Directory schema extensions | Graph API concepts

Article
01/26/2016

This topic discusses directory extensions in the Azure AD Graph API, which can be used to add properties to directory objects without requiring an external data store. For example, if an organization has a line of business (LOB) application that requires a Skype Id for each user in the directory, the Graph API can be used to register a new property named skypeId on the directory’s User object, and then write a value to the new property for a specific user. This topic will help you understand the limitations of directory extensions, how they’re registered in a directory, and provide examples of how they’re used in the Graph API.

This article applies to Azure AD Graph API. For similar info related to Microsoft Graph API, see Add custom data to resources using extensions.

Caution

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Graph is deprecated and is currently in its retirement path. We recommend that you migrate your apps to Microsoft Graph.

To start migrating your apps, see Migrate your apps from Azure AD Graph to Microsoft Graph.
For the latest announcement, see Important: Azure AD Graph Retirement.

Extension data types

Extensions can only be registered using Graph API version 1.5 or newer. The following property types can be registered:

Property Type	Remarks
Binary	256 bytes maximum.
Boolean
DateTime	Must be specified in ISO 8601 format. Will be stored in UTC.
Integer	32-bit value.
LargeInteger	64-bit value.
String	256 characters maximum.

The property types above can be registered on the following objects in a directory:

Understanding how an extension is registered

It’s important to understand how an extension property is registered in a directory and how Azure AD’s consent model affects its registration. For more information about application consent in Azure AD, see Overview of the Consent Framework in Integrating Applications with Azure Active Directory.

Extension properties are registered on an Application object within the developer’s directory. After the application has been consented to by a user or an admin in the developer’s directory, the property is added to the target directory type and becomes immediately accessible in the developer’s directory. For a multi-tenant application, when the application is granted consent by a user or an admin in another organization, the extension properties become immediately accessible on the target directory type in the other organization’s directory.

If an organization consents to “read only” permissions for an application with registered extensions, the properties will still become accessible in the other organization’s directory. Additionally, extension properties are accessible by any consented application in an organization, not just for the application to which they are registered. Other consented applications in that organization can read or write values for the new extension property if they have sufficient permissions.

If the application is deleted or consent is removed in the other organization’s directory, the extension property becomes inaccessible on the target directory object. If the extension is deleted by the application, it also becomes inaccessible on the target directory object. If a multi-tenant application adds additional extension properties after consent was granted, these properties become immediately accessible in the other organization’s directory.

Note: If an extension property’s value is set on an object and that property becomes inaccessible in that object’s directory, the property still counts against that object’s limit of 100 extension property values. The only way to remove the property value from consideration once it has been set is to explicitly set it to null. You cannot do this if the extension property is inaccessible.

Example scenario

Consider the following scenario: Litware is an independent software vendor (ISV) that has developed a SaaS application for other organizations to use, and this application requires an extension property named skypeId on a User object. Litware first registers the application in its own directory, and then the Graph API is called to register the extension property on the Application object, which makes the property accessible on User objects in Litware’s directory. Finally, Litware makes the application multi-tenant capable so that it can be used in other organizations.

Contoso wants to use Litware’s SaaS application, so a user or administrator in Contoso consents to the application. Upon consent, the application is registered in Contoso’s directory and the extension properties registered for the application by Litware immediately become available in the Contoso directory. Since the skypeId extension property for a User object was registered by Litware on the application, the property becomes accessible on User objects in Contoso’s directory. Litware’s application or other consented applications in Contoso’s directory can now access the new property according to the permissions configured for that application in Contoso’s directory. This means that applications, according to their permissions, may write a value for that extension property on one or more users in the directory. Only users for which a skypeId value has been written will return that property on their User object. This will be the case until the skypeId property is set to null, after which time the User object for that user will no longer return the property.

Sample REST requests for directory extensions

The following sample requests show you how to register, view, write, read, filter, and unregister extensions in your directory. Replace the <applicationObjectId> placeholder with your registered application’s Object ID. You can get this value in the following way:

Go to https://graphexplorer.cloudapp.net/, click the Sign In link at the top-right corner, and then sign in using the credentials for an administrator account in your organization’s directory.
After you have signed in, click the URL in the resource text box (next to the GET button) and select the URL that ends in applications/ then click GET or click the enter key.
Find the desired application entry from the results, and then copy its objectId value, such as the following: "objectId": "269fc2f7-6420-4ea4-be90-9e1f93a87a64"

In this section, there are sample requests for the following operations:

Register an extension
View registered extensions
Write an extension value
Remove an extension value
Read an extension value
Filter an extension value
Unregister an extension

For full samples that use extension properties, see the following samples in the Azure AD samples on Github:

WebApp-GraphAPI-DirectoryExtensions-PHP: Shows how to create and use extensions with PHP.
WebApp-GraphAPI-DirectoryExtensions-DotNet: Displays an AAD tenant org chart and allows reading extension values right out of the box.

Register an extension

The following sample request creates an extensionProperty on the desired Application object.

Request format

POST https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/applications/<applicationObjectId>/extensionProperties?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1

{
    "name": "<extensionPropertyName>",
    "dataType": "<String or Binary>",
    "targetObjects": [
        "<DirectoryObject>"
    ]
}

Sample request

POST https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/applications/269fc2f7-6420-4ea4-be90-9e1f93a87a64/extensionProperties?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1Qi...r6Xh5KVA
Content-Type: application/json
Host: graph.windows.net
Content-Length: 104

{
    "name": "skypeId",
    "dataType": "String",
    "targetObjects": [
        "User"
    ]
}

If the operation was successful, it will return an HTTP 201 Created status code along with the fully-qualified extension property name, which can be used for writing values to the target type.

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
...

{
    "odata.metadata": "https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/$metadata#directoryObjects/Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ActiveDirectory.ExtensionProperty/@Element",
    "odata.type": "Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ActiveDirectory.ExtensionProperty",
    "objectType": "ExtensionProperty",
    "objectId": "dc893d45-a75b-4ccf-9b92-ce7d80922aa7",
    "name": "extension_ab603c56068041afb2f6832e2a17e237_skypeId",
    "dataType": "String",
    "targetObjects": [
        "User"
    ]
}

View registered extensions

The following sample request gets the extensions that are registered on your Application object.

Request format

GET https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/applications/<applicationObjectId>/extensionProperties?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1

Sample request

GET https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/applications/269fc2f7-6420-4ea4-be90-9e1f93a87a64/extensionProperties?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1Qi...r6Xh5KVA
Host: graph.windows.net

If the operation was successful, it will return an HTTP 200 OK status code along with all the information about each extension property registered on your Application object.

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
...

{
    "odata.metadata": "https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/$metadata#directoryObjects/Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ActiveDirectory.ExtensionProperty",
    "value": [
        {
            "odata.type": "Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ActiveDirectory.ExtensionProperty",
            "objectType": "ExtensionProperty",
            "objectId": "dc893d45-a75b-4ccf-9b92-ce7d80922aa7",
            "name": "extension_ab603c56068041afb2f6832e2a17e237_skypeId",
            "dataType": "String",
            "targetObjects": [
                "User"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Write an extension value

The following sample request writes an extension value for the *skypeId^ extension property on a User object.

Request format

PATCH https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users/[email protected]?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1

{
    "<extensionPropertyName>": <value>
}

Sample request

PATCH https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users/[email protected]?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1Qi...r6Xh5KVA
Content-Type: application/json
Host: graph.windows.net
Content-Length: 65

{
    "extension_ab603c56068041afb2f6832e2a17e237_skypeId": "jimbob.skype"
}

If the operation was successful, it will return a HTTP 204 No Content status code.

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content

If the attempted write surpasses the 100 extension value limit for the object, it will return an HTTP 403 Forbidden response with an error code of “Directory_ResourceSizeExceeded” and the following message: “The size of the object has exceeded its limit. Please reduce the number of values and retry your request”.

Remove an extension value

The following sample request removes an extension value that was previously set for the skypeId extension property on a User object by setting the value to null.

Request format

PATCH https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users/[email protected]?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1

{
    "<extensionPropertyName>": null
}

Sample request

PATCH https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users/[email protected]?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1Qi...r6Xh5KVA
Content-Type: application/json
Host: graph.windows.net
Content-Length: 65

{
    "extension_ab603c56068041afb2f6832e2a17e237_skypeId": null
}

If the operation was successful, it will return a HTTP 204 No Content status code.

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content

Read an extension value

The following sample request performs a simple GET operation on the user, which will return the standard property values as well as the new extension property value.

Request format

GET https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users/[email protected]?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1

Sample request

GET https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users/[email protected]?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1Qi...r6Xh5KVA
Host: graph.windows.net

If the operation was successful, it will return an HTTP 200 OK status code along with the new extension property value (many user properties have been removed from the sample response for brevity).

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
    ...
    "usageLocation": null,
    "userPrincipalName": "[email protected]",
    "userType": "Member"
    "extension_ab603c56068041afb2f6832e2a17e237_skypeId": "jimbob.skype"
}

Filter an extension value

The following sample request filters the users by the specified extension property value.

Note: Prefix searches on extensions are limited to 71 characters for string searches and 207 bytes for searches on binary extensions.

Request format

GET https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users?api-version=1.5&$filter=<extensionName>%20eq%20'<value>' HTTP/1.1

Sample request

GET https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/users?api-version=1.5&$filter=extension_ab603c56068041afb2f6832e2a17e237_skypeId%20eq%20'jimbob.skype' HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1Qi...r6Xh5KVA
Host: graph.windows.net

If the operation was successful, it will return an HTTP 200 OK status code, along with the resulting user object.

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
    ...
    "usageLocation": null,
    "userPrincipalName": "[email protected]",
    "userType": "Member"
    "extension_ab603c56068041afb2f6832e2a17e237_skypeId": "jimbob.skype"
}

Unregister an extension

The following sample request unregisters an extension property by performing a DELETE operation on the extension object ID.

Request format

DELETE https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/applications/<applicationObjectId>/extensionProperties/<extensionObjectId>?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1

Sample request

DELETE https://graph.windows.net/contoso.onmicrosoft.com/applications/269fc2f7-6420-4ea4-be90-9e1f93a87a64/extensionProperties/dc893d45-a75b-4ccf-9b92-ce7d80922aa7?api-version=1.5 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1Qi...r6Xh5KVA
Host: graph.windows.net

If the operation was successful, it will return an HTTP 204 No Content status code, and the extension property will be unregistered on the application.

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content

Extension behavior and limitations

The following behavior and limitations apply to extension properties in a directory:

Extension properties registered for an application become available in a directory when a directory user or admin consents for the application.
After an extension property becomes available in a directory, any consented application may read or write a value for that extension property for any of the objects for which that property applies according to that application’s permissions in the directory. The objects for which the extension property applies are specified in the targetObjects property.
A maximum of 100 extension property values may be written on a specific object in a directory. For example, assuming no other extension property values have been written on any user in a directory, if an application writes an extension property value to user1, then values for 99 other extension properties may be written to user1 by that application or another application with appropriate permissions in the directory; however, other users in the directory will still be able to have up to 100 extension property values written to them.
If an application tries to set a value for an additional extension property on an object for which 100 extension property values have already been set, Graph API returns a 403 Forbidden response with an error code of “Directory_ResourceSizeExceeded” and the following message: “The size of the object has exceeded its limit. Please reduce the number of values and retry your request”.
If a developer unregisters (deletes) an extension property from an application, that extension property immediately becomes inaccessible in the developer directory and also in directories for which the application has been granted consent.
If the application is removed from the developer directory, all extension properties registered to that application immediately become inaccessible in the developer directory and in directories in which that application has been granted consent.
If an multi-tenant application has been granted consent in a directory and that application is later unregistered (removed) from that directory -- for example, by an administrator using the azure management portal -- then any extension properties registered on that application immediately become inaccessible in that directory.
An extension property value must be explicitly set to null in order to be removed from a directory object. If an extension property value is set on a directory object and that extension property becomes inaccessible in the directory for any of the reasons cited above, then the extension property will no longer be visible on that directory object. It will, however, still count against the 100 extension property value limit for that object. Until the availability of the extension property is restored -- for example, in some cases, by consenting to the application again -- the value will not be accessible for either read or write.

Additional resources

Azure AD Graph API reference

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Directory schema extensions | Graph API concepts

Extension data types

Understanding how an extension is registered

Example scenario

Sample REST requests for directory extensions

Register an extension

Request format

Sample request

Sample response

View registered extensions

Request format

Sample request

Sample response

Write an extension value

Request format

Sample request

Sample response

Remove an extension value

Request format

Sample request

Sample response

Read an extension value

Request format

Sample request

Sample response

Filter an extension value

Request format

Sample request

Sample response

Unregister an extension

Request format

Sample request

Sample response

Extension behavior and limitations

Additional resources

Additional resources