What is Model-Driven App Architecture in Power Apps?

A Model-Driven App is a Power Apps application where the data model and business processes largely determine the application structure and user experience. Unlike Canvas Apps, which provide extensive control over the user interface, Model-Driven Apps are built around Dataverse and its metadata-driven capabilities. The architecture typically includes: Dataverse → Tables & Relationships → Forms & Views → Business Logic → Model-Driven App → Users Key components include: Dataverse Provides the underlying business data platform. Tables Represent business entities such as Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Cases, or custom business records. Relationships Define how different tables are connected. Forms Provide interfaces for viewing and editing records. Views Define how users see and filter collections of records. Business Logic Can include business rules, Power Automate, plug-ins, JavaScript, custom APIs, and other supported mechanisms. Security Dataverse security roles, teams, business units, and other controls determine what users can access. Solutions and ALM Solutions package application components and support deployment between environments. The major advantage of Model-Driven Apps is that developers do not need to build every UI component manually. The platform uses metadata to generate much of the application experience. Model-Driven Apps are particularly powerful for structured, process-driven enterprise applications where data relationships, security, workflows, and standardized business processes are more important than complete UI customization.