How to add a MS list item "Person or Group" field using the graph api

Question

I have been having the worst luck when trying to create a function that will create a ms list item with the graph. I am able to create generic text fields just fine. However, I have looked everywhere for documentation on how to fill out a "Person or Group" type field in a list. I am using Python and I like I mentioned i was able to update the other field types I needed. But with this type I keep getting back "error":{"code":"invalidRequest","message":"Invalid request","innerError"

What I first found was that you needed to provide a Sharepoint lookup ID. Which I tried with no luck. Then I provided a dictionary with a number of values such as email, principal name, and display name.

Any help with this would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

You could use below graph to create an item with person column.

Note: In the request body, please use "{columnname}LookupId": "{userid}".

For example, I have a person column named "person" in the list.

Result:

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Answer 2

Hi Gino,

I can share PowerShell example with you. https://github.com/iFestral/akdotms/blob/main/EntraID-List-AllUsersGroups.ps1

I'm filling a List with Users and their groups.

Setting of the column:

Python example:

import msal
import requests

# Authentication to Microsoft Graph API
tenant_id = 'YOUR_TENANT_ID'
client_id = 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID'
client_secret = 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET'

# Set up authentication for Microsoft Graph
authority = f"https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant_id}"
scopes = ["https://graph.microsoft.com/.default"]

app = msal.ConfidentialClientApplication(
    client_id, authority=authority, client_credential=client_secret
)

# Get access token for Graph API and SharePoint
token_result = app.acquire_token_for_client(scopes=scopes)

if "access_token" in token_result:
    access_token = token_result['access_token']

    # Microsoft Graph and SharePoint setup
    sharepoint_list_name = "YOUR_SHAREPOINT_LIST_NAME"
    users = [
        # List of users, you can replace with actual user objects
        {"Id": "USER_ID_1", "UserPrincipalName": "user1@domain.com"},
        {"Id": "USER_ID_2", "UserPrincipalName": "user2@domain.com"}
    ]

    sharepoint_site_url = f"https://your_sharepoint_site_url/_api/web/lists/getbytitle('{sharepoint_list_name}')/items"

    # Get List of items from SharePoint
    list_items_response = requests.get(
        sharepoint_site_url,
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {access_token}", "Accept": "application/json;odata=verbose"}
    )

    if list_items_response.status_code == 200:
        list_items = list_items_response.json()['d']['results']

        for user in users:
            # Check if the user is already in the SharePoint list
            if not any(item['Title'] == user['UserPrincipalName'] for item in list_items):
                try:
                    # Get user groups from Microsoft Graph
                    graph_url = f"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user['Id']}/memberOf"
                    graph_headers = {'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + access_token}

                    groups_response = requests.get(graph_url, headers=graph_headers)

                    if groups_response.status_code == 200:
                        groups = groups_response.json()['value']
                        filtered_groups = [
                            g['displayName'] for g in groups if 'akdotms.grp.user.' in g['displayName']
                        ]

                        # Create new item in SharePoint
                        new_item_data = {
                            "Title": user['UserPrincipalName'],
                            "User": user['UserPrincipalName'],
                            "Groups": ', '.join(filtered_groups)
                        }

                        create_item_response = requests.post(
                            sharepoint_site_url,
                            headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {access_token}", "Content-Type": "application/json"},
                            json=new_item_data
                        )

                        if create_item_response.status_code == 201:
                            print(f"Created item for {user['UserPrincipalName']}")
                        else:
                            print(f"Failed to create item: {create_item_response.status_code} - {create_item_response.text}")

                except Exception as e:
                    print(f"Failed to create List item for {user['UserPrincipalName']}: {str(e)}")

            else:
                try:
                    # Get the SharePoint item to update
                    item_to_update = next((item for item in list_items if item['Title'] == user['UserPrincipalName']), None)

                    if item_to_update:
                        # Get user groups from Microsoft Graph
                        graph_url = f"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user['Id']}/memberOf"
                        graph_headers = {'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + access_token}

                        groups_response = requests.get(graph_url, headers=graph_headers)

                        if groups_response.status_code == 200:
                            groups = groups_response.json()['value']
                            filtered_groups = [
                                g['displayName'] for g in groups if 'akdotms.grp.user.' in g['displayName']
                            ]

                            # Update existing item in SharePoint
                            update_item_data = {
                                "Groups": ', '.join(filtered_groups)
                            }

                            update_item_url = f"{sharepoint_site_url}({item_to_update['Id']})"

                            update_item_response = requests.post(
                                update_item_url,
                                headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {access_token}", "Content-Type": "application/json"},
                                json=update_item_data
                            )

                            if update_item_response.status_code == 204:
                                print(f"Updated item for {user['UserPrincipalName']}")
                            else:
                                print(f"Failed to update item: {update_item_response.status_code} - {update_item_response.text}")

                except Exception as e:
                    print(f"Failed to update List item for {user['UserPrincipalName']}: {str(e)}")

    else:
        print(f"Failed to retrieve SharePoint list items: {list_items_response.status_code} - {list_items_response.text}")

else:
    print(f"Error retrieving access token: {token_result.get('error_description')}")

Best regards,

Aleksandr

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Answer 3

Hello Gino Luciano,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Support!

To add an item to a SharePoint list, you need to fetch the lookup IDs from the hidden user information list and include them in the request body. Please refer to the image below for the correct syntax. The image demonstrates how to add a user to both single-choice and multi-choice “Person or Group” columns.

Hope this helps.

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