OnlyCopilotFans Business Central Agentic Dev Framework — Setup

Get from a bare VS Code to a working OnlyCopilotFans (OCPF) BC Agentic Development Framework setup in a few clicks — built for Business Central functional consultants who have never done development, and just as handy for developers.

What installing this extension does

• Installs the AL toolchain: the AL Language extension plus a pack of proven companions — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot Chat, Insert GUID, AL Code Outline, Markdown Preview Enhanced, Rainbow CSV. Every pack member is individually removable, and installing an agent extension needs no subscription.
• Opens a first-run walkthrough that wires your AI agent of choice and checks your machine is ready.

The extension ships no framework content — it is the on-ramp, not the framework. The framework lives in its own public repository and is versioned independently, so this extension never needs an update when the framework releases.

How to use it, step by step

1. Install this extension. The AL toolchain and both agent extensions come with it.
2. Follow the walkthrough (it opens automatically; or run Help: Open Walkthrough → Set up the OCPF BC Framework):
   • Choose your AI agent — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or both. This wires the chosen agent to the framework's plugin marketplace and installs the ocpf-bc plugin (you confirm each step in-product). Uninstall the agent you don't use, if you like.
   • Check Git — the framework fetches its artifacts with Git. If it's missing you get an Install Git button that runs the right installer for your OS in a terminal you can watch. Nothing installs silently.
3. Start a project with one of the commands below.
4. Hand off to the agent: in your agent's chat panel, run

   /ocpf-bc:start
   

   The agent fetches the framework's runbook, standards guide, and templates into your project and takes it from there — plain-language requirement in, tested AL extension out. The framework's own documentation lives in its repository.

Commands (Command Palette, category "OCPF BC")

Agent plugin commands (/ocpf-bc:)

Once setup is done, the framework is driven from your AI agent's chat with these commands — the extension gets you ready, the agent does the work. The framework repository is the authoritative reference; a fuller user guide ships with the extension (docs/USER_GUIDE.md in the install folder).

Troubleshooting

I installed Git, but VS Code still says it's missing. VS Code only picks up newly installed programs at startup. After installing Git — whether from the extension's prompt or from git-scm.com — close and reopen VS Code completely, then run OCPF BC: Check Git Installation again.

Git asks who you are (or commits fail with an identity error). Git needs your name and email once per machine. Open the terminal in VS Code (Terminal → New Terminal) — or Command Prompt on Windows — and run these two commands, with your own details in the quotes:

git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global user.name "Your Name"

You only ever do this once; every project on the machine uses it from then on.

My AL files show red squiggly underlines, but the code compiles and the agent says there are no errors. The AL language service occasionally gets out of sync with the code on disk. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P, or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac), type Developer: Reload Window, and press Enter. The window reloads in a couple of seconds and the squiggles disappear.

Something else? Report it on the framework's issues page — include what you clicked and what you saw.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.96 or later
• Git (the extension checks and helps you install it)
• A Claude or GitHub Copilot subscription for the agent you choose to use (installing the extensions is free)

Created by AJ Ansari · Microsoft MVP