Categories on Calendar Invites Broken

Question

Following up on this thread, since it was not addressed and continues to be an issue:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4633152/new-outlook-calendar-invite-categories-not-applyin

Here is the step-by-step failure scenario:

1. In Outlook, there's a category setup called "Team" that has the color blue.
2. Receive a calendar invite.
3. Automatically categorize the invite using Power Automate rules:
   1. URI: https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/messages/@{triggerOutputs()?['body/id']}
   2. Method: PATCH
   3. Content-Type: application/json
   4. Body: { "categories": ["Team"] }
4. Calendar invite appears with "Team"/blue category in Outlook inbox.
5. Accept the Calendar invite.
6. In Outlook Calendar, invite no longer shows as blue/"Team".

Here's how this used to work in old Outlook:

1. In Outlook, there's a category setup called "Team" that has the color blue.
2. Receive a calendar invite.
3. Automatically categorize the invite using Email Rules:
   1. From: (team member email)
   2. Assign it to the "Team" category
4. Calendar invite appears with "Team"/blue category in Outlook inbox.
5. Accept the Calendar invite.
6. In Outlook Calendar, invite shows as blue/"Team".

In all previous outlook versions since the dawn of categorization, when you categorize the invite email, the corresponding invite in the calendar also takes the same categorization.

Currently, the only way to categorize the event in the calendar is to go to the calendar and change the category from the calendar. This is extremely cumbersome, especially when the event is on a different day/week/month.

This situation is completely unacceptable, Microsoft. In a massively meeting driven environment, this is a huge burden. Categorizations are broken.

Please address this. This is a huge user experience issue.

Answer 1

Hi @Sometech Guy, 

Thank you for your question. Yes, I am using Microsoft Graph with a PATCH request for categorization, and my full API call is:

PATCH https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/events/@{triggerOutputs()?['body/id']}

The important distinction is which Graph resource is being updated.

Your current endpoint: /me/messages/{id} targets a message object in the mailbox. For a meeting invite, that object is the email meeting request, not the calendar event itself. When this PATCH executes, it successfully applies the "Team" category to the email in the Inbox.

However, when the invite is accepted, Outlook creates or updates a separate calendar event object. That event is stored under a different Graph resource:

/me/events/{event-id}

These are two separate objects in Microsoft Graph:

/me/messages/{id} → modifies the meeting request email

• /me/events/{id} → modifies the actual calendar item

Categories applied to the message do not propagate to the event because they are not the same resource. So although the PATCH call works correctly for the Inbox item, the calendar entry does not retain the category after acceptance.

If the goal is for the category to persist in the Calendar, the flow would need to PATCH the /me/events/{event-id} endpoint instead of /me/messages/{id}.

I hope this formation proves helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please let me know.

Thank you for your time and patience. Wishing you a great day ahead.

Answer 2

Hi @Sometech Guy, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your detailed Power Automate flow. I'm sorry that you're having a problem, and from the situation you've encountered, we deeply understand the inconvenience caused and apologize for it. 

Since my current category primarily focuses on Microsoft 365 products, and your concern relates to Microsoft Power Automate, I want to ensure you receive the most accurate and effective assistance. For this reason, I recommend posting your question in the Microsoft Power Platform Community Forum Thread. In this forum, you'll get the most qualified group of respondents, and other partners who read the forums regularly can share their knowledge or learn from your interaction.      

 

I apologize for redirecting you to a different community, as the members of this category focus on Microsoft 365 concerns and have limited knowledge about Power Automate. To help you get quicker and better assistance, I am guiding you to the appropriate resource.    

As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have visibility into performing deeper backend analysis, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.       

Thank you once again for your precious time and engagement. Wishing you a great day ahead.