Steps Manipulation Tool (XrmToolBox)

A power tool for Dataverse / Dynamics 365 plugin step refactoring.
Move plugin steps between plugin types while preserving step GUIDs — useful when you need to restructure assemblies or classes without breaking identity.

⚠️ Advanced tool — use with care This tool performs direct updates to plugin step metadata. Always test in DEV/UAT first and keep a backup/export.

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What is this?

Steps Manipulation Tool is an XrmToolBox plugin for advanced refactoring of SDK message processing steps (plugin steps), including moving steps between plugin types while keeping the same Step Id (GUID).

Typical reasons you might need this:

• You’re splitting a big plugin assembly into smaller ones.
• You’re moving steps from one plugin class to another during refactoring.
• You want to keep the original step identity (GUID) to reduce churn and avoid reconfiguration noise.

By preserving step GUIDs, you can help maintain existing configurations, such as:

• Custom automation or tooling that references a step by its GUID.
• ALM flows where changes should apply as updates to existing step components rather than creating new steps.
• Third-party tools or integrations that rely on specific step identities.

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How it works (high level)

Normally, moving/recreating steps during refactoring often results in new step records (new GUIDs).
This tool updates existing sdkmessageprocessingstep records so they reference the new plugin type, while keeping the original step identity.

ALM note

If you perform the move in DEV and then export/import a solution, the target environment is more likely to receive the change as an update to the same step component (instead of creating brand new steps), which helps steps “move with” your refactor.

Note: behavior can still vary depending on managed/unmanaged solutions, what components exist in the target environment, and how your solution layering is set up.

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Features

• ✅ Move plugin steps between plugin types and preserve step GUIDs
• ✅ Designed for refactoring / restructuring plugin implementations
• ✅ Built as an XrmToolBox tool, so it works in the same workflow you already use

If you use it for anything beyond refactoring, you probably want to re-think the approach first 🙂

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Getting started

Install (recommended)

1. Open XrmToolBox
2. Go to Tools → Tool Library
3. Search for: Steps Manipulation Tool
4. Install and restart XrmToolBox if needed

Run

1. Connect to your Dataverse/Dynamics environment
2. Open Steps Manipulation Tool
3. Select the source step(s)
4. Select the target plugin type
5. Execute the operation
6. Verify the steps behave as expected (see checklist below)

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Safety checklist (please don’t skip)

Before running advanced operations:

• Export a solution containing the affected assembly/steps (or take a backup/snapshot)
• Prefer testing in DEV/UAT first
• Make sure you understand the target plugin type and its pipeline behavior
• Verify results after the move:
  • Step still triggers when expected
  • Filtering attributes / images / execution mode are intact
  • No duplicate step exists
• If your org has ALM pipelines, coordinate the change so solutions don’t “fight” each other

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Compatibility

• Targets .NET Framework 4.8 (XrmToolBox runtime)
• Intended for Microsoft Dataverse / Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement environments via XrmToolBox

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Development

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio (any recent version that supports .NET Framework development)
• XrmToolBox tooling references restored successfully

Build

• Open the solution in Visual Studio
• Restore NuGet packages
• Build in Release

Debug (optional)

• Copy the built plugin output to your local XrmToolBox Plugins folder (or use your existing XTB dev workflow)
• Start XrmToolBox and load the tool

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Support / contributions

Issues and PRs are welcome. For bug reports, please include:

• XrmToolBox version
• Auth type (Client Secret / Certificate / etc.)
• Dataverse region (optional)
• Steps to reproduce + expected/actual behavior