Work with Dynamics 365 data using web resources

Article
11/28/2016

Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2016, Dynamics CRM Online

You can use JavaScript web resources to access Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online & on-premises) data from within the application. There are three web services you can use in the application to access data by using JavaScript. For organizations using Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online & on-premises) the Web API is recommended.

Web Service	Description
Web API	The Web API was introduced with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online & on-premises). It provides a RESTful web service with full compatibility with the organization service. It uses JSON in the body of the HTTP requests and responses, which makes it very suitable for use with JavaScript. More information: Get started with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Web API (client-side JavaScript)
Organization Data Service Also known as the “OData endpoint” or “REST endpoint for web resources.”	The organization data service is deprecated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online & on-premises). Use the Web API to access Dynamics 365 data for solutions that don’t need to work with earlier versions. The organization data service remains available and you can use it so that code written for earlier versions will continue to work. For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 SDK topic: Use the OData endpoint with web resources.
Organization service Also known as the “Modern app SOAP endpoint” and the “SOAP endpoint for web resources.”	The organization service can be used but it is much more complex than the Web API with JavaScript because the HTTP requests and responses are sent using XML, which must conform to specific schema and namespaces. For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 SDK topic: Use the Modern app SOAP endpoint for modern applications with web resources.

Web API

The Web API was introduced with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online & on-premises). It provides a RESTful web service with full compatibility with the organization service. It uses JSON in the body of the HTTP requests and responses, which makes it very suitable for use with JavaScript. More information: Get started with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Web API (client-side JavaScript)

Organization Data Service

Also known as the “OData endpoint” or “REST endpoint for web resources.”

The organization data service is deprecated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online & on-premises). Use the Web API to access Dynamics 365 data for solutions that don’t need to work with earlier versions. The organization data service remains available and you can use it so that code written for earlier versions will continue to work. For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 SDK topic: Use the OData endpoint with web resources.

Organization service

Also known as the “Modern app SOAP endpoint” and the “SOAP endpoint for web resources.”

The organization service can be used but it is much more complex than the Web API with JavaScript because the HTTP requests and responses are sent using XML, which must conform to specific schema and namespaces. For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 SDK topic: Use the Modern app SOAP endpoint for modern applications with web resources.

Each of these web services can use the authentication provided by the Microsoft Dynamics 365 application within web resources without the need to include any code to implement authentication. For information about how to use these endpoints with authentication from outside the application, see Write mobile and modern apps.