Guidance Required for Detecting Outlook Automatic Replies and Integrating with Jira

Gaddam, Ajay goud 0 Reputation points
2026-07-20T16:12:49.9466667+00:00

Hi Microsoft Support Team,

We are investigating options to integrate Microsoft Outlook Automatic Replies (Out of Office) information with Jira Cloud.

Our requirement is to:

  • Detect whether a user has enabled Automatic Replies in Outlook.
  • Retrieve whether Automatic Replies are currently enabled, disabled, or scheduled.
  • Retrieve the scheduled start and end date/time when configured.
  • Retrieve the Automatic Replies message(s), if available.
  • Periodically check this information for a defined set of users.
  • Send the retrieved information to Jira through REST APIs for further processing and automation.

We would appreciate your guidance on the best and recommended Microsoft 365 approach for implementing this.

Questions

  1. What is the recommended and future-proof approach for retrieving Outlook Automatic Replies information for users?
    • Is Microsoft Graph API the recommended approach?
    • Are there any alternative Microsoft services that should be considered?
    • Which Microsoft Graph API endpoint(s) should we use for this use case?
    • Is the following endpoint sufficient for retrieving all the required information?
  2. Does this endpoint return:
    1. Automatic Replies status (disabled, alwaysEnabled, or scheduled)?
    2. Scheduled start date and time?
    3. Scheduled end date and time?
    4. Internal and external reply messages?

-What permissions would be required to implement this solution?

  • MailboxSettings.Read
  • MailboxSettings.ReadWrite

-Any other Microsoft Graph permissions?

-Can we use an Azure App Registration together with Application permissions to retrieve Automatic Replies settings for multiple users across the organization?

-Is a service account required for this implementation, or would an App Registration with the appropriate permissions be sufficient?

-Are there any Microsoft Graph limitations or throttling considerations that we should keep in mind if we poll this information periodically (for example, every 30 minutes or every hour)?

-Are there any webhook or change notification capabilities available for Automatic Replies settings, or would scheduled polling be the recommended approach?

Proposed Flow

We would appreciate Microsoft's recommendations regarding:

  • The best implementation approach.
  • The API endpoints that should be used.
  • The permissions that should be requested.
  • Whether an App Registration alone is sufficient or if a service account is required.
  • Any limitations, best practices, or other considerations we should keep in mind before implementing this integration.

Thank you for your assistance.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Development | Other
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  1. Teddie-D 19,760 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-07-21T03:36:21.02+00:00

    Hi @Gaddam, Ajay goud

    Please note that we're not Microsoft Support, this is a user-to-user community forum. Moderators here don't have access to your environment or Microsoft's backend systems, so we can only provide guidance based on public documentation and community experience.

    Based on your requirements, Microsoft Graph is the recommended approach for integrating Outlook Automatic Replies (Out of Office) information with Jira Cloud.

    1.Microsoft Graph API is the recommended Microsoft 365 API for accessing Outlook mailbox settings, including Automatic Replies (Out of Office). It is the supported API for Exchange Online mailbox configuration and is the approach Microsoft recommends for new development.

    For your scenario, the mailbox settings endpoint is the appropriate API:

    GET /users/{id | userPrincipalName}/mailboxSettings/automaticRepliesSetting

    2.The automaticRepliesSetting object includes the information required for your scenario, including:

    • Automatic Replies status (disabled, alwaysEnabled, or scheduled)
    • Scheduled start date and time
    • Scheduled end date and time
    • Internal automatic reply message
    • External automatic reply message
    • External audience setting (for example, contacts only or all external senders)

    For most integrations, this endpoint is sufficient to retrieve the information you've listed. You can refer to this response.

    3.Required permissions

    • For read-only access, the recommended Microsoft Graph permission is: MailboxSettings.Read
    • If your application also needs to modify Automatic Replies settings, then: MailboxSettings.ReadWrite

    No additional Microsoft Graph permissions are generally required solely for reading Automatic Replies settings.

    An Azure App Registration using Application permissions is generally the recommended approach for periodically retrieving Automatic Replies settings for multiple users across the organization. This avoids requiring users to sign in individually and is well suited for background synchronization scenarios. Delegated permissions are more appropriate when the application is acting on behalf of the currently signed-in user.

    A separate service account is typically not required when using an application with the appropriate Microsoft Graph application permissions and administrator consent.

    4.Polling every 30 minutes or every hour is a reasonable approach. As with any Microsoft Graph integration, your application should:

    • Handle HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests) responses.
    • Respect the Retry-After header when throttling occurs.
    • Implement retry logic with exponential backoff.
    • Cache results where appropriate instead of making unnecessary requests.

    The likelihood of throttling depends on factors such as the number of mailboxes being queried, request frequency, and overall application behavior.

    5.Microsoft Graph documentation currently does not list change notifications for the mailboxSettings or automaticRepliesSetting resources. Therefore, scheduled polling is generally the recommended approach for this scenario.

    6.Recommended implementation flow

    • Register an Azure AD (Microsoft Entra ID) application.
    • Grant the application MailboxSettings.Read application permission and obtain administrator consent.
    • Periodically call: GET /users/{id}/mailboxSettings/automaticRepliesSetting
    • Read the automaticRepliesSetting object.
    • Compare with previously stored values if desired to detect changes.
    • Send the relevant information to Jira using the Jira REST APIs.
    • Handle Microsoft Graph throttling appropriately.

    I hope this information is helpful.

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