Skill: Query — Read and Analyze Dataverse Records

This skill uses Python exclusively. Do not use Node.js, JavaScript, or any other language for Dataverse scripting. See the overview skill's Hard Rules.

Reads: prefer a managed surface, choose by shape

Pick MCP or the SDK by the shape of the read — both handle auth, paging, and retry (see the routing table below and the overview's Tool Capabilities / Hard Rule 2). MCP fits small, interactive reads; the SDK fits bulk iteration and analytics. For $apply aggregation and N:N $expand, prefer client.query.fetchxml() (aggregates + link-entity) or the managed dataverse api escape hatch; reach for hand-rolled urllib/get_token() only to stay in-process inside a tight Python loop (e.g. paging thousands of rows with client-side processing — see web-api-advanced.md).

Dataverse CLI gotchas (custom tables + Windows)

When you drive the dataverse CLI directly (headless reads/CRUD; note the CLI needs .NET + a keyring, so it is blocked on ChatGPT web / Codex cloud — use the SDK there), two empirical traps:

• Custom-table SQL pluralization. dataverse data query in SQL mode auto-pluralizes the table name, and irregular plurals resolve wrong: FROM im_category looks up entity set im_categorys and returns a 404 that reads like "table missing." It is not — switch to OData mode with the explicit entity set: dataverse data query --table im_categories --select im_name. Discover the real EntitySetName from EntityDefinitions when unsure; never conclude the table doesn't exist from this 404.
• Windows shell quoting. Wrap the whole --path value in double quotes so cmd.exe/PowerShell don't treat & as a command separator. Keep & literal — it separates OData query options; encoding it to %26 merges them and breaks the query. Encode only $->%24 (in PowerShell a bare $select is read as a variable). If an unquoted & splits the command, the wrapper can exit nonzero even when the API returned valid JSON — quoting prevents it. (This is why the dataverse api request examples in other skills quote the path, use %24, and leave & literal.)

ERP target is a separate path. ERP (Finance and Operations), when linked to a Dataverse env, does not go through the Python SDK. See references/erp-reads.md.

How to Answer Data Questions