Activity Summary PCF Control

Published: February 2026 | Author: Kokulan Eswaranathan

Introduction

As Power Platform developers, we often need to display activity information on model-driven forms in a clear, actionable way. While Dataverse provides a Timeline control, sometimes you need a more focused, customizable view that gives users immediate insights into their activities at a glance.

That’s why I developed the Activity Summary PCF Control – a comprehensive, fully customizable Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) control that displays activity metrics and details in an intuitive card-based interface. Today, I’m excited to share it with the community and walk you through its features, use cases, and how to get started.

The Activity Summary control displaying activity metrics and last activity details on an Account form

What is the Activity Summary Control?

The Activity Summary control is a custom PCF control designed for Power Apps model-driven forms. It provides a comprehensive view of all activities associated with the current record through an elegant, card-based interface. Whether you’re working with Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, or custom entities, this control gives you real-time activity insights without leaving the form.

Key Features at a Glance

✅ Activity Metrics Dashboard

• Total activities count
• Open activities count
• Overdue activities tracking
• Due date filters (today, this week, this month, this year)

✅ Last Activity Details

• Most recently modified activity with full details
• Expandable description (configurable)
• HTML rendering for email content
• Quick navigation to activity records

✅ Complete Customization

• 40+ configurable properties
• Custom colors, labels, and visibility controls
• Activity type filtering
• Theme support (light and dark)

✅ Performance Optimized

• Efficient Web API queries
• Parallel execution for fast loading
• Smart caching mechanisms

Why I Built This Control

During my work with Power Platform implementations, I noticed a common pattern: users needed quick visibility into activity statuses without navigating away from the record they were viewing. The built-in Timeline control is excellent, but sometimes you need:

• At-a-glance metrics – How many activities are open? Are any overdue?
• Focused views – Show only Tasks, or only Emails
• Custom branding – Match your organization’s color scheme
• Flexible layouts – Show or hide sections based on your needs

The Activity Summary control addresses all these requirements while maintaining excellent performance and a clean, modern UI.

Real-World Use Cases

1. Account Management Dashboard

Scenario: Sales teams need to quickly see all activities related to an account, with special attention to overdue items.

Configuration:

• Enable all tiles including overdue tracking
• Show due date filters (today, week, month)
• Display full last activity details
• Use professional blue color scheme matching your brand

Result: Sales reps can immediately see which accounts need attention and what the last interaction was.

2. Task Management Focus

Scenario: Project managers want to focus only on Tasks for a specific record.

Configuration:

• Filter to Tasks only (includedActivityTypes: 4212)
• Show overdue and due date tiles prominently
• Display last Task with full details
• Compact description view (3-4 lines)

Result: A clean, focused view of all tasks without email or phone call noise.

3. Customer Service View

Scenario: Support teams need to see all communication activities (Email, Phone, Teams) for a customer.

Configuration:

• Filter to communication types (includedActivityTypes: 4201,4207,4251)
• Show open activities prominently
• Display last communication with full description
• Enable modified date/user to track updates

Result: Support agents can quickly see the communication history and the most recent interaction.

4. Executive Summary

Scenario: Executives need a high-level overview with minimal details.

Configuration:

• Show only total and open activities
• Hide due date filters
• Show last activity type and subject only
• Hide description and metadata
• Compact card design

Result: A clean, minimal view perfect for dashboards and executive reports.

Installation Made Simple

Option 1: Install from Managed Solution (Recommended)

The easiest way to get started is to install the pre-built managed solution:

1. Download the managed solution:
   • Visit the GitHub Releases page
   • Download ActivitySummary-v1.4.9-Managed.zip from the latest release
2. Import to Dataverse:
   • Go to https://make.powerapps.com
   • Navigate to Solutions → Import
   • Select the downloaded ZIP file
   • Follow the import wizard
   • Important: Don’t forget to publish all customizations!
3. Add to Your Form:
   • Open any model-driven form (Account, Contact, Opportunity, etc.)
   • Edit the form
   • Click + Add component
   • Under Custom, find Activity Summary
   • Drag it onto the form
   • Configure properties (optional – it works great with defaults!)
   • Save and Publish

That’s it! The control works out of the box with sensible defaults.

Option 2: Build from Source

If you prefer to build from source or customize the code:

# Install Power Platform CLI
npm install -g @microsoft/powerplatform-cli
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Kokulan365/activity-summary-pcf.git
cd activity-summary-pcf/ActivitySummary
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Build the control
npm run build
# Create solution and import
pac solution init --publisher-name "Your Name" --publisher-prefix "yourprefix"
pac solution add-reference --path "./ActivitySummary"
pac solution build
pac solution import --path "bin/Debug/Solution1.zip"

Customization Examples

One of the strengths of this control is its extensive customization options. Here are some practical examples:

Example 1: Match Your Brand Colors

bannerColor: #0078D4          // Microsoft blue banner
tileFooterColor: #107C10      // Green accent bars
cardTitleLabel: Activity Dashboard
buttonBackgroundColor: #107C10

Example 2: Tasks-Only View

showTileSection: Yes
showTotalActivities: Yes
showOpenActivities: Yes
showOverdueActivities: Yes
showDueToday: Yes
includedActivityTypes: 4212    // Tasks only
showLastActivitySection: Yes
lastActivityTypeFilter: 4212   // Last Task only
maxDescriptionLines: 5

Example 3: Compact View

showCardTitle: No
showTileSection: Yes
showTotalActivities: Yes
showOpenActivities: Yes
showOverdueActivities: No
showDueToday: No
showTileIcons: No
showLastActivitySection: Yes
maxDescriptionLines: 3

Technical Highlights

Architecture

• Framework: React 18.2.0 with TypeScript
• Build Tool: Webpack (via pcf-scripts)
• API: Dataverse Web API v9.2
• Styling: CSS with CSS variables for seamless theme support

Performance Optimizations

The control is built with performance in mind:

1. Parallel Execution: All count queries run simultaneously using Promise.all()
2. Efficient Counting: Uses $count=true when possible to minimize data transfer
3. Minimal Fields: Only retrieves necessary fields with $select
4. Smart Filtering: Client-side filtering when activity type codes are specified
5. Caching: Results cached until record ID or filters change

Activity Type Support

The control supports all standard Dataverse activity types:

You can filter activities by type codes, or leave empty to show all types.

Common Configuration Scenarios

Scenario: Show Only Overdue Tasks

showTotalActivities: Yes
showOpenActivities: Yes
showOverdueActivities: Yes
showDueToday: No
showDueThisWeek: No
showDueThisMonth: No
showDueThisYear: No
includedActivityTypes: 4212
showLastActivitySection: Yes
lastActivityTypeFilter: 4212

Scenario: Communication Activities Dashboard

showTileSection: Yes
showTotalActivities: Yes
showOpenActivities: Yes
showOverdueActivities: Yes
includedActivityTypes: 4201,4207,4251  // Email, Phone, Teams
showLastActivitySection: Yes
showModifiedOn: Yes
showModifiedBy: Yes
maxDescriptionLines: 10

Troubleshooting Tips

Control Not Loading

• Verify the solution is imported and published
• Check browser console (F12) for JavaScript errors
• Ensure the form is published after adding the control
• Clear browser cache and reload

No Data Showing

• Verify the record has activities (check Timeline view)
• Check browser console for API errors
• Verify Web API permissions (user needs Read permission on Activity Pointer)
• Check includedActivityTypes filter – may be filtering out all activities

Styling Issues

• Clear browser cache completely
• Verify hex color format (must be #RRGGBB)
• Test in different browsers (Edge, Chrome)

What’s Next?

The Activity Summary control is now available as an open-source project on GitHub. I’m actively maintaining it and welcome contributions from the community.

Get Involved

• Try it out: Download from GitHub Releases
• Report issues: Open an issue on GitHub
• Suggest features: Have an idea? Create a feature request
• Contribute: Fork the repo and submit pull requests

Resources

• GitHub Repository: github.com/Kokulan365/activity-summary-pcf
• Full Documentation: See the README.md in the repository
• PCF Gallery: Coming soon! (Submit to pcf.gallery)

Conclusion

The Activity Summary PCF control fills a gap in the Power Platform ecosystem by providing a flexible, performant, and highly customizable way to display activity information on model-driven forms. Whether you need a simple activity counter or a comprehensive dashboard, this control can be configured to meet your exact requirements.

I hope this control helps you build better Power Apps experiences. If you use it in your projects, I’d love to hear about your use cases and see how you’ve customized it!

Happy coding! 🚀