generated: '2026-09-06'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-apps/free (HTTP 200),
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/trial-environments (HTTP 200),
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/backup-restore-environments (HTTP 200)
description: >-
  Power Platform's non-production surface is environment-shaped rather than key-shaped. There is
  no test-mode API key and no test/live key prefix; you get an isolated tenant environment whose
  API surface is byte-identical to production, and you point the same OAuth-authenticated client
  at a different org host.
model: isolated-environment
key_prefixes: none
key_prefix_note: >-
  Dataverse and the Power Platform API authenticate with Microsoft Entra ID bearer tokens. There
  is no publishable/secret or test/live key pair to distinguish, so the usual test-key signal
  does not exist here - environment identity does the same job.
offerings:
- name: Power Apps Developer Plan
  price: free
  signup: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-apps/free
  environments: 3 developer environments
  capacity: 2 GB Dataverse database
  automation: 750 flows per month
  restrictions:
  - Development and evaluation only; not licensed for production use.
  - Full API surface, including the Dataverse Web API and the Dataverse MCP server (which must be enabled per environment).
- name: Developer environment type
  docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/create-environment
  backed_up: true
  retention: 7 days
- name: Sandbox environment type
  docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/backup-restore-environments
  backed_up: true
  retention: 7 days system and manual backups
  note: >-
    The only environment type you can restore a production backup INTO. A production environment
    must be switched to sandbox type before it can be restored over.
- name: Trial environment
  docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/trial-environments
  backed_up: false
  warning: >-
    Trial-type environments (standard and subscription-based) are NOT backed up and support no
    restore. Trial environments are also allocated only a single web server, which means the
    Dataverse service-protection limits bite far sooner than in a multi-server environment.
sample_data:
  available: true
  docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/add-remove-sample-data
  note: >-
    Dataverse ships an add/remove sample data feature; Microsoft's own MCP walkthrough uses it as
    the fixture set ("show me the tables in Dataverse", "how many accounts do I have").
test_values:
  published: false
  note: >-
    No published magic test identifiers, test cards or simulator values. Nothing is invented here.
time_simulation:
  available: false