[BUG] PnP Provisioning does not handle Dashboard Web Parts correctly
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Description
Related to #5374
Summary
When provisioning a Communication Site using a PnP Provisioning template, the Dashboard for Viva Connections web part on Home.aspx may not render the ACEs stored on Dashboard.aspx.
The issue appears related to the web part’s serialized personalizationData.DashboardId, which includes the Site Pages list item ID of Dashboard.aspx.
The DashboardId has this shape: {sitecollectionid}_{siteid}_{sitePagesListId}_{dashboardPageListItemId}
So, the provisioned web part can end up pointing at the wrong dashboard (page) item unless the token is correctly resolved or post-processed. When this is the case, the Dashboard Web Part displays the default set of ACEs instead of those in Dashboard.aspx.
I think this all stems from the fact that PnP Provisioning treats the Dashboard Web Part as a Custom Web Part. Here is the relevant section of the XML:
<pnp:CanvasControl WebPartType="Custom" JsonControlData="{"webPartId":"9cc0f495-db64-4d74-b06b-a3de16231fe1","rteInstanceId":null,"addedFromPersistedData":true,"reservedHeight":243,"reservedWidth":1204,"controlType":3,"id":"d8c79f95-65f8-4b12-b558-85fbf55fa1a7","position":{"controlIndex":3,"zoneIndex":5,"sectionIndex":1,"sectionFactor":100,"layoutIndex":1,"zoneId":"fb7ff564-69ef-49d3-a5e2-2a049096ce08"},"emphasis":{"zoneEmphasis":0},"flexibleLayoutPosition":{"lg":{"x":0,"y":4,"w":70,"h":14}},"properties":{"numVisibleCards":6,"dashboardURL":"https://{fqdn}{site}/SitePages/Dashboard.aspx","personalizationData":{"DashboardId":"{sitecollectionid}_{siteid}_{listid:Site Pages}_7","DashboardFormFactor":"Mobile","DashboardCardDetails":[],"LastModifiedDate":"2026-06-30T20:58:14.8267543Z"},"title":" "},"serverProcessedContent":{"htmlStrings":{},"searchablePlainTexts":{},"imageSources":{},"links":{}},"dynamicDataPaths":{},"dynamicDataValues":{},"dataVersion":"1.0"}" ControlId="9cc0f495-db64-4d74-b06b-a3de16231fe1" Order="3" Column="1" />
Expected behavior
When a site is provisioned with:
- Dashboard.aspx
- ACEs on Dashboard.aspx
- a Dashboard for Viva Connections web part on Home.aspx
…the Dashboard web part should render the same ACEs returned by:
Get-PnPVivaConnectionsDashboardACE
Actual behavior
After provisioning:
- Dashboard.aspx contains the expected ACEs.
Get-PnPVivaConnectionsDashboardACEreturns the expected ACEs.- But the Dashboard for Viva Connections web part on Home.aspx may show a different set of ACEs.
- Clicking See all from the Dashboard web part opens a URL like:
/sites/[siteName]/_layouts/15/sharepointapp.aspx?disableRedirect=true&isFromDashboardWP=true
rather than directly rendering the Dashboard.aspx page canvas.
This makes troubleshooting confusing because:
- Dashboard.aspx may appear correct - but not usually because the ACEs don't seem to be provisioned correctly, either.
- The Dashboard web part has
dashboardURLpointing to Dashboard.aspx. - But the rendered cards may not match the ACE controls on Dashboard.aspx.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the PnP provisioning handling for the Custom CanvasControl and its serialized JsonControlData, then compare the DashboardId and dashboardURL values on Home.aspx with the provisioned Dashboard.aspx. Reproduce the scenario with Dashboard.aspx, its ACEs, and the Dashboard for Viva Connections web part, and verify that the rendered cards match Get-PnPVivaConnectionsDashboardACE.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- powershell
- Domain
- tooling
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 42/100