bc_query
Retrieve large datasets from Business Central via OData with server-side filter, sort, and select for efficient bulk reads.
Instructions
Reads records from Business Central in bulk using the Standard API v2.0 (OData/REST on port 7048). Use bc_query for efficient server-side filtered, sorted, and projected reads over many records — for example, fetching all open sales orders, listing customers in a city, or pulling G/L entries for a date range. This is far more efficient than using bc_open_page + bc_read_data for bulk reads because filtering and projection happen on the server before any data is transferred.
When to use bc_query: structured data retrieval over standard BC entities, when you need 2+ records with specific field selection, when you want server-side filter/sort/OData operators ($filter, $select, $top, $orderby, $expand), or when you need to inspect a large dataset without driving the BC UI. Entity names are BC Standard API v2.0 names (camelCase): customers, vendors, items, salesOrders, salesInvoices, purchaseOrders, purchaseInvoices, generalLedgerEntries, accounts, journals, journalLines, companies, employees, dimensions, dimensionValues, currencies, paymentTerms, shipmentMethods, paymentMethods, countriesRegions, unitsOfMeasure, taxGroups, contacts. Pass filter as OData $filter syntax (e.g., "city eq 'London'", "amount gt 1000", "postingDate ge 2024-01-01"). Pass select as comma-separated field names (e.g., "number,displayName,city") to limit response size. top defaults to 100 if omitted — pass explicitly to get more or fewer rows. Queries are company-scoped automatically; pass company to target a specific company (see bc_list_companies). The special "companies" entity is the one exception — it is the top-level environment list (not company-scoped), so the company parameter is ignored for it; query it to discover available companies.
When NOT to use bc_query: do not use for UI-driven flows (navigating pages, clicking buttons, filling forms — use bc_open_page + bc_execute_action for those). Do not use bc_query for posting, writing, or triggering BC business logic — OData reads are read-only; use bc_write_data and bc_execute_action for mutations. Do not use for custom/extension entities not in the Standard API v2.0 — those require the UI WebSocket tools. Note: this env uses HTTP Basic auth (NavUserPassword); cloud/SaaS BC requires OAuth — set BC_ODATA_URL and configure OAuth externally for cloud envs.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| top | No | Maximum number of rows to return. Defaults to 100 if omitted to prevent accidental full-table scans. Pass explicitly to get more rows. | |
| entity | Yes | BC Standard API v2.0 entity name (camelCase). Examples: customers, vendors, items, salesOrders, salesInvoices, purchaseOrders, generalLedgerEntries, accounts, companies, employees. See BC Standard API docs for the full list. | |
| expand | No | OData $expand for related entities. Examples: "salesLines", "customer($select=displayName)". Use sparingly — expanded entities increase response size significantly. | |
| filter | No | OData $filter expression for server-side filtering. Examples: "city eq 'London'", "amount gt 1000", "postingDate ge 2024-01-01 and postingDate le 2024-12-31", "contains(displayName, 'Contoso')". Applied by BC before returning data. | |
| select | No | Comma-separated OData $select field names to limit response size. Examples: "number,displayName,city", "id,amount,postingDate". Omit to return all fields. | |
| company | No | Override the BC company name for this query. Defaults to the server-configured company (BC_ODATA_COMPANY or first available company). Use when querying a specific company in a multi-company BC environment. | |
| orderby | No | OData $orderby expression. Examples: "displayName asc", "postingDate desc", "amount desc,number asc". |