Why environment variables are essential in the Power Platform

Anyone who works seriously with the Power Platform – whether with Power Apps, Power Automate or Dataverse – will sooner or later face a challenge:

How can I ensure that when I transfer my solutions between development, test, and production environments, the correct lists, sites, texts are "looked at"?

The answer is: environment variables.

In this blog, I will use a realistic example to show you why environment variables are so important, what typical pitfalls arise without them – and how to use them correctly.

Everyday scenario without environmental variables

Imagine you are developing a small time recording system based on sharepoint consisting of:

1 Power App for time tracking
1 Power App for employee care
1 Power App for project maintenance
5 Cloud Flows :
- Create time tracking
- Update time recording
- Load project list
- Request absence
- Approve absence
4 SharePoint lists :
- Time recording
- Employees
- Absences
- Projects

In every app and flow, the SharePoint page URLs and list paths are hard -wired.

Now the solution is to be transferred to the production environment.

The problem: The SharePoint URLs and lists in the production environment are different.

Concrete consequence:

You have to open each app and flow individually and adjust it manually:

In 3 apps → reconnect 4 lists each
In 5 flows → update 2 actions each (total 10 connections)

= 22 manual adjustments!

Why environment variables are the solution here

With environment variables, you can prevent exactly this problem: You variably integrate your SharePoint pages and lists so that they can be adapted to the new environment when the solution is imported.

Particularly important: If you want to clearly separate development, test and production environments (classic ALM – Application Lifecycle Management), it is practically impossible without environment variables .

Practical example:

Instead of hard-coding a SharePoint URL, you refer to an environment variable EV_SharePointSite_TimeManagement .
Instead of hard-linking the "Employees" list, use EV_List_Employees .

Apps and flows then automatically access the values of these variables.

When moving, you only have to reset the variables , not rewire the entire solution.

Step-by-step: Using environment variables correctly

Here are the instructions on how to use environment variables:

Create environment variables

Open the Power Platform environment and switch to the desired solution.
Click New → More → Environment Variable .
Select the Data Type " Data Source " if you want to store a SharePoint list or page. You can also store anything, such as text, in an environment variable. Lists are a good example, though.
Select Connector " SharePoint " (for example)
Select Parameter Type " Site " if you want to save a page, or "List" if you want to save a list. (Note: Create the page first, then reference the previously created page when creating the variable for the list.)
Name the variables meaningfully according to a scheme , for example: EV_<Object>_<Description

Examples of our scenario:

EV_SharePointSite_Time Management
EV_SharePointList_Timesheets
EV_SharePointList_Employees
EV_SharePointList_Projects
EV_SharePointList_Absences

Integration into Power Automate (Flows)

In the flow creation, click Add Dynamic Content under SharePoint connections.
Find the appropriate environment variable and select it.
Then set the other values (e.g. list names) via environment variables as well, if possible.

Integration into Power Apps (Canvas Apps)

Add new data source → Select SharePoint .
Switch to the “Environment Variables” tab at the top .
Select the SharePoint site from the environment variable.
Then, when selecting lists , switch back to "Environment Variables" and select the appropriate lists.

Export solution and import into new environment

Publish all adjustments
Export solution
1. managed = no longer editable, for test or production system
2. unmanaged = other development environment
Switch to the target environment.
Select Solutions → Import .
Select the exported ZIP file of your solution.
During import you will be asked what values the environment variables should have.
Here you enter the new URLs and list names for the target environment.

Conclusion: Small investment, big impact

If you want to run your Power Platform solutions professionally, you cannot avoid environment variables.

Here are the most important basic rules at a glance:

Basic rule	Explanation
Always work with solutions	Environment variables can only be used cleanly in solutions.
Always use environment variables for connections	No fixed links or IDs directly in flows or apps.
Clean, consistent naming	EV_ _
Plan from the beginning	Not at the end, otherwise the change will be complex.
Central documentation of variables	Helps enormously with maintenance and handover of the solution.