Solutions are the unit of movement — nothing travels by app-export zip.

Why this rule exists

Raw app exports carry no dependencies, no environment variables, no connection references, and no layering. They "work" right up until the target environment differs from dev in any way.

In practice

Everything lives in a solution from day one: apps, flows, tables, connection references, environment variables. Movement between environments is always a solution export/import.

Related rules in this book

Sources

• Microsoft Learn — Solution concepts — Layering and ALM model