Allows the app to read data in your organization's directory, such as users, groups and apps, without a signed-in user.
Delegated Access
App-Only Access
Permission Details
Application Permission
Read directory data
Allows the app to read data in your organization's directory, such as users, groups and apps, without a signed-in user.
Delegated Permission
Admin consent required
Read directory data
Allows the app to read data in your organization's directory, such as users, groups and apps.
User sees: Allows the app to read data in your organization's directory.
Properties
Property
Type
Description
id
string
The unique identifier for an entity. Read-only.
contactInsights
object
Contains the properties that are configured by an administrator as a tenant-level privacy control whether to identify duplicate contacts among a user's contacts list and suggest the user to merge those contacts to have a cleaner contacts list. List contactInsights returns the settings to display or return contact insights in an organization.
microsoftApplicationDataAccess
object
peopleInsights
object
Contains the properties that are configured by an administrator for the visibility of a list of people relevant and working with a user in Microsoft 365. List peopleInsights returns the settings to display or return people insights in an organization.
itemInsights
object
Contains the properties that are configured by an administrator for the visibility of Microsoft Graph-derived insights, between a user and other items in Microsoft 365, such as documents or sites. List itemInsights returns the settings to display or return item insights in an organization.
Relationships
Relationship
Type
Description
administrativeUnits
administrativeUnit collection
Conceptual container for user and group directory objects.
attributeSets
attributeSet collection
Group of related custom security attribute definitions.
customSecurityAttributeDefinitions
customSecurityAttributeDefinition collection
Schema of a custom security attribute.
deletedItems
directoryObject collection
Recently deleted items. Read-only. Nullable.
federationConfigurations
identityProviderBase collection
Configure domain federation with organizations whose identity provider (IdP) supports either the SAML or WS-Fed protocol.
onPremisesSynchronization
onPremisesDirectorySynchronization collection
A container for on-premises directory synchronization functionalities.
// Install: dotnet add package Microsoft.Graph
// Install: dotnet add package Azure.Identity
using Microsoft.Graph;
using Azure.Identity;
// Delegated permissions - interactive user sign-in
var scopes = new[] { "Directory.Read.All" };
var options = new InteractiveBrowserCredentialOptions
{
ClientId = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
TenantId = "YOUR_TENANT_ID",
RedirectUri = new Uri("http://localhost")
};
var credential = new InteractiveBrowserCredential(options);
var graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(credential, scopes);
// Example: GET /me
var result = await graphClient.Me.GetAsync();
Console.WriteLine($"User: {result?.DisplayName}");
// Application permissions - daemon/service app
var tenantId = "YOUR_TENANT_ID";
var clientId = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID";
var clientSecret = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET";
var credential = new ClientSecretCredential(tenantId, clientId, clientSecret);
var graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(credential);
// Example: GET /users/{user-id}
var users = await graphClient.Users.GetAsync();
foreach (var user in users?.Value ?? [])
{
Console.WriteLine($"User: {user.DisplayName}");
}
JavaScript / TypeScript
// npm install @azure/msal-browser @microsoft/microsoft-graph-client
import { PublicClientApplication } from "@azure/msal-browser";
import { Client } from "@microsoft/microsoft-graph-client";
import { AuthCodeMSALBrowserAuthenticationProvider } from
"@microsoft/microsoft-graph-client/authProviders/authCodeMsalBrowser";
const msalConfig = {
auth: {
clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
authority: "https://login.microsoftonline.com/YOUR_TENANT_ID"
}
};
const pca = new PublicClientApplication(msalConfig);
await pca.initialize();
// Delegated: Login with required scope
const loginResponse = await pca.loginPopup({
scopes: ["Directory.Read.All"]
});
const authProvider = new AuthCodeMSALBrowserAuthenticationProvider(pca, {
account: loginResponse.account,
scopes: ["Directory.Read.All"],
interactionType: "popup"
});
const graphClient = Client.initWithMiddleware({ authProvider });
// Example: GET /me
const result = await graphClient.api("/me").get();
console.log(result);
// Application: Use client credentials (Node.js backend only)
// npm install @azure/identity @microsoft/microsoft-graph-client
import { ClientSecretCredential } from "@azure/identity";
import { TokenCredentialAuthenticationProvider } from
"@microsoft/microsoft-graph-client/authProviders/azureTokenCredentials";
const credential = new ClientSecretCredential(
"YOUR_TENANT_ID",
"YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
"YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"
);
const authProvider = new TokenCredentialAuthenticationProvider(credential, {
scopes: ["https://graph.microsoft.com/.default"]
});
const graphClient = Client.initWithMiddleware({ authProvider });
const result = await graphClient.api("/users").get();
console.log(result);
PowerShell
# Install Microsoft Graph PowerShell module
Install-Module Microsoft.Graph -Scope CurrentUser
# Delegated access - interactive sign-in
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Directory.Read.All"
# Verify connection
Get-MgContext | Select-Object Account, TenantId, Scopes
# Example: GET /me
$result = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me"
$result | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5
# Application access with certificate
$params = @{
ClientId = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID"
TenantId = "YOUR_TENANT_ID"
CertificateThumbprint = "YOUR_CERT_THUMBPRINT"
}
Connect-MgGraph @params
# Or with client secret (not recommended for production)
# Connect-MgGraph -ClientSecretCredential $credential
# Example: GET /users
$result = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users"
$result | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5
# Always disconnect when done
Disconnect-MgGraph
Python
# pip install msgraph-sdk azure-identity
from azure.identity import InteractiveBrowserCredential, ClientSecretCredential
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
import asyncio
# Delegated permissions - interactive browser sign-in
credential = InteractiveBrowserCredential(
client_id="YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
tenant_id="YOUR_TENANT_ID"
)
scopes = ["Directory.Read.All"]
client = GraphServiceClient(credential, scopes)
async def get_data():
# Example: GET /me
result = await client.me.get()
print(f"User: {result.display_name}")
return result
asyncio.run(get_data())
# Application permissions - client credentials
credential = ClientSecretCredential(
tenant_id="YOUR_TENANT_ID",
client_id="YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
client_secret="YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"
)
scopes = ["https://graph.microsoft.com/.default"]
client = GraphServiceClient(credential, scopes)
async def get_users():
# Example: GET /users
result = await client.users.get()
for user in result.value:
print(f"User: {user.display_name}")
return result
asyncio.run(get_users())