Importing FLOWS

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Posted on by MM-24041347-0

I’m at my wit’s end trying to import Power Automate flows that I’ve generated using AI assistants like Copilot, Claude, and Perplexity. I have full JSON definitions — including manifest.json and definition.json — but every attempt to import them into Power Automate fails with vague errors like “Something went wrong.”

I’m new to the process of importing externally created flows into Power Automate, and I’m hoping to avoid rebuilding each one manually. These flows are essential to our operations, and I need to test and deploy them into production quickly. I’ve ensured the ZIP structure is correct and that my environment has valid connections, but Power Automate still won’t accept them.

I’m reaching out in eager anticipation of a solution and would deeply appreciate any help or insight. Has anyone successfully imported a complete flow from JSON into Power Automate — and if so, how did you do it?

Also, what kind of AI-generated JSON have you had the most success with when it comes to importing into Power Automate? I’m open to any suggestions, tools, or workflows that can help me get these flows up and running. I’m genuinely grateful for any guidance — this is new territory for me, and I’m learning as I go.

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Michael E. Gernaey 53,976 Moderator on at

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Hi @MM-24041347-0

If I might ask, is there aa reason you did not build them (and your agents etc) into a solution which should resolve this issue for you? I am honestly and truly just curious. If you did I apologize for the questions

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MM-24041347-0 10 on at

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Honestly, it never occurred to me because I didn't know what solutions were until the last couple of days.
Frankly, I probably don't know the best way to do many things in Power Automate simply because I taught myself. I didn't necessarily start at the beginning. I picked up the program, watched a video or two, and then tried to brute force my way towards some level of understanding. Now that I've expanded my use beyond just tinkering on my own to working with contractors and using some digital AI assistance to create these flows, I'm realizing the limitations of my knowledge, particularly as it relates to taking the output they've created and getting it into Power Automate.
I posted this question because there has to be some way to get it into the program, even if it wasn't authored in a solution—or at least I'm hoping so. I'm hopeful that someone could point me in the right direction.

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Michael E. Gernaey 53,976 Moderator on at

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Hi @MM-24041347-0

If you have a flow that you generated, you can add it to an existing solution, regardless of whether it was initially in the solution or not.

But you need to create a solution, then go into it, then in the Flows section Add Existing, just as you can add agents etc to solutions, which can also cover their flows too.

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ninihen 55 on at

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Coming back to this for anyone finding the thread later - importing flows directly from JSON is still brittle in 2026.

Power Automate expects a full solution package structure (manifest, solution.xml, customizations.xml, workflow definition in the right format). Most AI-generated JSON misses at least one of these pieces, so imports fail.

Two approaches that reliably work:
1. Solution-first approach (portal export/edit/re-import)
Create the flow inside a solution first, export it, edit the unpacked definition, then re-import. This stays inside Microsoft’s supported packaging model and is the safest route.

2. Deploy via the Power Automate Management REST API
There’s an update endpoint that accepts the flow definition directly. No ZIP packaging required.
Trade-off: you need Azure app registration, correct scopes, a service principal, and Environment Maker access before that single call works.

One limitation people usually hit next: the Management API still does not expose action-level failures or per-action inputs/outputs the way the portal UI does. You only get run-level success/failure. That’s why external agents can generate flows but struggle to debug them.

I’ve been working on an MCP layer (listed in github/awesome-copilot) that wraps both deployment and run-history inspection so an agent can deploy a flow, read which action failed, inspect inputs/outputs, and fix it in the same loop:

mcp.flowstudio.app

(Disclosure: I’m one of the builders.)
If you’re working manually, the solution-first approach above is still the most supported path. The API route starts to make more sense once you’re iterating programmatically or working with agents.

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David_MA 14,278 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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I have never tried to build a flow package using AI before. Did you create the ZIP file? If not, are you able to get the AI to generate the ZIP file instead? If you can get the AI to generate the ZIP, did you prompt it to create it as a legacy import package?

I assume you already know this for importing the ZIP file, but go to the environment where you want to import the flow, then to My Flows and choose Import from the menu:

Choose the import package (legacy) option and follow the prompts. And as noted in the Microsoft Copilot Terms of Use, Copilot is for entertainment purposes only.

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