flowstudio-power-automate-build

Build & Deploy Power Automate Flows with FlowStudio MCP

Step-by-step guide for constructing and deploying Power Automate cloud flows programmatically through the FlowStudio MCP server.

Prerequisite: A FlowStudio MCP server must be reachable with a valid JWT. See the flowstudio-power-automate-mcp skill for connection setup.
Subscribe at https://mcp.flowstudio.app

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Source of Truth

Always call tools/list first to confirm available tool names and their parameter schemas. Tool names and parameters may change between server versions. This skill covers response shapes, behavioral notes, and build patterns — things tools/list cannot tell you. If this document disagrees with tools/list or a real API response, the API wins.

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Python Helper

import json, urllib.request

MCP_URL   = "https://mcp.flowstudio.app/mcp"
MCP_TOKEN = "<YOUR_JWT_TOKEN>"

def mcp(tool, **kwargs):
    payload = json.dumps({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/call",
                          "params": {"name": tool, "arguments": kwargs}}).encode()
    req = urllib.request.Request(MCP_URL, data=payload,
        headers={"x-api-key": MCP_TOKEN, "Content-Type": "application/json",
                 "User-Agent": "FlowStudio-MCP/1.0"})
    try:
        resp = urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=120)
    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
        body = e.read().decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
        raise RuntimeError(f"MCP HTTP {e.code}: {body[:200]}") from e
    raw = json.loads(resp.read())
    if "error" in raw:
        raise RuntimeError(f"MCP error: {json.dumps(raw['error'])}")
    return json.loads(raw["result"]["content"][0]["text"])

ENV = "<environment-id>"  # e.g. Default-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

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Step 1 — Safety Check: Does the Flow Already Exist?

Always look before you build to avoid duplicates:

results = mcp("list_store_flows",
    environmentName=ENV, searchTerm="My New Flow")

# list_store_flows returns a direct array (no wrapper object)
if len(results) > 0:
    # Flow exists — modify rather than create
    # id format is "envId.flowId" — split to get the flow UUID
    FLOW_ID = results[0]["id"].split(".", 1)[1]
    print(f"Existing flow: {FLOW_ID}")
    defn = mcp("get_live_flow", environmentName=ENV, flowName=FLOW_ID)
else:
    print("Flow not found — building from scratch")
    FLOW_ID = None

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Step 2 — Obtain Connection References

Every connector action needs a connectionName that points to a key in the flow's connectionReferences map. That key links to an authenticated connection in the environment.

MANDATORY: You MUST call list_live_connections first — do NOT ask the user for connection names or GUIDs. The API returns the exact values you need. Only prompt the user if the API confirms that required connections are missing.

2a — Always call list_live_connections first

conns = mcp("list_live_connections", environmentName=ENV)

# Filter to connected (authenticated) connections only
active = [c for c in conns["connections"]
          if c["statuses"][0]["status"] == "Connected"]

# Build a lookup: connectorName → connectionName (id)
conn_map = {}
for c in active:
    conn_map[c["connectorName"]] = c["id"]

print(f"Found {len(active)} active connections")
print("Available connectors:", list(conn_map.keys()))

2b — Determine which connectors the flow needs

Based on the flow you are building, identify which connectors are required. Common connector API names:

Connector	API name
SharePoint	shared_sharepointonline
Outlook / Office 365	shared_office365
Teams	shared_teams
Approvals	shared_approvals
OneDrive for Business	shared_onedriveforbusiness
Excel Online (Business)	shared_excelonlinebusiness
Dataverse	shared_commondataserviceforapps
Microsoft Forms	shared_microsoftforms

Flows that need NO connections (e.g. Recurrence + Compose + HTTP only) can skip the rest of Step 2 — omit connectionReferences from the deploy call.

2c — If connections are missing, guide the user

connectors_needed = ["shared_sharepointonline", "shared_office365"]  # adjust per flow

missing = [c for c in connectors_needed if c not in conn_map]

if not missing:
    print("✅ All required connections are available — proceeding to build")
else:
    # ── STOP: connections must be created interactively ──
    # Connections require OAuth consent in a browser — no API can create them.
    print("⚠️  The following connectors have no active connection in this environment:")
    for c in missing:
        friendly = c.replace("shared_", "").replace("onlinebusiness", " Online (Business)")
        print(f"   • {friendly}  (API name: {c})")
    print()
    print("Please create the missing connections:")
    print("  1. Open https://make.powerautomate.com/connections")
    print("  2. Select the correct environment from the top-right picker")
    print("  3. Click '+ New connection' for each missing connector listed above")
    print("  4. Sign in and authorize when prompted")
    print("  5. Tell me when done — I will re-check and continue building")
    # DO NOT proceed to Step 3 until the user confirms.
    # After user confirms, re-run Step 2a to refresh conn_map.

2d — Build the connectionReferences block

Only execute this after 2c confirms no missing connectors:

connection_references = {}
for connector in connectors_needed:
    connection_references[connector] = {
        "connectionName": conn_map[connector],   # the GUID from list_live_connections
        "source": "Invoker",
        "id": f"/providers/Microsoft.PowerApps/apis/{connector}"
    }

IMPORTANT — host.connectionName in actions: When building actions in Step 3, set host.connectionName to the key from this map (e.g. shared_teams), NOT the connection GUID. The GUID only goes inside the connectionReferences entry. The engine matches the action's host.connectionName to the key to find the right connection.

Alternative — if you already have a flow using the same connectors, you can extract connectionReferences from its definition:

ref_flow = mcp("get_live_flow", environmentName=ENV, flowName="<existing-flow-id>")
connection_references = ref_flow["properties"]["connectionReferences"]

See the power-automate-mcp skill's connection-references.md reference for the full connection reference structure.

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Step 3 — Build the Flow Definition

Construct the definition object. See flow-schema.md for the full schema and these action pattern references for copy-paste templates:

• action-patterns-core.md — Variables, control flow, expressions
• action-patterns-data.md — Array transforms, HTTP, parsing
• action-patterns-connectors.md — SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, Approvals

definition = {
    "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/providers/Microsoft.Logic/schemas/2016-06-01/workflowdefinition.json#",
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
    "triggers": { ... },   # see trigger-types.md / build-patterns.md
    "actions": { ... }     # see ACTION-PATTERNS-*.md / build-patterns.md
}

See build-patterns.md for complete, ready-to-use flow definitions covering Recurrence+SharePoint+Teams, HTTP triggers, and more.

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Step 4 — Deploy (Create or Update)

update_live_flow handles both creation and updates in a single tool.

Create a new flow (no existing flow)

Omit flowName — the server generates a new GUID and creates via PUT:

result = mcp("update_live_flow",
    environmentName=ENV,
    # flowName omitted → creates a new flow
    definition=definition,
    connectionReferences=connection_references,
    displayName="Overdue Invoice Notifications",
    description="Weekly SharePoint → Teams notification flow, built by agent"
)

if result.get("error") is not None:
    print("Create failed:", result["error"])
else:
    # Capture the new flow ID for subsequent steps
    FLOW_ID = result["created"]
    print(f"✅ Flow created: {FLOW_ID}")

Update an existing flow

Provide flowName to PATCH:

result = mcp("update_live_flow",
    environmentName=ENV,
    flowName=FLOW_ID,
    definition=definition,
    connectionReferences=connection_references,
    displayName="My Updated Flow",
    description="Updated by agent on " + __import__('datetime').datetime.utcnow().isoformat()
)

if result.get("error") is not None:
    print("Update failed:", result["error"])
else:
    print("Update succeeded:", result)

⚠️ update_live_flow always returns an error key. null (Python None) means success — do not treat the presence of the key as failure.

⚠️ description is required for both create and update.

Common deployment errors

Error message (contains)	Cause	Fix
missing from connectionReferences	An action's host.connectionName references a key that doesn't exist in the connectionReferences map	Ensure host.connectionName uses the key from connectionReferences (e.g. shared_teams), not the raw GUID
ConnectionAuthorizationFailed / 403	The connection GUID belongs to another user or is not authorized	Re-run Step 2a and use a connection owned by the current x-api-key user
InvalidTemplate / InvalidDefinition	Syntax error in the definition JSON	Check runAfter chains, expression syntax, and action type spelling
ConnectionNotConfigured	A connector action exists but the connection GUID is invalid or expired	Re-check list_live_connections for a fresh GUID

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Step 5 — Verify the Deployment

check = mcp("get_live_flow", environmentName=ENV, flowName=FLOW_

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