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Connection Reference not showing connections due to connector ID mismatch in managed solution

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Posted on by CU14020550-0

Hi all,

We are running into an issue with connection references and custom connectors across environments, and would appreciate any guidance.

Context:

We are deploying a managed solution (Core Build) across environments (Dev → UAT → Prod) which includes:

A custom connector: Stripe - Donations Connector

A connection reference used by flows

Issue:

In one environment(PRD) , when trying to assign a connection to the connection reference, the dropdown shows no available connections, even though:

The custom connector exists

Multiple connections have been created successfully

Connections are shared with users and service accounts

Investigation:

In the Custom Connector → Test tab, connections are visible and usable

However, in the connection reference screen, the Connector field appears blank or does not match

It appears that the connection reference is pointing to a different connector ID than the actual connector in the environment

The connector and connection reference were created at nearly the same time, which may have caused a mismatch

Comparison:

In other environments (UAT ), this works correctly

In those environments, the connector was created before the connection reference

Constraints:

The solution is managed, so we cannot modify or recreate the connection reference
We want to avoid creating unmanaged components or editing managed flows

Question:

Has anyone encountered a connector ID mismatch between a connection reference and a custom connector?

Is redeploying the solution the only supported fix?

Is there any way to rebind or repair the connection reference without recreating it?

Any help or confirmation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Categories:

Power Platform integration

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11manish 145 on at

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This Connector ID Mismatch occurs because Custom Connectors are assigned a unique GUID upon creation in each environment. If a Connection Reference is created or imported before that specific GUID is registered in the target environment's API Hub, it "orphans" itself by pointing to a non-existent or mismatched ID.

Since your solution is Managed, you are correct that you cannot directly modify the Connection Reference component itself. However, you can "repair" the binding at the environment level without redeploying.

The "Default Solution" Repair
This is the most effective way to rebind a managed Connection Reference without creating an unmanaged layer on your flows.

Navigate to Solutions and open the Default Solution (this is an unmanaged view of all components in the environment).

Filter the objects by Connection References.

Locate your Stripe - Donations Connector reference.

Select Edit. In the side panel, the Connector field will likely be blank or show an ID.

Re-select your Stripe - Donations Connector from the dropdown. This "re-links" the Reference to the correct local Custom Connector ID.

Select a valid Connection and click Save.

2. The "Staggered Deployment" Fix
To prevent this in future environments, Microsoft recommends a two-step import strategy for custom connectors.

Step A: Deploy a "Prerequisite" solution containing only the Custom Connector.

Step B: Deploy your "Core Build" solution containing the Connection Reference and Flows.

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CU14020550-0 19 on at

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@11manish

Thanks for the detailed suggestion really appreciate it. I tried the “Default Solution repair” approach by navigating to the Default Solution and locating the connection reference. However, in our environment, the connector field is not showing any selectable values, so I’m unable to rebind it there.

Based on further investigation, it seems like this might be a deeper connector ID mismatch issue where the connection reference is pointing to a connector instance that is not properly registered in the target environment.

Given that this is a managed solution, I understand we cannot modify the connection reference directly. At this point, I am considering redeploying the custom connector separately (as a prerequisite solution) and then importing the main solution to ensure proper registration order.

Could you please confirm if this would be the recommended approach in this scenario, or if there are any other supported ways to rebind the connection reference without redeployment?

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Niki Patel 44 on at

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Hi,
Yeah, based on what you’ve described, this looks like a classic connector ID mismatch. The key red flag is that the connector isn’t even showing up in the dropdown in the Default Solution that usually means the connection reference is pointing to a connector instance that the environment can’t resolve at all.

At that point, the “repair” approach won’t really work because there’s nothing for it to bind to.

In this situation, redeploying is honestly the safest and most reliable fix. I’d go with a staged approach:

First deploy the custom connector on its own (as a prerequisite)

Make sure it’s fully available and you can create/use connections

Then import your main managed solution with the connection reference and flows

That way the connection reference binds correctly during import.

Unfortunately, since it’s a managed solution, there’s no supported way to rebind or fix the reference if it’s already pointing to the wrong connector ID and not resolving in the environment.

For future deployments, it’s definitely worth separating the connector into its own solution and importing it first avoids this exact issue.

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