Link to original video by Microsoft Community Learning

From zero to hero with Microsoft Graph API – July 2021

Microsoft Graph API: From Zero to Hero

Short Summary:

This video provides a comprehensive introduction to Microsoft Graph API, a powerful tool for accessing and managing data across various Microsoft services like Office 365, Azure AD, and more. The video covers essential concepts like authentication, permissions, CRUD operations, querying, and metadata. It also demonstrates how to use Graph API for automation and DevOps tasks, showcasing its potential for streamlining workflows and enhancing productivity.

Key Points:

• Graph API is a unified programming model for accessing Microsoft 365 data. It provides a single endpoint (graph.microsoft.com) for interacting with various services.
• Graph Explorer is a valuable tool for exploring and testing Graph API queries. It offers sample queries, code snippets, and a toolkit component for web development.
• Authentication and permissions are crucial for accessing Graph API. Applications require access tokens and specific scopes to perform operations.
• Graph API supports CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) for managing data. It also offers advanced querying capabilities like filtering, selecting, and batching.
• Metadata provides insights into the structure and relationships of Graph API resources. This allows developers to understand how data is organized and how to interact with it effectively.
• Graph API can be integrated with automation and DevOps tools. This enables developers to automate tasks like user provisioning, policy deployment, and data migration.

Detailed Summary:

1. Introduction to Microsoft Graph API:

• The video begins by introducing Microsoft Graph API as a gateway to data and intelligence across Microsoft services.
• It emphasizes the importance of using graph.microsoft.com as the primary endpoint for accessing the API.
• The video highlights the use of connectors and data connectors for extending and integrating data with Graph API.

2. Graph Explorer: A Hands-on Tool:

• The video introduces Graph Explorer as a postman-like tool for exploring and testing Graph API queries.
• It demonstrates how to sign in, access sample data, and perform basic queries.
• The video highlights the importance of granting permissions to Graph Explorer to access specific data.

3. Access and Permissions:

• The video explains the need for authentication and authorization when using Graph API.
• It emphasizes the concept of scopes and permissions, which determine the level of access granted to applications.
• The video demonstrates how to inspect access tokens and understand the granted scopes.

4. CRUD Operations and Querying:

• The video covers the four basic CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) and provides examples for each.
• It introduces advanced querying techniques like filtering, selecting, and batching.
• The video demonstrates how to use these techniques to retrieve specific data and manage entities efficiently.

5. Metadata: Understanding Graph API Structure:

• The video explains the importance of metadata for understanding the structure of Graph API resources.
• It demonstrates how to access metadata using the $metadata endpoint and how to navigate through the XML structure.
• The video highlights the use of metadata for understanding entity types, complex types, navigation properties, and enumerations.

6. Automation and DevOps:

• The video showcases the integration of Graph API with automation and DevOps tools.
• It demonstrates how to use Graph API to automate tasks like user provisioning, policy deployment, and data migration.
• The video highlights the use of service principals and access tokens for authenticating applications in DevOps environments.

7. Q&A Session:

• The video concludes with a Q&A session, addressing questions about throttling, permission scoping, and the availability of Graph API modules for PowerShell.

Notable Quotes:

• "Microsoft Graph is a gateway to data and nowadays also intelligence around Microsoft 365."
• "Graph Explorer is an online tool that is very helpful to get started to do ad hoc queries etc."
• "Remember that it's just an application like any other that is using the Graph API."
• "You don't get a wild card ticket, you need to ask for the scopes and permissions."
• "The graph API is just an API like any other REST API and that is protected by Azure AD."
• "Metadata provides insights into the structure and relationships of Graph API resources."
• "Graph API can be integrated with automation and DevOps tools."