An OpenAPI definition of your API
Each endpoint you need described with its parameters, request body and response schema, written from the vendor’s documentation, an existing OpenAPI file or a Postman collection, and checked against real responses.
Custom connector development
Power Platform custom connector development services for the system with an API and no connector
Your flows and apps reach hundreds of systems out of the box, until they meet the one your business actually runs on: an industry SaaS platform, an internal line-of-business service, a vendor API nobody has wrapped. Our Power Platform custom connector development services turn that API into a connector your Power Automate flows, Power Apps and Copilot Studio agents use like any other. This is the action-and-trigger kind of connector, not the Power Query kind that feeds Power BI reports. One fixed price, typical delivery in 2–4 weeks, 30 days of hypercare.
One fixed price, approved before work begins · 30 days of hypercare included
Sample dashboard. Illustrative data, not a client’s numbers
One price for the connector, agreed first
Every project starts with a written scope listing the actions, triggers and authentication the connector will have, with one fixed price and a delivery date. You approve it before any work begins, scope changes are priced in writing first, and 30 days of hypercare after handover are included.
What we build
A connector your makers can pick from a list
The goal is that nobody on your team ever pastes an API key or a raw URL into a flow again.
Authentication set up once
API key, basic credentials or OAuth 2.0, including Microsoft Entra ID, configured in the connector so each user signs in through a connection rather than a secret copied into every flow.
Actions and triggers in plain language
“Create work order” and “When an invoice is approved”, not endpoint paths: friendly names, field descriptions and dropdown lookups where the API supports them, so makers build without reading API docs.
Awkward APIs smoothed over
Policy templates and, where needed, a small amount of custom code inside the connector reshape odd responses, set headers or route calls, so the oddities of the API stay out of every flow that uses it.
Packaged to move between environments
The connector ships inside a solution with connection references and environment variables, so it moves from development to production without anyone rebuilding it or editing hard-coded URLs.
Proven in a real flow or app
We build the first Power Automate flow or Power App that uses the connector against your live system, so the handover is a working process, not a connector nobody has tried yet.
How it works
From API documentation to a working connector in three steps
- 1
Read the API and the use case
In a free consultation we look at the system’s API documentation, how it authenticates, and what your flows and apps need to do with it. You get a written scope listing every action and trigger, one fixed price and a delivery date.
- 2
Define, build and test
The definition and authentication are built in a development environment, then every action is tested against your real system with real records, including the error responses, paging and rate limits that sample data never shows.
- 3
Package, prove, hand over
The connector is packaged in a solution, moved to production, and used in a first flow or app. You get documentation, a walkthrough for your makers, and 30 days of hypercare.
Send us the name of the system and a link to its API documentation. We’ll tell you whether a connector is the right answer.
Book a free consultation →What is a Power Platform custom connector?
A custom connector is a wrapper around a REST API that Power Automate, Power Apps and Copilot Studio can use like any built-in connector. It describes the API’s operations, inputs and outputs in an OpenAPI definition, stores how to authenticate, and turns each call into a named action or trigger a maker can pick without writing HTTP requests.
Microsoft’s custom connectors overview (opens in new tab) sets out the lifecycle: build the API, secure it, describe it, use it in a flow or app, then share it with your organization. The technology is the same one Microsoft and software vendors use for the connectors already in the catalog. The difference is that yours is private to your tenant and describes the system nobody else was going to wrap for you. Once it exists, everyone in the environment you share it with sees the system in their connector list, signs in once, and works with records instead of URLs.
When is a custom connector the right answer?
When a system your team depends on has a documented API but no connector in Microsoft’s catalog, and more than one flow or app needs to reach it. A one-off call can live in an HTTP action. Repeated use, shared credentials and non-developer makers are the signals that the API deserves its own connector.
It is not the only option, and we will say so in scoping if a lighter or heavier route fits better. This is how the choice usually falls.
| Route | Fits when | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Prebuilt connector | Microsoft or the vendor already publishes one that exposes the actions you need | Check its action list first; some cover only part of the API or are still in preview |
| HTTP action inside a flow | One flow makes one or two calls, built by someone comfortable with raw requests | URLs and credentials repeat in every flow that copies it, and an app cannot reuse it as an action |
| Custom connector | Several flows, apps or agents need the same API, and the people building them should not handle raw requests | Premium licensing for the people who use it, and someone has to update it when the API changes version |
| Azure Logic Apps workflow | IT owns a system-to-system exchange that runs at volume, exposes an endpoint, or involves trading partners | Azure hosting cost and IT ownership; more than a maker-level process needs |
Not sure which row your system belongs in? Describe the API and the process and we’ll give you a straight answer.
Ask about my system →If the last row sounds like your project, our Azure Logic Apps consulting services build that heavier, IT-owned integration tier instead, and the two can sit side by side: Logic Apps moving bulk data between systems overnight while a custom connector gives makers the same system inside their everyday flows.
What does a custom connector engagement deliver?
A connector your makers can find in their connector list, tested against the real system, plus everything needed to keep it running: the definition in source control, a solution that moves it between environments, an example flow or app built on it, documentation, and 30 days of hypercare. Everything lives in your tenant.
The table shows scope and typical timeline rather than prices, because an honest number depends on the API, the number of actions and the authentication method, which we only know after reading the documentation.
| Phase | Scope | Typical timeline | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 — describe and connect | API documentation reviewed, the action and trigger list agreed, authentication configured in a development environment, and the first action returning real records from your system | About the first week | Fixed fee — scoped after your free consultation |
| Phase 2 — build and test | Remaining actions and triggers built, friendly names and field descriptions written, paging and error responses handled, policy templates or custom code added where the API needs them, and every action tested against live data | Weeks 2–3 | Fixed fee — scoped after your free consultation |
| Phase 3 — package and hand over | Connector packaged in a solution with connection references and environment variables, moved to production, shared with the right people, a first flow or app built on it, and documentation plus a walkthrough for your makers | Week 4 and close-out | Fixed fee — scoped after your free consultation |
Everything produced is yours from the first day: the definition, any custom code, the solution and the example flows sit in your own tenant and your own source control, never in ours. Any Microsoft licensing is billed by Microsoft directly to you, separately from our fixed fee.
Have the API documentation to hand? That is enough for us to scope a fixed price.
Scope my connector →How is this different from a Power BI connector?
They share a name and little else. A Power BI custom connector is written in the Power Query M language with the Power Query SDK and only reads data into reports. A Power Platform custom connector wraps an API as actions and triggers, so flows and apps can read, create and update records in that system.
The buyer is different too. If the goal is a dashboard over data held in a system Power BI cannot read, our Power BI integration services handle that with prebuilt connectors, dataflows, direct API queries or a Power Query SDK connector. If the goal is a process, where an approval, a form or an agent has to do something in that system, this page is the right one. A few clients need both, and the two are scoped as separate deliverables because they share no code.
Who is this for, and what does it pair with?
Organizations already running Power Automate or Power Apps that keep hitting one system with an API and no connector: an industry-specific SaaS platform, an internal line-of-business service, or a vendor API. If your makers are copying data out of that system by hand or pasting API keys into flows, this is the fix.
A connector is rarely the whole project. It is usually the missing piece inside a larger process: an approval that needs to create a record in a field-service platform, or an intake form that has to look up a customer in an industry system. Our Power Automate consulting for approvals and integrations builds the flows that use it, and our Power Apps consulting for custom business apps builds the screens your staff work in. We build connectors for use inside your own organization. If you are a software vendor wanting a certified connector listed publicly for every Power Platform customer, that is Microsoft’s certification process and a different project from this one. We are based in Orange County, CA, a Lightray Solutions brand, and serve all US states remotely.
Manual work cost check
What repetitive manual work costs you today
Put a number on the hours your team spends doing by hand what a report, an app or a flow could do: re-keying data, chasing approvals by email, rebuilding the same spreadsheet every week.
The math is simple: hours each person spends per week × number of people × 52 weeks gives the hours a year. Multiply by your loaded hourly cost for the dollars a year.
Salary plus benefits and overhead, divided by hours worked. Use your own figure.
Your estimate
Enter your three numbers to see the hours and cost a year.
One fixed price, approved before work begins · 30 days of hypercare included
Your numbers, your estimate. It is not a quote and not a savings promise; your fixed price comes in a written proposal after the free consultation.
Fair and square
Our promises, in plain English
One fixed price, approved before work begins
Every project gets a written proposal with one fixed price for a defined scope, and you approve it before any work starts. No hourly meter and no retainer. If the scope changes, the price changes in writing first.
You own everything, in your tenant
Reports, apps, flows, sites and documentation are built in your Microsoft tenant, under your accounts. There is no proprietary layer and no ongoing license owed to us, so nothing breaks if you never hire us again.
30 days of hypercare, included
For 30 days after handover we fix defects in what we delivered, answer your team’s questions and make small adjustments that keep it working as scoped, at no extra cost.
The engineer who scopes it builds it
A senior, US-based engineer works with you from the first call to the handover. There is no junior bench and no offshore handoff.
Straight answers. The free consultation ends with either a fixed-fee proposal or an honest recommendation that we are not the right fit.
Talk to an engineer, not a sales rep. Microsoft Made Easy is a Lightray Solutions brand, founded by Edward Pinela and headquartered in Orange County, California. Senior engineers across the Microsoft stack deliver fixed-fee projects for companies in every US state, remotely. About us
FAQ
Questions about custom connectors
A tested custom connector for one system's API: the OpenAPI definition, the authentication setup, each action and trigger your flows and apps need, sample responses, and the connector packaged in a solution with connection references. You also get a working example flow or app, written documentation, and 30 days of hypercare after handover.
Usually, yes. Microsoft classes custom connectors as premium, so anyone running a Power App or a Power Automate flow that calls one needs a premium plan, or the app or flow needs its own per-app or per-flow license. We confirm the licensing for your users during scoping, before you approve anything.
A documented REST endpoint that returns JSON, and a way to authenticate: an API key, basic credentials, or OAuth 2.0. An OpenAPI or Postman file speeds things up but is not required; we can describe the API from its documentation. APIs that sit inside your own network can be reached through the on-premises data gateway.
Build a custom connector when people need the system inside their own flows and apps: a maker picks an action and fills in fields. Choose Logic Apps when IT owns a system-to-system exchange that must run at volume, expose an endpoint, or survive staff changes. Some projects use both, since Logic Apps supports custom connectors of its own.
No. A Power BI custom connector is built with the Power Query SDK and feeds data into reports and semantic models. A Power Platform custom connector wraps an API as actions for Power Automate, Power Apps and Copilot Studio, and it can write data back as well as read it. Different tooling, different buyer, different project.
Typical delivery is two to four weeks, with the date in your written scope. The fixed fee reflects how many actions and triggers the connector needs, the authentication method, whether custom code or a gateway is involved, and how many flows or apps we build on it. Nothing starts until you approve that scope.
Get your connector scoped in writing
Tell us which system your flows and apps cannot reach. You’ll get a written proposal listing every action and trigger, one fixed price and a delivery date — then you decide.
One fixed price, approved before work begins · 30 days of hypercare included
Tell us what you’re trying to fix — a report, an approval process, an intranet, a Copilot rollout. We scope it as a fixed-fee project, you approve, and a senior engineer delivers in 2–4 weeks.
- Fixed-fee scope agreed before any work starts
- Senior, US-based Microsoft engineers — no handoffs
- Typical 2–4 week delivery
- 30 days of post-delivery hypercare included
Related services
What connector projects are usually paired with
Power Automate Consulting
The approvals, notifications and integrations that call your new connector’s actions and react to its triggers.
Power Apps Consulting
Canvas and model-driven apps whose screens read from and write to the system the connector reaches.
Azure Logic Apps Consulting
The IT-owned integration tier for high-volume, partner-facing or system-to-system exchanges.