Using Microsoft Graph API to Read Microsoft Purview Data

Good news: You can easily leverage the Microsoft Graph API + Power Query (M Language) to read Purview metadata!

✅ What You'll Learn

• ✔️ Register an Azure AD App to access Purview via Graph
• ✔️ Grant the necessary permissions
• ✔️ Generate an access token in Power Query
• ✔️ Query Purview using Microsoft Graph API from Power Query
• ✔️ Load Purview data into Power BI or Excel

🟣 Step 1: Register an App in Azure AD

• ✔️ Go to Azure Portal > Azure Active Directory > App registrations > New registration
• ✔️ Name it: PurviewGraphReader
• ✔️ Set Redirect URI as https://localhost (for testing)
• ✔️ Click Register

🟣 Step 2: Assign API Permissions

• ✔️ Go to API permissions > Add a permission
• ✔️ Choose Microsoft Graph
• ✔️ Select Application permissions
• ✔️ Search for and add: Catalog.Read.All (needed for Purview Catalog API)
• ✔️ Click Grant admin consent

🟣 Step 3: Create a Client Secret

• ✔️ Go to Certificates & Secrets > New client secret
• ✔️ Provide a description and set expiry
• ✔️ Save the generated secret value securely

🟣 Step 4: Collect Important Details

• ✔️ Directory (Tenant) ID
• ✔️ Application (Client) ID
• ✔️ Client Secret
• ✔️ Purview Account Name & Endpoint (e.g., https://your-account.purview.azure.com)

🟣 Step 5: Sample Power Query Code

let
    // Parameters - replace with your values
    tenantId = "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
    clientId = "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
    clientSecret = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
    purviewAccountName = "your-purview-account",
    
    // Get Token URL
    tokenUrl = "https://login.microsoftonline.com/" & tenantId & "/oauth2/v2.0/token",

    // Request Access Token
    tokenResponse = Json.Document(Web.Contents(tokenUrl,
        [
            Content = Text.ToBinary("client_id=" & clientId & 
                                    "&scope=https%3A%2F%2Fpurview.azure.net%2F.default" & 
                                    "&client_secret=" & clientSecret & 
                                    "&grant_type=client_credentials"),
            Headers = [#"Content-Type"="application/x-www-form-urlencoded"]
        ])),
    access_token = tokenResponse[access_token],

    // Call Purview Catalog API
    purviewUrl = "https://" & purviewAccountName & ".purview.azure.com/catalog/api/search/query?api-version=2021-05-01-preview",

    // Example Body - Adjust for your use case
    body = "{""keywords"":""*""}",

    purviewResponse = Json.Document(Web.Contents(purviewUrl,
        [
            Headers = [
                #"Authorization" = "Bearer " & access_token,
                #"Content-Type"="application/json"
            ],
            Content=Text.ToBinary(body),
            Method="POST"
        ])),

    // Convert API response to a table
    purviewData = purviewResponse[results],
    purviewTable = Table.FromList(purviewData, Splitter.SplitByNothing(), {"Record"})
in
    purviewTable
    

Explanation:

• ✔️ Authenticates to Azure AD using OAuth2
• ✔️ Queries Purview Catalog API
• ✔️ Retrieves catalog search results
• ✔️ Adaptable for custom queries (e.g., glossary, assets)

🟣 Step 6: Load into Power BI or Excel

You can now easily load this data inside:

• ✔️ Power BI Desktop
• ✔️ Excel Power Query Editor

Point to notes:

• ✔️ Purview API is not yet part of core Microsoft Graph but follows a similar structure
• ✔️ Catalog.Read.All permission is read-only
• ✔️ Expand records into columns easily inside Power Query Editor

Common Errors:

Tips:

• ✔️ Change the body parameter for custom searches
• ✔️ Extend this to read glossary, classification, or asset data
• ✔️ Use Power Query parameters to make the code reusable