about this in the right way?
2. How do we fix this permission issue?

[caburk]

Shortly you'll be able to include custom connectors in solutions and button triggered Flows. It's a known gap at the moment.

Another route is to use plugins to talk to your custom API. Traditionally this is how it has been done in Dynamics and  is often more performant than using Flows and custom connectors. You can also develop custom workflows, if needed, that can run synchronously or asynchronously. 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/developer/common-data-service/plug-ins

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/flow/configure-actions