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Overview of the GraphHttpClient class (deprecated)

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Important

The GraphHttpClient has been deprecated and should no longer be used. It has been replaced with MSGraphClient

You can use Microsoft Graph to build powerful solutions that access data from Office 365 and other Microsoft services. To connect SharePoint Framework (SPFx) solutions to Microsoft Graph, you have to register an Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) application and complete the authorization flow. To make this easier, you can use the SPFx GraphHttpClient class to call Microsoft Graph directly, without any additional setup.

What is the GraphHttpClient class?

The GraphHttpClient class is included as part of the SharePoint Framework. It works in a similar way to the HttpClient that you can use to communicate with third-party APIs. The GraphHttpClient class automatically ensures that your request to Microsoft Graph has a valid bearer access token and the required headers.

When you issue a GET or a POST request, GraphHttpClient verifies that it has a valid access token, and if it doesn't, it automatically retrieves one from an internal API and stores it for subsequent requests.

The following example shows a request to Microsoft Graph that uses the GraphHttpClient class.

// ...
import { GraphHttpClient, GraphHttpClientResponse } from '@microsoft/sp-http';

export default class MyApplicationCustomizer
  extends BaseApplicationCustomizer<IMyApplicationCustomizerProperties> {

  // ...

  @override
  public onRender(): void {
    this.context.graphHttpClient.get("v1.0/groups?$select=displayName", GraphHttpClient.configurations.v1)
      .then((response: GraphHttpClientResponse): Promise<any> => {
        return response.json();
      })
      .then((data: any): void => {
        // ...
      });
  }
}

To make a request to Microsoft Graph:

  1. Import the GraphHttpClient and GraphHttpClientResponse modules from the @microsoft/sp-http package.
  2. Use the instance of GraphHttpClient that's available on the this.context.graphHttpClient property to issue a GET or POST request to Microsoft Graph.
  3. As parameters, specify the Microsoft Graph API that you want to call (start with the API version without a leading / - slash), followed by the GraphHttpClient configuration.
  4. Optionally, you can specify additional request headers that will be merged with the default headers set by GraphHttpClient ('Accept': 'application/json', 'Authorization': 'Bearer [token]' and 'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=utf-8').

Considerations for using the GraphHttpClient class

The GraphHttpClient class provides a convenient way to communicate with Microsoft Graph because it abstracts the authorization flow and management of access tokens. Because GraphHttpClient is currently in developer preview, there are some considerations that you should take into account before using it.

Use for Microsoft Graph access only

Use the GraphHttpClient class only to access Microsoft Graph. The URL specified in the request must begin with the version of the Microsoft Graph API (either v1.0 or beta), followed by the API operation. Any other URL returns an error.

Permissions

The GraphHttpClient uses the Office 365 SharePoint Online Azure AD application to retrieve a valid access token to Microsoft Graph on behalf of the current user. The retrieved access token contains two permissions:

  • Read and write all groups (preview) (Group.ReadWrite.All)
  • Read all usage reports (Reports.Read.All)

Tokens are retrieved using an internal API

To acquire a valid access token, GraphHttpClient issues a web request to the /_api/SP.OAuth.Token/Acquire endpoint. This API is intended for internal use. You should not communicate with it directly in your solutions.

See also