SharePoint API Usage Report: Complete Guide

Introduction to SharePoint API Usage Report

Microsoft recently introduced in the Microsoft Graph API changelog a new reporting endpoint dedicated to SharePoint Online: the SharePoint API Usage Report. Available only under the /beta endpoint, this report provides administrators with granular visibility into SharePoint API consumption by applications registered in their Azure AD tenant.

This article guides you step-by-step through activating the report, understanding its data, and programmatically leveraging its endpoints via PowerShell and Graph Explorer. It is intended for cloud engineers and Microsoft 365 administrators who wish to instrument their governance of SharePoint API access.

Why This Report Is Strategic for Your Tenant

Before the introduction of this report, monitoring API consumption on SharePoint Online relied essentially on Unified Audit Logs and aggregated data from the Microsoft 365 admin portal. While useful, these sources did not allow for easily identifying which application consumes the most bandwidth or performs the most API requests over a given period.

The SharePoint API Usage Report fills this gap by exposing precise metrics by application, by day, including:

• The volume of data transferred (in MB)
• The number of API operations executed
• Identification of each application by its Azure AD AppId

This information is valuable for the following scenarios:

• Governance audit: identify over-consuming third-party or internal applications
• Performance optimization: detect abnormal consumption patterns
• Capacity planning: anticipate peaks in SharePoint API load
• Security: identify unknown applications with active API access

Technical Requirements and Permissions Model

Microsoft Graph Permissions Required

The report currently works exclusively in delegated mode (Delegated permissions). Application permissions are not yet supported according to official Microsoft documentation.

Here is a table of required permissions by operation:

Recommended Azure AD Roles

• Global Administrator: for initial activation of collection
• Reports Reader: for reading report data (principle of least privilege)
• SharePoint Administrator: access to advanced SharePoint settings

Activating the SharePoint API Usage Report

Activating the report requires two distinct steps: sending an activation request, then verifying the integration status.

1POST https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/admin/reportSettings/sharePoint/enableApiUsageReport
2Content-Type: application/json
3 
4{
5  "metric": "EgressReport"
6}

1GET https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/admin/reportSettings/sharePoint/apiUsageReportMetrics

1{
2  "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/$metadata#admin/reportSettings/sharePoint/apiUsageReportMetrics",
3  "metric": "EgressReport",
4  "onboardingStatus": "enabled",
5  "lastUpdatedDateTime": "2026-07-01T00:00:00Z"
6}

PowerShell Implementation with Microsoft.Graph SDK

Here is a complete PowerShell script to automate the activation and retrieval of report data. It uses the Microsoft.Graph PowerShell SDK module.

Installation of Required Module

1# Installation of Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK module
2Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Graph -Scope CurrentUser -Force

Report Activation Script

1# Connection with required delegated scopes
2Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "ReportSettings.ReadWrite.All", "Reports.Read.All"
3 
4# Activation of SharePoint API Usage metrics collection
5$enableBody = @{
6    metric = "EgressReport"
7} | ConvertTo-Json
8 
9try {
10    $enableResponse = Invoke-MgGraphRequest `
11        -Method POST `
12        -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/admin/reportSettings/sharePoint/enableApiUsageReport" `
13        -Body $enableBody `
14        -ContentType "application/json"
15 
16    Write-Host "[OK] Collection enabled. Status: $($enableResponse.onboardingStatus)" -ForegroundColor Green
17} catch {
18    Write-Error "Error during activation: $($_.Exception.Message)"
19}
20 
21# Verification of integration status
22$statusResponse = Invoke-MgGraphRequest `
23    -Method GET `
24    -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/admin/reportSettings/sharePoint/apiUsageReportMetrics"
25 
26Write-Host "Current status: $($statusResponse.onboardingStatus)"
27Write-Host "Last update: $($statusResponse.lastUpdatedDateTime)"

Report Retrieval and Analysis Script

1# Configurable parameters
2$period = "D30"  # Possible values: D1, D7, D30
3$outputPath = "C:\Reports\SharePointAPIUsage_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd').csv"
4 
5# Connection
6Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Reports.Read.All"
7 
8try {
9    # Retrieve report data
10    $reportData = Invoke-MgGraphRequest `
11        -Method GET `
12        -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/reports/getSharePointApiUsage(period='$period')"
13 
14    # Check for data presence
15    if ($null -eq $reportData.value -or $reportData.value.Count -eq 0) {
16        Write-Warning "No data available. Verify that collection is enabled and initialization delay has passed."
17        exit
18    }
19 
20    # Transform and export to CSV
21    $report = $reportData.value | Select-Object `
22        @{N="Date"; E={$_.usageDateTime}},
23        @{N="ServiceArea"; E={$_.serviceArea}},
24        @{N="AppId"; E={$_.appId}},
25        @{N="UsageMB"; E={[math]::Round($_.usageMB, 2)}},
26        @{N="UsageRequests"; E={$_.usageRequests}}
27 
28    $report | Export-Csv -Path $outputPath -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8
29    Write-Host "[OK] Report exported: $outputPath" -ForegroundColor Green
30 
31    # Analysis: Top 10 applications by consumption (MB)
32    Write-Host "`n=== Top 10 Applications by Consumption MB ==="
33    $report | Group-Object -Property AppId | `
34        Select-Object Name, @{N="TotalMB"; E={($_.Group | Measure-Object UsageMB -Sum).Sum}} | `
35        Sort-Object TotalMB -Descending | `
36        Select-Object -First 10 | `
37        Format-Table -AutoSize
38 
39} catch {
40    Write-Error "Error retrieving report: $($_.Exception.Message)"
41}

Report Data Analysis

Structure of Returned Data

The getSharePointApiUsage endpoint returns by default a JSON payload with the following annotated structure:

1{
2  "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/$metadata#Collection(microsoft.graph.sharePointApiUsage)",
3  "value": [
4    {
5      "usageDateTime": "2026-06-30",
6      "serviceArea": "SharePoint",
7      "tenantId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
8      "appId": "yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy",
9      "usageMB": 1245.67,
10      "usageRequests": 98432,
11      "activeApps": null
12    }
13  ]
14}

Detailed Field Description

• usageDateTime: Report period date (daily granularity, ISO 8601 format)
• serviceArea: Service area concerned — currently SharePoint
• tenantId: GUID of the tenant — redundant if querying your own tenant
• appId: GUID of the Azure AD application that made SharePoint API calls
• usageMB: Volume of data transferred in megabytes for the day
• usageRequests: Total number of API operations performed by the application for the day
• activeApps: Documented field but not yet returned — will eventually indicate the number of unique active applications over the period

Supported Query Parameters

Architecture and Governance Considerations

Positioning in the Microsoft Graph Ecosystem

The SharePoint API Usage Report is part of the Microsoft Graph usage reports family, alongside:

• getGraphApiUsage — global Microsoft Graph API consumption
• getSharePointActivityUserDetail — SharePoint user activity
• getSharePointSiteUsageDetail — usage by SharePoint site

Unlike user activity reports, this new report focuses exclusively on application consumption of APIs, making it a complementary and non-substitutable governance tool.

Recommended Architecture for Data Collection

To industrialize the collection and analysis of this data, it is recommended to implement the following pipeline:

1[Azure Automation / Logic App]
2        |
3        v
4[Graph API - getSharePointApiUsage]
5        |
6        v
7[Azure Storage Account / Log Analytics Workspace]
8        |
9        v
10[Power BI / Azure Workbooks]

An Azure Automation Runbook scheduled daily can automate data collection and archiving in a Log Analytics Workspace, allowing subsequent analysis via KQL and alerts based on consumption thresholds.

Example KQL Query for Log Analytics

If you ingest data into Log Analytics via a Custom Log, here is a KQL query to identify the most consuming applications:

1SharePointApiUsage_CL
2| where TimeGenerated >= ago(30d)
3| summarize TotalMB = sum(usageMB_d), TotalRequests = sum(usageRequests_d) by appId_s
4| top 10 by TotalMB desc
5| project AppId = appId_s,
6          TotalDataMB = round(TotalMB, 2),
7          TotalAPIRequests = TotalRequests
8| order by TotalDataMB desc

Known Limitations and Points of Attention

• Preview only: The /beta endpoint may be modified or removed without notice by Microsoft
• Delegated permissions exclusively: Lack of support for application permissions limits non-interactive automation
• Availability delay: Data is not available in real-time; they are generated daily with a potential delay of 24 to 72 hours
• activeApps field non-functional: Documented but not returned in current responses
• No configurable retention: The maximum queryable period is 30 days (D30)
• Graph API uniformity: The requirement to manually enable collection and the existence of a dedicated endpoint (rather than native integration into getGraphApiUsage) reflects architectural fragmentation within Microsoft product teams

Official Reference Resources

• Microsoft Graph Documentation - enableApiUsageReport
• Microsoft Graph Documentation - getSharePointApiUsage
• Graph API Changelog
• Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK
• Azure AD Roles for Microsoft 365 Reports
• Microsoft Graph Explorer

Conclusion

The SharePoint API Usage Report is a welcome addition to the Microsoft Graph reporting arsenal, especially for organizations with many third-party or internal applications integrated with SharePoint Online. Despite its current limitations — lack of application permissions, need for manual activation, non-real-time data — it offers previously non-existent visibility into API consumption at the application level.

Implementing automated collection and archiving in Log Analytics now will establish solid baselines and prepare for any throttling policies Microsoft might introduce in the future. This is a good governance practice that any serious SharePoint Online administrator should integrate into their monitoring toolset.