In the modern workplace, integrating Microsoft SharePoint with Python applications enables automated management and access to documents, folders, and other resources programmatically. This tutorial outlines the creation and the use of the SharePointClient class to interact with SharePoint through the Microsoft Graph API.
The tutorial will guide you through application registration in Azure, implementing the Python class, and setting necessary permissions. Finally, the complete source code will be shared on GitHub.
Before we begin, make sure you have:
Python installed on your machine.
Access to a Microsoft SharePoint site.
Installed the requests library in Python, available via pip (pip install requests).
To interact with SharePoint via the Microsoft Graph API, you need to register your application in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). This provides the necessary tenant_id, client_id, and client_secret.
Sign into the Azure Portal: Navigate to Azure Portal and log in.
Access Azure Active Directory: Select Azure Active Directory from the sidebar.
Register a new application: Go to "App registrations" and click "New registration". Provide a name, choose the account types, and set a redirect URI if needed.
Obtain IDs and Secrets: Post-registration, note the provided Client ID and Tenant ID. Create a new client secret under "Certificates & secrets".
Set the correct permissions in Azure AD to allow your application to read files and sites.
API permissions: On your app's registration page, click "API permissions".
Add permissions: Select "Add a permission", choose "Microsoft Graph" then "Application permissions".
Add specific permissions: Find and add Files.Read.All and Sites.Read.All to enable file and site reading capabilities.
Grant admin consent: To activate the permissions, click "Grant admin consent for [Your Organization]".
Implement the SharePointClient class which includes authentication and methods to interact with SharePoint data. Below is the class integrated into a script:
import requestsimport osclass SharePointClient: def __init__(self, tenant_id, client_id, client_secret, resource_url): self.tenant_id = tenant_id self.client_id = client_id self.client_secret = client_secret self.resource_url = resource_url self.base_url = f"https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant_id}/oauth2/v2.0/token" self.headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'} self.access_token = self.get_access_token() # Initialize and store the access token upon instantiation def get_access_token(self): # Body for the access token request body = { 'grant_type': 'client_credentials', 'client_id': self.client_id, 'client_secret': self.client_secret, 'scope': self.resource_url + '.default'
} response = requests.post(self.base_url, headers=self.headers, data=body) return response.json().get('access_token') # Extract access token from the response def get_site_id(self, site_url): # Build URL to request site ID full_url = f'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/sites/{site_url}' response = requests.get(full_url, headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {self.access_token}'}) return response.json().get('id') # Return the site ID def get_drive_id(self, site_id): # Retrieve drive IDs and names associated with a site drives_url = f'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/sites/{site_id}/drives' response = requests.get(drives_url, headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {self.access_token}'}) drives = response.json().get('value', []) return [(drive['id'], drive['name']) for drive in drives] def get_folder_content(self, site_id, drive_id, folder_path='root'): # Get the contents of a folder folder_url = f'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/sites/{site_id}/drives/{drive_id}/root/children' response = requests.get(folder_url, headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {self.access_token}'}) items_data = response.json() rootdir = [] if 'value' in items_data: for item in items_data['value']: rootdir.append((item['id'], item['name'])) return rootdir
# Recursive function to browse folders def list_folder_contents(self, site_id, drive_id, folder_id, level=0): # Get the contents of a specific folder folder_contents_url = f'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/sites/{site_id}/drives/{drive_id}/items/{folder_id}/children' contents_headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {self.access_token}'} contents_response = requests.get(folder_contents_url, headers=contents_headers) folder_contents = contents_response.json() items_list = [] # List to store information if 'value' in folder_contents: for item in folder_contents['value']: if 'folder' in item: # Add folder to list items_list.append({'name': item['name'], 'type': 'Folder', 'mimeType': None}) # Recursive call for subfolders items_list.extend(self.list_folder_contents(site_id, drive_id, item['id'], level + 1)) elif 'file' in item: # Add file to the list with its mimeType items_list.append({'name': item['name'], 'type': 'File', 'mimeType': item['file']['mimeType']}) return items_list
def download_file(self, download_url, local_path, file_name): headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {self.access_token}'} response = requests.get(download_url, headers=headers) if response.status_code == 200: full_path = os.path.join(local_path, file_name) with open(full_path, 'wb') as file: file.write(response.content) print(f"File downloaded: {full_path}") else: print(f"Failed to download {file_name}: {response.status_code} - {response.reason}")
def download_folder_contents(self, site_id, drive_id, folder_id, local_folder_path, level=0): # Recursively download all contents from a folder folder_contents_url = f'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/sites/{site_id}/drives/{drive_id}/items/{folder_id}/children' contents_headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {self.access_token}'} contents_response = requests.get(folder_contents_url, headers=contents_headers) folder_contents = contents_response.json() if 'value' in folder_contents: for item in folder_contents['value']: if 'folder' in item: new_path = os.path.join(local_folder_path, item['name']) if not os.path.exists(new_path): os.makedirs(new_path) self.download_folder_contents(site_id, drive_id, item['id'], new_path, level + 1) # Recursive call for subfolders elif 'file' in item: file_name = item['name'] file_download_url = f"{resource}/v1.0/sites/{site_id}/drives/{drive_id}/items/{item['id']}/content" self.download_file(file_download_url, local_folder_path, file_name)
# Usage example tenant_id = 'your-tenant-id' client_id = 'your-client-id' client_secret = 'your-client-secret' site_url = "xxxxx.sharepoint.com:/sites/xxxxxx" # Replace xxxxx with your site URL resource = 'https://graph.microsoft.com/' client = SharePointClient(tenant_id, client_id, client_secret, resource) site_id = client.get_site_id(site_url) print("Site ID:", site_id) drive_info = client.get_drive_id(site_id) print("Drives available:", drive_info) # Example: Access the first drive and list root content drive_id = drive_info[0][0] folder_content = client.get_folder_content(site_id, drive_id)
print("Root Content:", folder_content)The SharePointClient class provides a streamlined way to interact with SharePoint resources through Python. This solution is ideal for automating document management tasks, enhancing productivity across your organization. Check out the full source code on GitHub.
Keep your credentials secure and adhere to best practices for managing sensitive information. Enjoy automating with Python and SharePoint!
