How to create an event via API for an internal organization user as "ACCEPTED"

Question

I am creating an event via API, and setting Internal organization user as participant. I want to set it as accepted for those internal users. How can I do it?

Answer 1

This is a common requirement when integrating with calendar systems! The ability to set an attendee's status as "ACCEPTED" directly when creating an event via API depends on the specific calendar API you are using (e.g., Google Calendar API, Microsoft Graph API for Outlook).

Here's a breakdown of how it generally works for the most popular calendar APIs, along with the common limitations:

General Principle:

When you create an event and add attendees, the default status for those attendees is usually "needsAction" or "tentative." This means they receive an invitation and are expected to respond. Directly setting their status to "ACCEPTED" upon creation is often not supported for all users, as it bypasses their explicit acceptance.

Why this limitation?

• User Consent: Calendar systems are designed to respect user consent. Forcing an "ACCEPTED" status for another user without their interaction can lead to issues and a poor user experience.
• Notifications: If you could simply set everyone to "ACCEPTED," it might prevent them from receiving the standard invitation notifications, which often include "Accept," "Decline," or "Tentative" options.
• Calendar Logic: The calendar system needs to manage responses, send updates, and handle conflicts, which are all tied to the attendee's active response.

Specific API Details:

1. Google Calendar API:

• Creating an Event with Attendees: When you create an event using the events.insert method, you can include an attendees array. Each attendee object has a responseStatus field.
• The Limitation: While the responseStatus field exists for attendees, the Google Calendar API documentation explicitly states that you cannot set the responseStatus to "accepted", "declined", or "tentative" when creating an event. It's meant to be a read-only field reflecting the attendee's actual response. The recommended value for new events is "needsAction".
• Workaround (if truly necessary):
  • Organizer Creates, then Accepts (Self): If the internal organization user is the organizer of the event, their status will automatically be "accepted" when they create it.
  • Programmatically Accept (Post-Creation): The only way to set an attendee's status to "accepted" for another user is to programmatically accept the event on their behalf after it has been created. This typically involves:
    • Creating the event with the attendees.
    • Using the events.update method or a dedicated "accept" endpoint (if available) with the credentials of each attendee to set their responseStatus to "accepted". This would require separate authentication/authorization for each user, which is often not feasible for a general organizational solution.
    • Alternatively, if you have domain-wide delegation for a Google Workspace domain, you might be able to impersonate users to accept on their behalf, but this is a more advanced setup and requires careful consideration of security and user expectations.

2. Microsoft Graph API (for Outlook/Exchange):

• Creating an Event with Attendees: Similar to Google, you include an attendees array when creating an event via the /events endpoint.
• The Limitation: Microsoft Graph API also generally does not allow you to set the status (or responseStatus) of an attendee to "accepted" when creating an event. The status property within the attendee object is typically read-only or primarily used for reporting.
• Workaround (if truly necessary):
  • Programmatically Accept (Post-Creation): Just like Google Calendar, the standard approach is to create the event, and then, if you absolutely need to mark someone as "accepted" without their interaction, you would have to use the POST /users/{id}/events/{id}/accept endpoint (or tentativelyAccept, decline) for each specific attendee, using their delegated permissions or application permissions if configured appropriately. This implies that the application has the necessary permissions to act on behalf of that user.

Recommendations for Internal Organization Users:

Given the limitations, consider these approaches for internal users:

• Standard Invitation Flow: The most common and recommended approach is to simply invite the internal users. They will receive the invitation, and they can accept it themselves. This respects their calendar and notification preferences.
• "Required" vs. "Optional" Attendees: When adding attendees, you can specify if they are required or optional. This doesn't change their "accepted" status but indicates the importance of their attendance.
• Calendar Sharing/Delegation (Advanced): If you have a scenario where specific users or a service account need to manage events on behalf of others within the organization (e.g., an administrative assistant managing a manager's calendar), you would typically set up calendar sharing or delegation. With the appropriate permissions, the service account or delegated user could then create and manage events, including setting attendee statuses. This is more about granting permissions at the calendar level rather than manipulating attendee status at the event creation level.
• Consider the "Why": Before trying to bypass the default "needsAction" status, consider why you need to set it to "ACCEPTED" automatically. Is it to avoid manual acceptance? Is it for reporting? Understanding the underlying need might lead to alternative solutions (e.g., custom reporting, or simply trusting that internal users will accept if the event is relevant).

Directly setting an internal organization user's status to "ACCEPTED" when creating an event via most standard calendar APIs is not a natively supported feature. The design prioritizes user interaction and consent. If you need to achieve this, it usually involves a secondary API call to "accept" the event on their behalf after it's been created, requiring appropriate permissions for that action.