The new version of Dynamics 365 Business Central (2026 Release Wave 2) was released in October 2026. This article provides an overview of the new and updated features and general information about update 29.0, which starts 2026 release wave 2. Microsoft’s update introduces a broad set of improvements across development, AI-powered agents, reporting, administration, platform performance, and the user experience. Let’s take a quick look at the features we think are especially interesting.
New AI at work roadmap
Starting in September 2026, Microsoft is changing how upcoming Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Dataverse capabilities are communicated. Instead of publishing new capabilities in twice-yearly release plans, Microsoft is moving to continuous disclosure through the AI at Work roadmap. New items are published as soon as plans are committed and then updated as they move through development, rollout, and launch. This change affects roadmap communication, not the established product release and deployment schedules.
For more details, refer to One always-on roadmap: Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Dataverse join the AI at Work roadmap.
Development
The 2026 Release Wave 2 delivers a particularly large set of improvements for AL developers, with a strong focus on automated testing and CI/CD, AI-assisted troubleshooting, extensibility, performance, and more flexible development tooling. The complete list includes:
- Access application links through ModuleInfo
- Actions on reports and pages can now inherit tooltips
- AL developers can turn indexes on/off in AL code.
- Audit AL app accessibility and debugging boundaries
- Build extensible and data-driven AL test suites
- Check records for uncommitted changes
- Configure AL MCP workspaces dynamically
- Debug recorded Business Central failures with an AI agent
- Developers can define indexes that span fields from a base table and its table extensions
- Diagnose AL MCP server activity with file logging
- Discover objects in connected Business Central environments
- Evolve AL interfaces with default implementations
- Get clearer guidance for AL object structure
- Let agents allocate free AL object IDs
- Page Scripting enters General Availability
- Profile slow Business Central sessions with AI agents
- Restrict global symbol resolution to a minor version
- Run AL tests from command-line and CI/CD workflows
- Simplify AL extension setup and authentication in Visual Studio Code
- Track AL compiler diagnostics in automated builds
- Translate objects with the same name in different namespaces
- Use AL language intelligence from AI agents and other editors
One of the important improvements for engineering teams is the ability to run AL tests from command-line and CI/CD workflows. ALTool provides command-line capabilities for compiling, deploying, and running AL test projects from scripts and CI/CD pipelines, with structured JSON test results. This makes it easier to automate quality gates, publish test results, and use a consistent test-execution approach locally and in build pipelines.
al runtests [<codeunitId>] [options]
Testing is also becoming more scalable with extensible and data-driven AL test suites. Developers can create parameterized tests from reusable data sources and attach lifecycle handlers for shared setup, cleanup, logging, measurement, and reporting, reducing duplicated test code and making larger test suites easier to maintain.
Page Scripting enters General Availability in this release. The tool for recording and replaying user actions in the Business Central web client is now fully localized and includes accessibility, usability, and visual improvements, together with support for selecting multiple rows and validating text shown in message and error dialogs.
Microsoft is also expanding AI-assisted diagnostics. Developers and support teams can debug recorded Business Central failures with an AI agent and profile slow Business Central sessions with AI agents, helping capture snapshot debugging information and performance profiles with less manual setup.
The standalone AL language server makes AL language intelligence available to AI agents and other editors through the Language Server Protocol.
Finally, a major extensibility change comes from the new table-extension data model: developers can now define indexes that span fields from a base table and its table extensions. Combined with the platform change described later in this article, this opens new opportunities for performance optimization in extension-heavy solutions.
Copilot and agents
Business Central continues to expand its agentic capabilities, with improvements that make Copilot more consistent, agent work easier to supervise, and AI-generated changes easier to review:
- Enable Microsoft Copilot chat experience
- Improve purchase order matching in Payables Agent
- Manage agent permissions easier
- Manage tasks from all agents in dedicated task pane
- Review content generated by agents directly on pages
- Run data queries with MCP Server
- Show avatars for record creators and modifiers in list
- Updates to Agent UI experience
The updated Microsoft Copilot chat experience introduces a more modern and consistent interface aligned with the broader Microsoft Copilot ecosystem, helping users move between Microsoft applications with more familiar interaction patterns.
The dedicated task pane brings tasks from all agents into one place. Users can review suggestions, validations, follow-ups, and draft documents, navigate directly to affected records, complete tasks, or dismiss them without hunting across different pages.
Users can also review content generated by agents directly on pages. Agent-generated suggestions appear in the context of the document or record being worked on, making it easier to verify and adjust AI-generated changes while maintaining human control.
Payables Agent receives improved purchase order matching by considering line amount and expected receipt date in addition to existing matching information. This helps distinguish similar purchase order lines and improves the quality of first-pass matching.
The MCP Server can now run custom data queries, allowing MCP applications to retrieve data even when an appropriate API does not already exist.
User experience
This wave introduces several practical usability improvements that reduce navigation and make frequently used information easier to access:
- Agent actions review notifications on lists
- Preview images directly in web client
- Show recently searched in Tell Me
- Show recently used in lookups
Users can now preview images directly in the Business Central web client instead of downloading them first. The viewer supports common image formats and works across Business Central experiences, including attachments, agents, email, and supported extension scenarios.
Lookups now surface recently used records, helping users quickly select customers, vendors, items, projects, dimensions, and other values they work with repeatedly. Tell Me also shows recent searches, reducing repetitive navigation for frequently accessed pages and reports.
Agent actions review notifications on lists make documents that require human interaction easier to identify and manage through the review experience.
Governance and administration
The administration updates in this wave focus on database tuning and better auditing of data exports:
- Administrators can turn SIFT indexes on/off
- Monitor usage of Open in Excel with telemetry
Administrators can now turn SIFT indexes on or off directly in Business Central, giving them more control over database index usage without requiring development changes.
Open in Excel actions are now logged to telemetry, making data export events auditable for compliance, security investigations, and usage analysis.
Service and platform
The key platform change in Business Central 2026 Release Wave 2 is a redesigned data model for table extensions:
- Faster data loading with improved data model for table extensions
With the improved data model for table extensions, all fields on an AL table are stored in the same database table. This removes the need for database operations to join the base table with separate table-extension storage and is designed to improve performance for database operations involving table extensions.
Also, Business Central Master Data Management now supports synchronizing master data between different Business Central environments within the same Microsoft Entra tenant. Previously, standard MDM synchronization was limited to companies within the same environment.
The existing HQ-to-subsidiary model is retained, with the HQ company remaining the source of truth. Cross-environment access is secured through Microsoft Entra ID, while the familiar MDM mapping, initial synchronization, and ongoing change synchronization processes continue to be used. This enables organizations that separate subsidiaries by environment to centrally maintain master data without requiring custom integrations or additional middleware.
For more details about the feature, its configuration, and a practical demonstration, refer to the corresponding video: What's new: Cross-environment Master Data Management (2026 release wave 2).
Reporting and data analysis
Reporting receives one of the largest functional updates in this wave, with a strong emphasis on reusable document design, report automation, financial reporting, and easier access to analysis views:
- Automate report outputs
- Bookmark list views and analysis tabs
- Brand document reports with report themes
- Control the lifecycle of all report layouts
- Design document report themes with the updated Word add-in
- Design document reports with the updated Word add-in
- Design header/footer layouts for document reports with the updated Word add-in
- Financial report changes are now always logged
- Reduce complexity of report datasets
- Reuse header/footer layouts across document reports
- Run multiple financial reports and get a single PDF output
- Trace G/L account usage in finance reports
- Use conditional visibility in the updated Word add-in
- Use system audit fields in analysis mode and in profiles
The new composable report layout capabilities make it possible to brand document reports with report themes and reuse header/footer layouts across reports. Defaults can be configured globally, per company, per report, or per layout, making consistent document branding easier to maintain.
The updated Word add-in receives new design components for common document elements such as addresses, field groups, amounts, signature lines, and notes. It can also design report themes and header/footer layouts and apply conditional visibility through HideIf logic.
Financial reporting is improved with report packs that can run multiple financial reports and produce a single PDF output. Report authors can also trace G/L account usage, identify uncategorized accounts, and preview definitions before publishing.
Changes to financial report row, column, and report definitions are now always recorded in the change log, strengthening auditability. Administrators can also control the lifecycle of all report layouts by setting statuses that determine which layouts are available to users.
Report outputs can now be extended through new Report Inbox APIs for automation with Power Automate or MCP.
Also, list views and analysis tabs can be bookmarked to the Role Center or incorporated into profiles.
Adapt faster with Power Platform
This release makes it easier to keep Business Central and Dataverse integrations aligned as Dataverse schemas evolve:
- Map new Dataverse fields in Business Central
Administrators can now map newly added Dataverse fields directly from the Integration Table Mappings page. After refreshing the Dataverse field list, they can add a field to an existing mapping, select the corresponding Business Central field, define the synchronization direction, and enable synchronization without creating or updating a table extension.
Microsoft has announced additional features for Business Central 2026 Release Wave 2 beyond the areas covered in this overview, including updates for E-Documents, ecommerce, finance, supply chain management, sustainability, and the new Expense Agent. You can find the complete list of features in the official Business Central documentation:
- Feature details for Business Central 2026 release wave 2 public preview
- Update 29.0 for Business Central 2026 release wave 2
- AI at Work roadmap
To explore the new features in more detail, Microsoft has published a dedicated What’s new in Business Central 2026 release wave 2 video series on YouTube.
These sessions, presented by Microsoft’s Business Central engineering team, provide a closer look at the latest enhancements across development, AI and agents, reporting, administration, user experience, and other areas. The videos demonstrate the new capabilities in action and provide practical insights directly from the experts behind the product.
Do you happen to have any knowledge about Xpand?
Xpand is a product and service software development company with over 16 years of market experience and a Microsoft Partner since 2016, assisting organizations worldwide in managing their Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems. We provide a broad range of services for clients and partners, including implementation and development for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, as well as upgrade from earlier versions like Navision Financials 2.0. Learn more about our services at https://www.xpandsoftware.com/services.
We would be pleased to discuss cooperation and upgrading your systems or your clients' systems to the latest versions of Business Central. You can easily request this service here, and our team will send you a quote promptly.