Add CLI command `dab auto-config` by Copilot · Pull Request #3086 · Azure/data-api-builder

Copilot · 2026-01-30T20:07:37Z

Why make this change?

Add CLI command dab auto-config #2964
Implements CLI command to configure autoentities definitions via command line. Previously, users had to manually edit the config file to add or modify autoentities entries.

What is this change?

Added auto-config command that upserts autoentities definitions with support for:

Pattern matching rules (--patterns.include, --patterns.exclude, --patterns.name)
Template configuration for REST, GraphQL, MCP, Health, Cache endpoints
Permissions using standard role:actions format

Implementation:

AutoConfigOptions.cs - Command options class following existing CLI patterns
ConfigGenerator.TryConfigureAutoentities() - Main handler with builder methods for patterns, template, and permissions
Registered command in Program.cs parser

Bug fixes:

AutoentityConverter and AutoentityTemplateConverter - Added missing MCP options serialization logic that prevented MCP settings from persisting to config file
AutoentityTemplateConverter - Fixed GraphQL template serialization to only write enabled property, excluding type object (singular/plural) which is determined by generated entities

Improvements:

Enhanced error messages to display all valid parameter values using EnumExtensions.GenerateMessageForInvalidInput<T>() pattern
Cache level errors now show: "Invalid Source Type: {value}. Valid values are: L1,L1L2"
MCP dml-tool errors now show: "Invalid value for template.mcp.dml-tool: {value}. Valid values are: true, false"
Permissions validation: Added runtime validation that requires --permissions only when creating a new autoentity definition. When updating an existing definition, permissions are optional and preserved from the existing configuration.

How was this tested?

Unit Tests
Integration Tests

Added 8 unit tests covering:

Create/update operations with patterns and template options
Permission parsing with multiple actions
Error handling for invalid enum values
Multiple coexisting definitions
Permissions validation for new vs. existing definitions

Sample Request(s)

# Create new definition with patterns and permissions (permissions required for new definitions)
dab auto-config my-def \
  --patterns.include "dbo.%" "sys.%" \
  --patterns.exclude "dbo.internal%" \
  --patterns.name "{schema}_{table}" \
  --permissions "anonymous:read"

# Configure template options (GraphQL now only writes 'enabled', not 'type')
dab auto-config my-def \
  --template.rest.enabled true \
  --template.graphql.enabled true \
  --template.cache.enabled true \
  --template.cache.ttl-seconds 30 \
  --template.cache.level L1L2

# Update existing definition without permissions (permissions optional for updates)
dab auto-config my-def \
  --template.mcp.dml-tool false \
  --template.cache.ttl-seconds 60

Result in config:

{
  "autoentities": {
    "my-def": {
      "patterns": {
        "include": ["dbo.%", "sys.%"],
        "exclude": ["dbo.internal%"],
        "name": "{schema}_{table}"
      },
      "template": {
        "rest": { "enabled": true },
        "graphql": { "enabled": true },
        "mcp": false,
        "cache": {
          "enabled": true,
          "ttl-seconds": 60,
          "level": "l1l2"
        }
      },
      "permissions": [
        {
          "role": "anonymous",
          "actions": [
            { "action": "read" }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Notes:

GraphQL template now correctly serializes as "graphql": { "enabled": true } without the empty type object that was previously being written.

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Add CLI command dab autoentities configure</issue_title>
<issue_description>New CLI commands need to be added in order to allow the users to change the autoentities properties inside of the config file.
Introduce a new autoentities configure subcommand that operates like an upsert.
These commands need to follow the existing coding pattern that we have for the other CLI commands
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --patterns.include value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --patterns.exclude value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --patterns.name value

dab autoe-config {definition-name} --template.mcp.dml-tool value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --template.rest.enabled value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --template.graphql.enabled value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --template.cache.enabled value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --template.cache.ttl-seconds value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --template.cache.level value
dab autoe-config {definition-name} --template.health.enabled value

dab autoe-config {definition-name} --permissions role:actions
```</issue_description>

Co-authored-by: RubenCerna2079 <32799214+RubenCerna2079@users.noreply.github.com>

src/Cli/Commands/AutoentitiesConfigureOptions.cs

src/Cli/Commands/AutoConfigOptions.cs

src/Cli/ConfigGenerator.cs

- Fix GraphQL template to only serialize 'enabled' property (not 'type') - Improve error messages to show all valid parameter values - Use EnumExtensions.GenerateMessageForInvalidInput for EntityCacheLevel - Update MCP dml-tool error message to show valid values Co-authored-by: RubenCerna2079 <32799214+RubenCerna2079@users.noreply.github.com>

src/Cli/Commands/AutoConfigOptions.cs

src/Cli/Commands/AutoentitiesConfigureOptions.cs

- Require permissions when creating a new autoentity definition - Allow updating existing definitions without providing permissions - Improve error handling to distinguish between parsing failure and missing permissions Co-authored-by: RubenCerna2079 <32799214+RubenCerna2079@users.noreply.github.com>

RubenCerna2079 · 2026-02-13T22:50:02Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2026-02-13T22:50:25Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 6 pipeline(s).

RubenCerna2079 · 2026-02-13T22:59:24Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2026-02-13T22:59:49Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 6 pipeline(s).

JerryNixon

Please rename autoentities-configure to auto-config

[Verb("auto-config", ...)] in AutoentitiesConfigureOptions.cs
Consider renaming the class to AutoConfigOptions
Update test class name, log messages, and help text

Future

Almost certainly, we will call this feature "auto config" from here on.

RubenCerna2079 · 2026-02-17T22:03:04Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2026-02-17T22:03:28Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 6 pipeline(s).

src/Cli/ConfigGenerator.cs

src/Cli/Commands/AutoConfigOptions.cs

Aniruddh25

Clarify if we want caching to be enabled by default or disabled for autoentities. Runtime has it disabled by default, so makes sense to keep it disabled.

Also, how do we populate autoentities section after the init command?

JerryNixon · 2026-02-23T16:55:25Z

auto-config-simulate

RubenCerna2079 · 2026-02-27T05:32:14Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2026-02-27T05:32:37Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 6 pipeline(s).

RubenCerna2079 · 2026-02-27T22:14:50Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2026-02-27T22:15:14Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 6 pipeline(s).

RubenCerna2079 · 2026-02-27T22:46:10Z

/azp run

azure-pipelines · 2026-02-27T22:46:33Z

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 6 pipeline(s).

Initial plan

3d2b37d

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and RubenCerna2079 Jan 30, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of RubenCerna2079 January 30, 2026 20:08 View session

Copilot AI and others added 3 commits January 30, 2026 20:14

Add autoentities-configure CLI command with all required options

c9d7425

Co-authored-by: RubenCerna2079 <32799214+RubenCerna2079@users.noreply.github.com>

Fix MCP options serialization in autoentities template converter

3ec334a

Co-authored-by: RubenCerna2079 <32799214+RubenCerna2079@users.noreply.github.com>

Add comprehensive tests for autoentities-configure command

a3f5ab0

Co-authored-by: RubenCerna2079 <32799214+RubenCerna2079@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Add CLI command dab autoentities configure~~ Add CLI command dab autoentities-configure Jan 30, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of RubenCerna2079 February 3, 2026 22:49

RubenCerna2079 requested changes Feb 5, 2026

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Copilot started work on behalf of RubenCerna2079 February 5, 2026 23:03 View session

Copilot AI requested a review from RubenCerna2079 February 5, 2026 23:12

Copilot finished work on behalf of RubenCerna2079 February 5, 2026 23:12

RubenCerna2079 requested changes Feb 6, 2026

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Copilot started work on behalf of RubenCerna2079 February 6, 2026 00:06 View session

Copilot AI requested a review from RubenCerna2079 February 6, 2026 00:15

Copilot finished work on behalf of RubenCerna2079 February 6, 2026 00:15

RubenCerna2079 and others added 3 commits February 13, 2026 13:45

Fix permission issues

7d6684c

Fix cli tests

a047f02

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-autoentities-configure-command

015db1d

RubenCerna2079 marked this pull request as ready for review February 13, 2026 21:54

RubenCerna2079 requested review from Aniruddh25, aaronburtle, anushakolan and souvikghosh04 as code owners February 13, 2026 21:54

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 13, 2026 21:54

RubenCerna2079 requested review from neeraj-sharma2592 and sourabh1007 as code owners February 13, 2026 21:54

Fix formatting errors

4248231

JerryNixon approved these changes Feb 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

RubenCerna2079 and others added 2 commits February 17, 2026 13:20

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-autoentities-configure-command

1d1a7cb

Change name to auto-config

217909b

RubenCerna2079 changed the title ~~Add CLI command dab autoentities-configure~~ Add CLI command dab auto-config Feb 18, 2026

Aniruddh25 reviewed Feb 19, 2026

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Aniruddh25 reviewed Feb 19, 2026

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src/Cli/Commands/AutoConfigOptions.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Aniruddh25 reviewed Feb 19, 2026

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src/Cli/Commands/AutoConfigOptions.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Aniruddh25 reviewed Feb 19, 2026

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src/Cli/Commands/AutoConfigOptions.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Aniruddh25 requested changes Feb 19, 2026

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-autoentities-configure-command

63a1bae

JerryNixon requested a review from stuartpa as a code owner February 23, 2026 16:55

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-autoentities-configure-command

60c305f

RubenCerna2079 and others added 3 commits February 27, 2026 14:02

Changes based on comments

0993304

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-autoentities-configure-command

c205992

Fix variable

3fb29d7

Fix variable syntax

92ef1fe

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