Exporting Guides from Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides

Introduction

Before you can convert Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides content into frontline.io Interactive Flows, you need to get that content out of Microsoft as .guide files. This article covers that export step.

GuidePack is a utility from frontline.iothat connects directly to your Microsoft Dataverse environment and exports your guides as .guide files — without needing the Dynamics 365 Guides PC authoring app installed. It reads your guide library, lets you select the guides you want, and packages them in a single batch.

Setup runs in two parts. The first is a one-time configuration in Microsoft Entra, which authorises GuidePack to read your Dataverse content. The second is the export itself, which you can repeat as often as you like.

Part 1: Register GuidePack in Microsoft Entra

This section is done once per Dynamics environment. It creates an application identity that GuidePack signs in through. No client secret is created, and no credentials are stored anywhere outside your own tenant.

Step 1: Create the app registration

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center.
2. Go to Entra ID > App registrations and select New registration.
3. Give it a name you will recognise later — for example guidespack.
4. Under Supported account types, choose Accounts in this organizational directory only (single tenant).
5. Leave Redirect URI empty. GuidePack signs in using a device code, so no redirect URI is needed.
6. Select Register.

creating the app registration

Step 2: Allow public client flows

GuidePack authenticates as a public client, so this setting must be switched on or sign-in will fail.

1. In your new app registration, select Authentication from the left menu.
2. Open the Settings tab.
3. Set Allow public client flows to Enabled.
4. Select Save.

enabling public client flows

Step 3: Grant the Dynamics CRM permission

1. Select API permissions from the left menu, then Add a permission.
2. Choose Dynamics CRM.
3. Select Delegated permissions.
4. Tick user_impersonation — described as Access Common Data Service as organization users.
5. Select Add permissions.

Your configured permissions should now list Dynamics CRM — user_impersonation alongside the default Microsoft Graph User.Read.

adding the Dynamics CRM permission

Step 4: Collect the three values GuidePack needs

GuidePack needs three pieces of information. Two come from the app registration, one from your Guides environment.

collecting the IDs and environment URL

Copying the IDs from the Overview page, then taking the environment URL from the Power Apps Guides address bar.

Part 2: Connect and Sign In

Open GuidePack. The interface has three numbered panels — Connect, Guides, and Package — with an activity log underneath that reports exactly what is happening at each stage.

1. In the Connect panel, fill in the three fields you collected: Environment URL, Directory (tenant) ID, and Application (client) ID.
2. Select Save & Sign In.
3. The activity log displays a device code along with a Microsoft sign-in address. Open that address in your browser.
4. Enter the code on the Microsoft Enter code to allow access screen and select Next.
5. Complete sign-in with the Dynamics account that has access to your guides.

Once authorised, the Connect panel shows your signed-in account and a signed in indicator, and the log confirms the account name. Your settings are saved per environment, so returning later recalls them automatically — you only need to sign in again.

You can select Test Connection at any point to confirm GuidePack can still reach Dataverse, and Sign Out to clear the session.

Part 3: Load, Select, and Package

Load your guide library

In the Guides panel, select Load Guides. GuidePack reads every guide the signed-in account can access and lists them with:

• Name — the guide title as it appears in Dynamics
• Guide ID — the Dataverse record identifier, useful for telling near-identical copies apart
• Modified — the last-modified date, so you can spot which version is current
• Result — the packaging status, and the download link once the guide has been packaged

Select the guides you want

Tick the guides to export. Use Select All to queue your entire library, or Clear to reset the selection.

Package and download

1. Select Package Selected.
2. The Package panel shows overall progress as a running count, along with the guide currently being processed. Each row's Result column moves from queued to working to a completed summary.
3. When a guide finishes, its Result cell becomes a download link showing the package size.
4. Select each link to download the .guide file.

Use Stop to halt a running job. Guides already packaged remain available to download; the rest return to the queue.

loading, selecting, and packaging

Loading the library, selecting two guides, packaging them, and collecting the download links.

Alternative: Packaging in the Guides PC App

If you already have the Dynamics 365 Guides PC authoring app installed, Microsoft's built-in packaging feature produces an equivalent .guide file. It handles one guide at a time, which makes it a reasonable choice for a handful of guides and a slow one for a full library.

1. In the PC app, open the guide and select Package guide.
2. Keep or change the package name, then select Package. Do not close the app while packaging runs — exiting cancels the process.
3. Open the Power Apps Guides app and select Packaged Guides under Content.
4. Open the packaged guide record and select the file link to download it.

Microsoft applies its own limits to this route: a maximum of 2 GB per packaged guide, and 100 MB for 3D objects and other assets. Animated anchors and offline mode are not supported in packaged guides.

What Transfers, and What Doesn't

Carried across on import

• Step titles and step descriptions
• Associated media — images and videos
• The general structure and flow order of the guide
• Animations, interactions, and tool data, converted to frontline.io's native format
• Tools used in the guide, grouped into a dedicated Migrated Tools category

Needs attention after import

• Folder structure. Your Guides folder hierarchy is not part of a packaged guide. Plan how the imported flows should be organised in frontline.io.
• Animated anchors. Not supported by the packaging format.

Troubleshooting

Why Export Now

With Dynamics 365 Guides reaching end of support at the end of 2026, the content your teams rely on needs somewhere to go — and the window for retrieving it closes with the platform.

Exporting is cheap insurance. Even if you are still deciding what to convert, a downloaded .guide file is a permanent record you control, independent of Microsoft's timeline. And on the frontline.io side, imported guides gain capabilities the original platform did not offer: real-world machine targeting, interactive animations, delivery across mobile, tablet, desktop and XR, and continued development. Around 90% of the tools available in Microsoft Dynamics Guides already have an equivalent in frontline.io, so your content stays recognisable and editable rather than becoming something you have to rebuild.

Related Articles

• Importing Microsoft Dynamics Guides to frontline Flows