What a Connector Is
A connector is a wrapper around an external service's API that exposes its operations as ready-made triggers and actions inside Power Automate's designer, so you don't have to write HTTP requests, handle authentication tokens, or parse raw JSON responses by hand. Microsoft maintains over 1,000 connectors, covering products like SharePoint, Outlook, Twitter/X, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Adobe, each with its own set of pre-built operations.
Cricket analogy: A connector is like a translator for a touring team's coach who doesn't speak the local language, converting instructions into the local dialect so the players (Power Automate) can act without needing to learn raw grammar themselves.
Standard vs Premium Connectors
Connectors are tiered as Standard or Premium. Standard connectors, like Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Forms, are included in the Microsoft 365 bundled license. Premium connectors, marked with a small gold star icon, include services like Salesforce, SQL Server, HTTP with Azure AD, and the SAP connector; using even one premium connector in a flow requires every user of that flow to hold a standalone Power Automate license with premium access.
Cricket analogy: Standard connectors are like the basic kit provided to every domestic player, while premium connectors are like specialized international-grade equipment reserved for centrally contracted players.
Custom Connectors
When no built-in connector exists for a service, you can build a custom connector by importing an OpenAPI (Swagger) definition, a Postman collection, or by manually defining the base URL, authentication method (API key, OAuth 2.0, or basic auth), and each operation's request/response schema. Once registered in an environment, a custom connector appears in the designer alongside Microsoft's own connectors and can be shared with other makers.
Cricket analogy: Building a custom connector is like a coaching staff writing an entirely new training manual for a rare regional bowling variation that no existing coaching certificate covers.
swagger: '2.0'
info:
title: InternalTicketingAPI
version: '1.0'
host: api.internal-tickets.example.com
basePath: /v1
schemes: [https]
securityDefinitions:
api_key:
type: apiKey
in: header
name: X-API-Key
paths:
/tickets:
post:
summary: Create a ticket
operationId: CreateTicket
parameters:
- in: body
name: body
schema:
type: object
properties:
title: { type: string }
priority: { type: string, enum: [Low, Medium, High] }
responses:
'201':
description: Ticket createdYou can test a connector's actions directly inside the custom connector editor before publishing it, using the built-in Test tab, which sends a live request with a real connection so you can confirm the response schema is captured correctly.
- A connector wraps an external API's operations into ready-made triggers and actions.
- Microsoft maintains over 1,000 pre-built connectors across SaaS, database, and social platforms.
- Standard connectors are included with Microsoft 365; premium connectors need a standalone license.
- Using one premium connector in a flow raises the license requirement for all its users.
- Custom connectors can be built from an OpenAPI definition, a Postman collection, or manual configuration.
- Custom connectors support API key, OAuth 2.0, or basic authentication.
- The custom connector editor includes a Test tab to validate requests before publishing.
Practice what you learned
1. What is the main purpose of a Power Automate connector?
2. How are premium connectors visually distinguished in the designer?
3. Which of these is NOT a standard way to define a custom connector?
4. What happens if a flow uses one premium connector alongside several standard ones?
5. Where can you validate a custom connector's requests before publishing it?
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