Using the Microsoft Graph API


The APIs of all those different services are connected through a tool called Microsoft Graph. It offers a single method of consuming multiple APIs, and the user only has to log in to it once to access all of the service APIs. If you wanted to access a handful of the core APIs directly, you would have to sign up for each one separately. Microsoft Graph effectively facilitates the developer's use of the APIs.

Using the Microsoft Graph API, we have access to several related entities, such as a Microsoft 365 group, a Teams team, and documents in a SharePoint document library. For instance, the Microsoft 365 group and the SharePoint team site share the primary document library. When you retrieve information about the document library via its site object, you also discover the group's ID. Entity information may be retrieved in a variety of methods, either directly by querying them or by using related entities to access them. For instance, both URLs will provide information on the same team; the second retrieves the underlying Microsoft 365 group and then its linked team, whereas the first uses the team object's ID as a direct reference (related groups and teams have the same ID).

The benefits of learning Microsoft Graph API

Office 365 is the Microsoft office product that is utilized the most around the globe. The Microsoft Graph API is beneficial for commercial versions of the Microsoft Office 365 suite, or one or more of its components, like Outlook, OneNote, etc., are used by millions of people.

In any office, a user would typically spend 2 to 3 hours working on various Office suite applications like Outlook, Excel, Project, etc. Outlook creates millions of brand-new emails, events, and other items daily, while OneDrive hosts millions of files. MS Graph API is required if you wish to access the data kept in Office 365 or Azure.

Graph Explorer

A browser-based application called Graph Explorer is available to help the user learn more about Graph. Using this tool, you may use the sample tenant or sign in to your tenant to simply make calls to Graph. You can rapidly create the necessary HTTP queries and view the results directly in the browser. You may use it to quickly check that your queries are formatted correctly, to see whether the data you expect to get exists, whether the beta as mentioned above and v1.0 endpoints operate the same way, or if there are changes between the versions.

A tenant administrator must approve the application's use inside the tenancy and frequently the rights required for carrying out the necessary tasks using the tool before using Graph Explorer. Only the administrator or all users may provide their permission to use anything.

Calling the Microsoft Graph API

You may incorporate Graph in your application in the following ways −

Create an HTTP request in your code, then immediately call Graph. Put an SDK in front of Graph before your application. The purpose of the SDKs is to simplify the already simple API access process further. The following systems and languages currently have an SDK available: Android, Angular, ASP.NET, iOS, Javascript, Node.js, Java, PHP, PowerShell, Python, and Ruby.

Additionally, UI elements with built-in Microsoft Graph integration may be found in a package called Microsoft Graph Toolkit.

Components that can be accessed by using MS Graph API

The key Microsoft Graph parts that may be accessible using the API are listed below −

  • Exchange server and mail (Outlook account).

  • Calendar for scheduling and organizing events.

  • Office365 document management system for word processors, spreadsheets, and other types of documents.

  • The Office 365 Planner API allows you to construct tasks, add individuals who will be participating in the task, and then execute workflows across stakeholders.

  • You may share files and media in a variety of formats by using Microsoft One Drive storage or the Sharepoint document library.

  • Conversations and messages between individuals or network groups.

  • Access to Microsoft One Notes quickly.

  • Data access using Sharepoint.

  • If none of built-in formats suit your needs, Microsoft Graph gives you the freedom to create your data format.

  • Microsoft Graph API is useful for push notifications.

Authentication

The objective is to get an access token from Azure AD, which you must then put in Authorization header of each HTTP request you send to Microsoft Graph. You can find out what you are permitted to perform with Microsoft Graph in the access token.

We should always adhere to the concept of least privilege when establishing the permissions in the application registration settings, which means we should only provide our agreement to fundamental rights. Therefore, the first choice always gives the fewest rights when you check the needed scopes from the Graph description.

It's time to add some authentication-related logic to the app once we have configured the application registration following the requirements of the OAuth flow we've chosen to employ. For simpler processes, you may utilize libraries that provide authentication techniques, or you can authenticate using direct REST requests.

Conclusion

The new service-oriented architecture, which is Microsoft Graph owned by Microsoft, formerly known as Office 365 unified API, enables developers to access a sizable quantity of data from the Microsoft cloud platforms. Finally, you should be aware that 81% of Fortune 500 organizations utilize Microsoft Graph in their system, according to current statistics. This is solid evidence that Microsoft Graph is a technology with great potential for the coming years.

Updated on: 01-Nov-2022

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