Build Dataverse queries visually — without writing XML. Click to add conditions, pick entities from a dropdown, execute against your environment, and see the results in a table.
FetchXML is the native query language for Dataverse. It's powerful, but writing it by hand is slow and error-prone. This builder generates it for you, and still lets you drop into the raw XML when you need to.
What You Can Do
- Build queries visually by clicking to add nodes — entity, attribute, filter, condition, join, and sort
- Pick entities and fields from live metadata — dropdowns are populated from your connected environment, no memorising logical names required
- Set filter conditions with type-aware operators — date, number, text, lookup, and option set fields each get the right options
- Join related entities — browse relationships and let the builder fill in the join fields automatically
- Aggregate data — count, sum, average, min, max with group-by and date grouping support
- Execute your query and see formatted results — option set labels instead of codes, currency symbols, lookup display names
- Edit the raw XML at any time — a live editor tab syncs bidirectionally with the tree; change one and the other updates
- Export results to CSV or copy the full set to clipboard
- Save and open queries from
.fetchxml files
- Ask GitHub Copilot to run a FetchXML query against your environment and return results as JSON
Getting Started
- Install this extension and Dataverse Tools: Environments
- Connect to an environment using the Environments extension
- Open the command palette and run FetchXML Builder: New Query
— or right-click any entity in the Metadata explorer and choose Open in FetchXML Builder
Building a Query
The builder opens with a tree panel on the left and a properties panel on the right.
The tree shows the structure of your query:
fetch
└── entity: account
├── attribute: name
├── attribute: revenue
├── filter (AND)
│ └── condition: statecode = 0
└── order: createdon (desc)
- Click any node to edit its properties in the right panel
- Click + on a node to add a valid child — only the nodes that make sense in that position are offered
- Use the arrow buttons to reorder sibling nodes
- Right-click a node to duplicate or delete it
The properties panel adapts to the selected node:
| Node type |
What you can set |
| entity |
Pick the entity to query from a searchable list |
| link-entity |
Browse relationships to auto-fill the join — or set the fields manually |
| attribute |
Pick a field from the entity's attributes; set aggregate function for aggregate queries |
| filter |
AND or OR grouping |
| condition |
Pick a field, then choose from operators that match its type |
| order |
Pick a field and choose ascending or descending |
Executing and Viewing Results
Click Execute in the toolbar to run the query against your connected environment.
Results appear in a dedicated panel with:
- Formatted values — option set labels shown instead of numeric codes, lookup names instead of GUIDs, currencies with symbols
- Column headers toggle between display names and logical names
- Sort by clicking any column header; filter across all columns at once
- Export to CSV or copy the full result to clipboard
- Result tabs — switch between the data table, raw FetchXML, and the JSON response
The status bar shows the row count and how long the query took.
Working with the XML
Click Edit XML to open the raw FetchXML in a VS Code editor tab. Edit it directly — changes sync back to the visual tree automatically. You can switch between both views freely.
.fetchxml files get syntax highlighting. If the Red Hat XML extension is installed, schema validation is applied automatically.
CSV Viewer
The extension registers as a custom editor for .csv files. Open any CSV with Open With... to view it in the same data table used for query results — with filtering, sorting, export, and clipboard copy.
Requirements
This extension is part of the Dataverse Tools suite — a collection of VS Code extensions for Dynamics 365 / Power Platform developers.
Other extensions in the suite:
- Dataverse Tools: Environments — connect and manage environments
- Dataverse Tools: Assemblies — deploy and register plugin assemblies and steps
- Dataverse Tools: Trace Viewer — view and filter plugin trace logs
- Dataverse Tools: Query Analyzer — prefer SQL over FetchXML? Use this instead
- Dataverse Tools: Workflows — browse and manage process automation
- Dataverse Tools: Web Resources — edit and publish web resources
- Dataverse Tools: Metadata — browse entity and attribute names to use in your queries
- Dataverse Tools: Decompiler — read decompiled plugin code from Dataverse
- Dataverse Tools: Audit Viewer — view audit history for Dataverse records
Acknowledgements
Inspired by FetchXML Builder by Jonas Rapp — the original and most popular FetchXML tool for XrmToolBox.
Found a bug, have a feature request, or want to suggest a new extension?
