group: delta

Namespace: microsoft.graph

Get newly created, updated, or deleted groups, including group membership changes, without having to perform a full read of the entire group collection. For more information, see Use delta query to track changes in Microsoft Graph data for details.

This API is available in the following national cloud deployments.

Global service	US Government L4	US Government L5 (DOD)	China operated by 21Vianet
✅	✅	✅	✅

Permissions

Choose the permission or permissions marked as least privileged for this API. Use a higher privileged permission or permissions only if your app requires it. For details about delegated and application permissions, see Permission types. To learn more about these permissions, see the permissions reference.

Permission type	Least privileged permissions	Higher privileged permissions
Delegated (work or school account)	GroupMember.Read.All	Directory.Read.All, Directory.ReadWrite.All, Group.Read.All, Group.ReadWrite.All
Delegated (personal Microsoft account)	Not supported.	Not supported.
Application	GroupMember.Read.All	Directory.Read.All, Directory.ReadWrite.All, Group.Read.All, Group.ReadWrite.All

HTTP request

To begin tracking changes, you make a request and include the delta function on the groups resource.

GET /groups/delta

Query parameters

Tracking changes in groups incurs a round of one or more delta function calls. If you use any query parameter (other than $deltatoken and $skiptoken), you must specify it in the initial delta request. Microsoft Graph automatically encodes any specified parameters into the token portion of the @odata.nextLink or @odata.deltaLink URL provided in the response.

You only need to specify any desired query parameters once upfront.

In subsequent requests, copy and apply the @odata.nextLink or @odata.deltaLink URL from the previous response, as that URL already includes the encoded, desired parameters.

Query parameter	Type	Description
$deltatoken	string	A state token returned in the @odata.deltaLink URL of the previous delta function call for the same group collection, indicating the completion of that round of change tracking. Save and apply the entire @odata.deltaLink URL including this token in the first request of the next round of change tracking for that collection.
$skiptoken	string	A state token returned in the @odata.nextLink URL of the previous delta function call, indicating there are further changes to be tracked in the same group collection.

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.
• You can use $select=members to get membership changes. You can additionally track other changes like ownership and more by selecting any group relationship of type directoryObject collection.
• There's limited support for $filter:
  • The only supported $filter expression is for tracking changes on a specific object: $filter=id+eq+{value}. You can filter multiple objects. For example, https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/delta/?$filter= id eq '477e9fc6-5de7-4406-bb2a-7e5c83c9ffff' or id eq '004d6a07-fe70-4b92-add5-e6e37b8affff'. There is a limit of 50 filtered objects.

Request headers

Name	Description
Authorization	Bearer {token}. Required. Learn more about authentication and authorization.
Content-Type	application/json
Prefer	return=minimal Specifying this header with a request that uses a @odata.deltaLink would return only the object 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 group 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 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 the second example below.

Alternative: return only the changed properties

Adding an optional request header - prefer:return=minimal - 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. (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 the third example below.

Example

Request 1

The following example shows a request. There's no $select parameter, so a default set of properties is tracked and returned.

HTTP

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/delta

C#

// 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.Groups.Delta.GetAsDeltaGetResponseAsync();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

CLI

mgc groups delta get

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Go

// 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"
	  //other-imports
)


// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
delta, err := graphClient.Groups().Delta().GetAsDeltaGetResponse(context.Background(), nil)

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Java

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x

GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);

var result = graphClient.groups().delta().get();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

JavaScript

const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

let delta = await client.api('/groups/delta')
	.get();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

PHP

<?php
use Microsoft\Graph\GraphServiceClient;


$graphServiceClient = new GraphServiceClient($tokenRequestContext, $scopes);


$result = $graphServiceClient->groups()->delta()->get()->wait();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

PowerShell

Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Groups

Get-MgGroupDelta

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Python

# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python

result = await graph_client.groups.delta.get()

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Response 1

Here's an example of the response when using @odata.deltaLink obtained from the query initialization.

Note: The response object shown here might be shortened for readability.

Note the presence of the members@delta property which includes the ids of member objects in the group.

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-type: application/json

{
  "@odata.context":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#groups","@odata.nextLink":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/delta?$skiptoken=pqwSUjGYvb3jQpbwVAwEL7yuI3dU1LecfkkfLPtnIjvY1FSSc_",
  "value":[
    {
      "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",
      "members@delta": [
        {
          "@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.user",
          "id": "693acd06-2877-4339-8ade-b704261fe7a0"
        },
        {
          "@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.user",
          "id": "49320844-be99-4164-8167-87ff5d047ace"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Request 2

The next example shows the initial request selecting three properties for change tracking, with default response behavior:

HTTP

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/delta?$select=displayName,description,mailNickname

C#

// 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.Groups.Delta.GetAsDeltaGetResponseAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
	requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Select = new string []{ "displayName","description","mailNickname" };
});

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

CLI

mgc groups delta get --select "displayName,description,mailNickname"

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Go

// 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"
	  graphgroups "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/groups"
	  //other-imports
)

requestParameters := &graphgroups.GroupsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
	Select: [] string {"displayName","description","mailNickname"},
}
configuration := &graphgroups.GroupsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
	QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
delta, err := graphClient.Groups().Delta().GetAsDeltaGetResponse(context.Background(), configuration)

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Java

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x

GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);

var result = graphClient.groups().delta().get(requestConfiguration -> {
	requestConfiguration.queryParameters.select = new String []{"displayName", "description", "mailNickname"};
});

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

JavaScript

const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

let delta = await client.api('/groups/delta')
	.select('displayName,description,mailNickname')
	.get();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

PHP

<?php
use Microsoft\Graph\GraphServiceClient;
use Microsoft\Graph\Generated\Groups\Delta\DeltaRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration;


$graphServiceClient = new GraphServiceClient($tokenRequestContext, $scopes);

$requestConfiguration = new DeltaRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration();
$queryParameters = DeltaRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration::createQueryParameters();
$queryParameters->select = ["displayName","description","mailNickname"];
$requestConfiguration->queryParameters = $queryParameters;


$result = $graphServiceClient->groups()->delta()->get($requestConfiguration)->wait();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

PowerShell

Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Groups

Get-MgGroupDelta -Property "displayName,description,mailNickname" 

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Python

# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.groups.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(
		select = ["displayName","description","mailNickname"],
)

request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)

result = await graph_client.groups.delta.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Response 2

Here's an example of the response when using @odata.deltaLink obtained from the query initialization. All three properties are included in the response and it isn't known which ones have changed since the @odata.deltaLink was obtained.

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-type: application/json

{
  "@odata.context":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#groups",
  "@odata.nextLink":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/delta?$skiptoken=pqwSUjGYvb3jQpbwVAwEL7yuI3dU1LecfkkfLPtnIjsXoYQp_dpA3cNJWc",
  "value": [
    {
      "displayName": "All Company",
      "description": null,
      "mailNickname": "allcompany@contoso.com"
    }
  ]
}

Request 3

The next example shows the initial request selecting three properties for change tracking, with alternative minimal response behavior:

HTTP

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/delta?$select=displayName,description,mailNickname
Prefer: return=minimal

C#

// 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.Groups.Delta.GetAsDeltaGetResponseAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
	requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Select = new string []{ "displayName","description","mailNickname" };
	requestConfiguration.Headers.Add("Prefer", "return=minimal");
});

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

CLI

mgc groups delta get --select "displayName,description,mailNickname"

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Go

// 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"
	  graphgroups "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/groups"
	  //other-imports
)

headers := abstractions.NewRequestHeaders()
headers.Add("Prefer", "return=minimal")

requestParameters := &graphgroups.GroupsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
	Select: [] string {"displayName","description","mailNickname"},
}
configuration := &graphgroups.GroupsDeltaWithRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
	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.Groups().Delta().GetAsDeltaGetResponse(context.Background(), configuration)

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Java

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x

GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);

var result = graphClient.groups().delta().get(requestConfiguration -> {
	requestConfiguration.queryParameters.select = new String []{"displayName", "description", "mailNickname"};
	requestConfiguration.headers.add("Prefer", "return=minimal");
});

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

JavaScript

const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

let delta = await client.api('/groups/delta')
	.header('Prefer','return=minimal')
	.select('displayName,description,mailNickname')
	.get();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

PHP

<?php
use Microsoft\Graph\GraphServiceClient;
use Microsoft\Graph\Generated\Groups\Delta\DeltaRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration;


$graphServiceClient = new GraphServiceClient($tokenRequestContext, $scopes);

$requestConfiguration = new DeltaRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration();
$headers = [
		'Prefer' => 'return=minimal',
	];
$requestConfiguration->headers = $headers;

$queryParameters = DeltaRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration::createQueryParameters();
$queryParameters->select = ["displayName","description","mailNickname"];
$requestConfiguration->queryParameters = $queryParameters;


$result = $graphServiceClient->groups()->delta()->get($requestConfiguration)->wait();

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

PowerShell

Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Groups

Get-MgGroupDelta -Property "displayName,description,mailNickname" 

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Python

# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.groups.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(
		select = ["displayName","description","mailNickname"],
)

request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)
request_configuration.headers.add("Prefer", "return=minimal")


result = await graph_client.groups.delta.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)

For details about how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance, see the SDK documentation.

Response 3

Here's an example of the response when using @odata.deltaLink obtained from the query initialization. The mailNickname property isn't included, which means it hasn't changed since the last delta query; displayName and description are included which means their values have changed.

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-type: application/json

{
  "@odata.context":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#groups",
  "@odata.nextLink":"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/delta?$skiptoken=pqwSUjGYvb3jQpbwVAwEL7yuI3dU1LecfkkfLPtnIjsXoYQp_dpA3cNJWc",
  "value": [
    {
      "displayName": "Everyone",
      "description": null
    }
  ]
}

Related content

• Use delta query to track changes in Microsoft Graph data.
• Get incremental changes for groups.