cd ../series

> ls ./series/canvas-app-internals

Canvas App Internals

Eight posts mined from the control source files that ship inside every .msapp. Every figure measured, not estimated; every claim reproducible from a Methodology footer.

8 posts ·
#canvas-apps#power-apps#msapp-internals
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What ships inside the .msapp archive, measured from real exports — three apps, three years apart. The series walks from bytes-on-disk through migration changelogs, control generation history, sizing limits, and the SARIF report you already have but never opened.

Every claim in every post traces to a command in its Methodology section. Start with Post 1 if you want the headline numbers; jump to Post 5 or Post 6 if you have a broken layout to debug.

Posts in this series

  1. 01

    Your 25 MB Power Apps Screen Contains 430 Lines of Real Work

    What actually takes up space inside a canvas app, measured byte by byte.
  2. 02

    Microsoft Ships a Per-Property Migration Changelog Inside Your App. Nobody Reads It.

    There is a machine-readable record of every property Microsoft added, removed, and renamed on the modern controls. It is sitting in your `.msapp` right now.
  3. 03

    The 2023-to-2026 Canvas Control Diff: What Microsoft Added Without Telling Anyone

    Two apps, three years apart, same control templates. Here is the diff.
  4. 04

    Canvas Controls Are Knockout.js Widgets, and Two of Them Are Already React

    What a Power Apps control actually is, read straight from its source.
  5. 05

    Every Canvas Control Has Four Hidden Sizing Properties You Cannot See in Studio

    And one of them explains why your container stops growing at a very specific number.
  6. 06

    Why Your App Looks Wrong on Phone: The Three Default Values Nobody Mentions

    Every canvas control carries a tablet default, a phone default, and a web default. They disagree with each other by up to 3.7×.
  7. 07

    The Work Items Microsoft Left Inside Your Canvas App

    Seven code comments in the control templates, and what each one tells you about the platform's actual roadmap.
  8. 08

    There Is a SARIF File Inside Your Canvas App. Put It in Your CI Pipeline.

    Plus the 83 preview feature flags your app is carrying, and what they reveal about what is coming.