- Feature
- Run AL tests from command-line and CI/CD workflows
- Availability
- Generally available (October 2026)
- Industry focus
- Utilities and energy services (water, renewables, district heating, energy contractors)
Utilities and energy services companies depend on accurate calculations. Metered charges, standing charges, maintenance contracts and asset depreciation all flow through their systems. Many run custom Business Central extensions for these processes. Business Central 29.0 makes it much easier to test that code automatically every time it changes.
The industry challenge
A mid-sized energy services or utility company might extend Business Central for:
- Usage-based billing from meter readings
- Service contracts for heat pumps, boilers or solar installations
- Asset registers for network or generation equipment
- Regulatory reporting on tariffs and volumes
Testing changes to this code has often been manual or semi-automated. Running AL tests usually meant using a test client by hand or relying on extra tooling. Many teams ran tests irregularly, and some changes reached production without them.
In a business where a billing error affects thousands of customers, that's a serious exposure.
What Microsoft delivered in Business Central 29.0
According to Microsoft, teams can now use ALTool to compile, deploy and run AL test projects from scripts or pipelines. Results come back as structured JSON, covering each test method and the counts of passed, failed and skipped tests.
Microsoft highlights three benefits:
- Tests can run directly from build and release pipelines, without the MCP server or a manually operated test client
- Machine-readable output makes it easier to publish results, enforce quality gates and diagnose failures
- The same command works locally, so developers and build systems use one consistent way to run tests
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for a utility or energy services firm |
|---|---|
| Billing accuracy | Calculation changes are tested before they reach customers |
| Release confidence | Builds can be blocked automatically when tests fail |
| Regulatory assurance | Test results become a record that changes were checked |
| Developer efficiency | One command for tests, locally and in the pipeline |
| Partner management | Clear, shareable results from every build |
The important shift is from "we usually test" to "we always test." When tests run automatically on every change, quality stops depending on someone remembering.
A worked scenario
Consider a district heating operator that bills 15,000 customers from meter readings (an illustrative example). Its Business Central extension calculates charges using tariffs, standing charges and seasonal adjustments.
The operator's partner adds a new tariff for a housing association customer. Before 29.0, the partner ran a few tests manually before deploying. This time, the pipeline runs the full test suite with ALTool on every pull request.
One existing test fails: the change has altered rounding for an older tariff. The pipeline blocks the release and the JSON results point to the exact test. The partner fixes the rounding before anything reaches production, and no customer bill is affected.
Adoption considerations
- Start with critical calculations. Billing, pricing and tax logic should be the first to get automated tests.
- Make failing tests block releases. A quality gate only works if it can stop a deployment.
- Publish results. Show test results in your build system so everyone can see the state of the code.
- Ask your partner. If a partner maintains your extensions, ask how and when they run automated tests.
- Combine with better test design. Data-driven tests and lifecycle handlers make suites easier to grow.
The bottom line
Utilities and energy services firms can't afford calculation errors that reach customers. Command-line and CI/CD test execution in Business Central 29.0 makes automated quality gates practical for custom AL code. It turns testing into part of every change, which protects customers, revenue and regulatory standing.
If your organization relies on custom billing or contract logic in Business Central, it's worth reviewing your testing and release process with an experienced adviser.
Source: Microsoft roadmap 573334