Add members
Namespace: microsoft.graph
Important
APIs under the /beta
version in Microsoft Graph are subject to change. Use of these APIs in production applications is not supported. To determine whether an API is available in v1.0, use the Version selector.
Add a member to a security or Microsoft 365 group. When using the API to add multiple members in one request, you can add up to only 20 members.
The following table shows the types of members that can be added to either security groups or Microsoft 365 groups.
Object type | Member of security group | Member of Microsoft 365 group |
---|---|---|
User | ||
Security group | ||
Microsoft 365 group | ||
Device | ||
Service principal | ||
Organizational contact |
This API is available in the following national cloud deployments.
Global service | US Government L4 | US Government L5 (DOD) | China operated by 21Vianet |
---|---|---|---|
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Permissions
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.
Supported resource | Delegated (work or school account) | Delegated (personal Microsoft account) | Application |
---|---|---|---|
device | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All and Device.ReadWrite.All | Not supported. | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All and Device.ReadWrite.All |
group | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All | Not supported. | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All |
orgContact | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All and OrgContact.Read.All | Not supported. | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All and OrgContact.Read.All |
servicePrincipal | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All and Application.ReadWrite.All | Not supported. | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All and Application.ReadWrite.All |
user | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All | Not supported. | GroupMember.ReadWrite.All |
Important
In delegated scenarios, the signed-in user must also be assigned a supported Microsoft Entra role or a custom role with the microsoft.directory/groups/members/update
role permission. The following roles are the least privileged roles that are supported for this operation, except for role-assignable groups:
- Group owners
- Directory Writers
- Groups Administrator
- Identity Governance Administrator
- User Administrator
- Exchange Administrator - only for Microsoft 365 groups
- SharePoint Administrator - only for Microsoft 365 groups
- Teams Administrator - only for Microsoft 365 groups
- Yammer Administrator - only for Microsoft 365 groups
- Intune Administrator - only for security groups
To add members to a role-assignable group, the app must also be assigned the RoleManagement.ReadWrite.Directory permission and the calling user must be assigned a supported Microsoft Entra role. Privileged Role Administrator is the least privileged role that is supported for this operation.
HTTP request
POST /groups/{group-id}/members/$ref
PATCH /groups/{group-id}/members
Request headers
Name | Description |
---|---|
Authorization | Bearer {token}. Required. Learn more about authentication and authorization. |
Content-type | application/json. Required. |
Request body
When using the POST /groups/{group-id}/members/$ref
syntax, supply a JSON object that contains an @odata.id property with a reference by ID to a supported group member object type.
When using the PATCH /groups/{group-id}/members
syntax, supply a JSON object that contains a members@odata.bind property with one or more references by IDs to a supported group member object type. That is:
- For Microsoft 365 groups, only
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryObjects/{id}
andhttps://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/{id}
is allowed where{id}
must be a user because only users can members of Microsoft 365 groups. - For security groups, the following ID references are allowed:
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryObjects/{id}
where{id}
must belong to a user, security group, device, service principal, or organizational contact.https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/{id}
where{id}
must belong to another security group. Microsoft 365 groups can't be members of security groups.https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/devices/{id}
where{id}
belongs to a device.https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/servicePrincipal/{id}
where{id}
belongs to a service principal.https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/orgContact/{id}
where{id}
belongs to an organizational contact.
Response
If successful, this method returns a 204 No Content
response code. It returns a 400 Bad Request
response code when the object is already a member of the group or is unsupported as a group member. It returns a 404 Not Found
response code when the object being added doesn't exist. It returns 403 Unauthorized
in one of the following scenarios:
- You're attempting to add a member to a group that can't be managed through Microsoft Graph. This API supports only security and Microsoft 365 groups.
- You're attempting to add a member you don't have permissions to add. Refer to the preceding Permissions section for the permissions required to add different member types.
- You're attempting to add a member to a role-assignable group and you don't have the required permissions.
Example
Example 1: Add a member to a group
Request
The following example shows a request that uses the directoryObjects reference to add a member to a group.
POST https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/groups/{group-id}/members/$ref
Content-type: application/json
{
"@odata.id": "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/directoryObjects/{id}"
}
Response
The following example shows the response.
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Example 2: Add multiple members to a group in a single request
This example shows how to add multiple members to a group with OData bind support in a PATCH operation. Up to 20 members can be added in a single request. If an error condition exists in the request body, no members are added and the appropriate response code is returned.
Request
The following example shows a request.
PATCH https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/groups/{group-id}
Content-type: application/json
{
"members@odata.bind": [
"https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/directoryObjects/{id}",
"https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/directoryObjects/{id}",
"https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/directoryObjects/{id}"
]
}
Response
The following example shows the response.
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content