Get newly created, updated, or deleted directory objects without performing a full read of the entire directoryObject collection. For more information about the delta function, see Use delta query to track changes in Microsoft Graph data for details.
The following table shows the least privileged permission that's required by each resource type when calling this API. To learn more, including how to choose permissions, see Permissions.
Track changes for a collection of a directory object type.
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.application')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.administrativeUnit')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.appRoleAssignment') or isof('microsoft.graph.user')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.device')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.directoryRole')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.group')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.orgContact')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.servicePrincipal')
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.user')
Track changes for a directory object. This request isn't supported on the appRoleAssignment resource.
GET /directoryObjects/delta?$filter=id eq '{id}'
OData query parameters
This method supports optional OData query parameters to help customize the response.
You can use a $select query parameter as in any GET request to specify only the properties your need for best performance. The id property is always returned.
When filtering multiple objects, for example, /directoryObjects/delta/?$filter= id eq '477e9fc6-5de7-4406-bb2a-7e5c83c9ffff' or id eq '004d6a07-fe70-4b92-add5-e6e37b8affff', there's a limit of 50 filter expressions.
You can combine the $filter syntaxes. For example, $filter=isof('{resource type}') or id eq '{id}'. This provides an intersection of objects specified by matching {resource type} and the resource type of {id}.
Specifying this header with a request that uses a @odata.deltaLink returns only the object's properties that have changed since the last round. Optional.
Request body
Don't supply a request body for this method.
Response
If successful, this method returns 200 OK response code and directoryObject collection object in the response body. The response also includes a state token that is either a @odata.nextLink URL or a @odata.deltaLink URL.
If a @odata.nextLink URL is returned:
This indicates there are more pages of data to be retrieved in the session. The application continues making requests by using the @odata.nextLink URL until a @odata.deltaLink URL is included in the response.
The response includes the same set of properties as in the initial delta query request. This allows you to capture the full current state of the objects when initiating the delta cycle.
If a @odata.deltaLink URL is returned:
This indicates there's no more data about the existing state of the resource to be returned. Save and use the @odata.deltaLink URL to learn about changes to the resource in the next round.
You have a choice to specify the Prefer:return=minimal header, to include in the response values for only the properties that have changed since the time the @odata.deltaLink was issued.
Default: return the same properties as initial delta request
By default, requests using a @odata.deltaLink or @odata.nextLink return the same properties as selected in the initial delta query in the following ways:
If the property has changed, the new value is included in the response. This includes properties being set to null value.
If the property hasn't changed, the old value is included in the response.
If the property has never been set before it will not be included in the response at all.
Note: With this behavior, by looking at the response it is not possible to tell whether a property is changing or not. Also, the delta responses tend to be large because they contain all property values - as shown in Example 3.
Alternative: return only the changed properties
Adding an optional prefer:return=minimal request header results in the following behavior:
If the property has changed, the new value is included in the response. This includes properties being set to null value.
If the property hasn't changed, the property isn't included in the response at all. This is different from the default behavior.
Note: The header can be added to a @odata.deltaLink request at any point in time in the delta cycle. The header only affects the set of properties included in the response and it does not affect how the delta query is executed. See Example 4.
Examples
Example 1: Retrieve changes for a collection of users and groups
Request
The following example shows a request using the $filter=isof('{resource type}') parameter on users and groups. There's no $select parameter, so a default set of properties is tracked and returned.
GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryObjects/delta?filter=isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.DirectoryObjects.Delta.GetAsDeltaGetResponseAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')";
});
// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*
// Dependencies
import (
"context"
msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
graphdirectoryobjects "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/directoryobjects"
//other-imports
)
requestFilter := "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')"
requestParameters := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
Filter: &requestFilter,
}
configuration := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
delta, err := graphClient.DirectoryObjects().Delta().GetAsDeltaGetResponse(context.Background(), configuration)
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x
GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);
var result = graphClient.directoryObjects().delta().get(requestConfiguration -> {
requestConfiguration.queryParameters.filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')";
});
# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.directory_objects.delta.delta_request_builder import DeltaRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = DeltaRequestBuilder.DeltaRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')",
)
request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)
result = await graph_client.directory_objects.delta.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)
Here's an example of the response when using @odata.deltaLink obtained from the query initialization with $filter=isof('{resource type}'). Note the presence of the members@delta property that includes the ids of member objects in the group.
Note: The response object shown here might be shortened for readability.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-type: application/json
{
"@odata.context":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#directoryObjects","@odata.nextLink":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryObjects/delta?$skiptoken=pqwSUjGYvb3jQpbwVAwEL7yuI3dU1LecfkkfLPtnIjvY1FSSc_",
"value":[
{
"@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.user",
"displayName": "Adele Vance",
"givenName": "Adele",
"jobTitle": "Retail Manager",
"surname": "Vance",
"userPrincipalName": "AdeleV@contoso.com",
"id": "87d349ed-44d7-43e1-9a83-5f2406dee5bd"
},
{
"@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.group",
"createdDateTime":"2021-03-12T10:36:14Z",
"description":"This is the default group for everyone in the network",
"displayName":"All Company",
"groupTypes": [
"Unified"
],
"mail": "allcompany@contoso.com",
"id": "72052a9a-c466-4995-8210-95a1c1221995",
"members@delta": [
{
"@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.user",
"id": "693acd06-2877-4339-8ade-b704261fe7a0"
},
{
"@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.user",
"id": "49320844-be99-4164-8167-87ff5d047ace"
}
]
}
]
}
Example 2: Retrieve a collection of changes for a directory object
Request
Here's an example shows the request using the $filter=id eq '{id}' parameter. There's no $select parameter, so a default set of properties is tracked and returned.
GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryObjects/delta?$filter=id eq '87d349ed-44d7-43e1-9a83-5f2406dee5bd'
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.DirectoryObjects.Delta.GetAsDeltaGetResponseAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = "id eq '87d349ed-44d7-43e1-9a83-5f2406dee5bd'";
});
// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*
// Dependencies
import (
"context"
msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
graphdirectoryobjects "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/directoryobjects"
//other-imports
)
requestFilter := "id eq '87d349ed-44d7-43e1-9a83-5f2406dee5bd'"
requestParameters := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
Filter: &requestFilter,
}
configuration := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
delta, err := graphClient.DirectoryObjects().Delta().GetAsDeltaGetResponse(context.Background(), configuration)
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x
GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);
var result = graphClient.directoryObjects().delta().get(requestConfiguration -> {
requestConfiguration.queryParameters.filter = "id eq '87d349ed-44d7-43e1-9a83-5f2406dee5bd'";
});
# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.directory_objects.delta.delta_request_builder import DeltaRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = DeltaRequestBuilder.DeltaRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
filter = "id eq '87d349ed-44d7-43e1-9a83-5f2406dee5bd'",
)
request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)
result = await graph_client.directory_objects.delta.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)
GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')&$select=microsoft.graph.user/surname,microsoft.graph.group/displayName
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.DirectoryObjects.Delta.GetAsDeltaGetResponseAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')";
requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Select = new string []{ "microsoft.graph.user/surname","microsoft.graph.group/displayName" };
});
mgc directory-objects delta get --filter "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')" --select "microsoft.graph.user/surname,microsoft.graph.group/displayName"
// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*
// Dependencies
import (
"context"
msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
graphdirectoryobjects "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/directoryobjects"
//other-imports
)
requestFilter := "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')"
requestParameters := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
Filter: &requestFilter,
Select: [] string {"microsoft.graph.user/surname","microsoft.graph.group/displayName"},
}
configuration := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
delta, err := graphClient.DirectoryObjects().Delta().GetAsDeltaGetResponse(context.Background(), configuration)
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x
GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);
var result = graphClient.directoryObjects().delta().get(requestConfiguration -> {
requestConfiguration.queryParameters.filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')";
requestConfiguration.queryParameters.select = new String []{"microsoft.graph.user/surname", "microsoft.graph.group/displayName"};
});
# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.directory_objects.delta.delta_request_builder import DeltaRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = DeltaRequestBuilder.DeltaRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')",
select = ["microsoft.graph.user/surname","microsoft.graph.group/displayName"],
)
request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)
result = await graph_client.directory_objects.delta.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)
Here's an example of the response when using @odata.deltaLink obtained from the query initialization. Both properties are included in the response and it isn't known which ones have changed since the @odata.deltaLink was obtained.
Example 4: Retrieve specific properties only if they changed for a collection of users and groups
Request
The following example shows the initial request selecting one property each from a user and group for change tracking, with alternative minimal response behavior:
GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryObjects/delta?$filter=isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')&$select=microsoft.graph.user/surname,microsoft.graph.group/displayName
Prefer: return=minimal
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.DirectoryObjects.Delta.GetAsDeltaGetResponseAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')";
requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Select = new string []{ "microsoft.graph.user/surname","microsoft.graph.group/displayName" };
requestConfiguration.Headers.Add("Prefer", "return=minimal");
});
mgc directory-objects delta get --filter "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')" --select "microsoft.graph.user/surname,microsoft.graph.group/displayName"
// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*
// Dependencies
import (
"context"
abstractions "github.com/microsoft/kiota-abstractions-go"
msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
graphdirectoryobjects "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/directoryobjects"
//other-imports
)
headers := abstractions.NewRequestHeaders()
headers.Add("Prefer", "return=minimal")
requestFilter := "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')"
requestParameters := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
Filter: &requestFilter,
Select: [] string {"microsoft.graph.user/surname","microsoft.graph.group/displayName"},
}
configuration := &graphdirectoryobjects.DirectoryObjectsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
Headers: headers,
QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}
// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
delta, err := graphClient.DirectoryObjects().Delta().GetAsDeltaGetResponse(context.Background(), configuration)
// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x
GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);
var result = graphClient.directoryObjects().delta().get(requestConfiguration -> {
requestConfiguration.queryParameters.filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')";
requestConfiguration.queryParameters.select = new String []{"microsoft.graph.user/surname", "microsoft.graph.group/displayName"};
requestConfiguration.headers.add("Prefer", "return=minimal");
});
# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.directory_objects.delta.delta_request_builder import DeltaRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = DeltaRequestBuilder.DeltaRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
filter = "isof('microsoft.graph.user') or isof('microsoft.graph.group')",
select = ["microsoft.graph.user/surname","microsoft.graph.group/displayName"],
)
request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)
request_configuration.headers.add("Prefer", "return=minimal")
result = await graph_client.directory_objects.delta.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)
Here's an example of the response when using @odata.deltaLink obtained from the query initialization. The microsoft.graph.user/surname property isn't included, which means it hasn't changed since the last delta query; microsoft.graph.group/displayName is included which means its value has changed.