Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

Dynamics 365: msdyn_usertype missing – how to enable required entities

I am working with the Dynamics 365 Web API and using the following query:

/api/data/v9.0/annotations?$expand=createdby($select=domainname,msdyn_usertype),objectid_calendar($select=name),objectid_goal($select=title),objectid_workflow($select=name),objectid_opportunity($select=name),objectid_sla($select=name),objectid_appointment($select=subject,subcategory),objectid_socialactivity($select=subject),objectid_task($select=subject),objectid_contact($select=fullname),objectid_letter($select=subject),objectid_knowledgebaserecord($select=title),objectid_incident($select=title),objectid_account($select=name),objectid_knowledgearticle($select=title)&$filter=modifiedon gt <timestamp> and modifiedon lt <timestamp>

This query works fine in one customer environment but fails in another one. The error occurs for attribute msdyn_usertype in the second environment.

My Questions

Is msdyn_usertype a standard attribute or only available on few entities.
What is the recommended way to handle queries across environments where this attribute may or may not exist?
How can we enable or add this attribute in environments where it is missing?
What steps are needed to ensure the related entities (objectid_account, objectid_contact, objectid_incident, etc.) are enabled and accessible for $expand queries?

Any guidance on whether this is a day‑0 schema difference or if there has been a recent Microsoft change, and confirmation of the correct enablement steps, would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Categories:

Dynamics 365 general

You’re running into a schema inconsistency issue across environments in Microsoft Dynamics 365 / Microsoft Dataverse, and your query design highlights it well.

You are calling the Web API in Microsoft Dynamics 365 / Microsoft Dataverse using a query that expands many related entities and selects the field msdyn_usertype from the createdby (system user) record.

The query works in one environment but fails in another because the attribute msdyn_usertype does not exist in that environment.

Root Cause

The field msdyn_usertype is not a core standard Dataverse attribute.

Fields that start with the prefix:

msdyn_

usually come from Microsoft solution packages such as:

Field Service
Project Operations
Other Microsoft first-party apps

Because of this:

Environment A has the solution installed → the field exists → query works.
Environment B does not have the solution installed → the field is missing → API query fails.

This is therefore a schema difference between environments, not a recent platform change from Microsoft.

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