Employee Experience Storyline: New Microsoft Graph Relationships and Resources – What Entra Admins Need to Know

WHAT JUST CHANGED

Microsoft Graph has expanded the employeeExperienceUser resource with a new storyline relationship, and introduced several associated resources and methods. These changes are in Public Preview as of June 2024, and apply to all tenants with access to Microsoft Graph beta endpoints. Key updates:

• Added storyline relationship to employeeExperienceUser
• Introduced storyline resource
• Added followings and followers relationships to storyline
• Added storylineFollower and storylineFollowing resources
• Introduced follow, unfollow, and list followers API methods for storyline

These capabilities are available only via Microsoft Graph beta endpoints, not yet in v1.0 production API.

WHO’S AFFECTED

• Entra admins in tenants with Microsoft Viva, Employee Experience, or Graph API integrations
• Developers working on HR, engagement, or knowledge-sharing platforms
• Any organization piloting or integrating Viva Connections or Insights
• Tenants with delegated or application permissions for Employee Experience APIs

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE ROADMAP

Microsoft’s direction for Employee Experience is clear: deeper integration with Microsoft Viva, more granular API access, and improved user engagement telemetry. Upcoming features to watch:

• General Availability (GA) of storyline APIs, expected late 2024
• Expansion of storyline to support custom content types, notifications, and analytics
• Integration of storyline relationships with Teams and SharePoint for richer employee engagement
• Enhanced lifecycle management for storyline resources in Graph API, including bulk operations and automated governance
• Licensing changes: Viva and Employee Experience features may become tiered or bundled; stay alert for pricing updates

Admins should monitor Microsoft Graph changelog and Viva roadmap for updates that affect provisioning, permissions, or user experience.

WHY THIS DIRECTION IS BETTER

The new storyline relationships and resources bring several advantages:

• Granular Relationships: Follow/follower graph allows targeted employee engagement tracking, which was previously unavailable.
• API-Driven Integration: Developers can now automate storyline management, enabling custom workflows and analytics.
• Modern Identity Experience: Aligns with competing IdPs and modern HR platforms, offering richer engagement data and actionable insights.
• Improved Lifecycle: Admins can manage user engagement data within Entra ID context, supporting compliance and governance.
• Better Role Separation: Storyline resource relationships allow clearer delegation between HR, IT, and communications teams.

Compared to previous static user profile models, storyline enables dynamic, social-style engagement. This is a step above legacy Azure AD user properties and brings Entra closer to best-in-class employee experience platforms.

RELATED ENTRA ID CHANGES

• Entra Admin Center UX: Recent navigation updates make Employee Experience features more discoverable under ‘Identity Governance’ and ‘Viva’ nodes.
• Licensing: Viva modules and Employee Experience APIs may soon require premium SKUs; review your licensing for future-proofing.
• Microsoft Graph Module: Ensure you use the Microsoft.Graph PowerShell module for all audits and integrations (never AzureAD/MSOnline).
• External Identity: Storyline may extend to guest users, so monitor for B2B/B2C roadmap announcements.

WHAT TO DO: ADMIN ACTIONS

1. Review Permissions: Audit API permissions for Employee Experience resources; ensure correct delegated or application scopes.
2. Monitor Usage: Identify which users have storyline relationships; prepare for analytics or compliance requirements.
3. Update Documentation: Inform developers and HR teams about new API endpoints and relationships.
4. Prepare for Licensing Changes: Check your Viva and Employee Experience licensing alignment.
5. Stay Current: Subscribe to Microsoft Graph changelog and roadmap alerts.

CHECK IT YOURSELF: POWERSHELL AUDIT

Use modern Microsoft.Graph PowerShell to audit storyline relationships and followers for users. This sample reports on users with storyline relationships and their follower counts, using API pagination and error handling. It is read-only and does not modify data.

# Requires Microsoft.Graph PowerShell module
# Connect to Graph beta endpoint
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes 'EmployeeExperience.Read.All' -Environment 'Global' -UseBeta

# Get all users with storyline relationship (paginated)
$users = @()
$uri = 'https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/employeeExperience/users'
while ($uri) {
    try {
        $response = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri $uri
        if ($response.value) {
            $users += $response.value
        }
        $uri = $response.'@odata.nextLink'
    } catch {
        Write-Warning "Error querying storyline users: $_"
        $uri = $null
    }
}

# For each user, get storyline followers (paginated)
foreach ($user in $users) {
    $userId = $user.id
    $storylineUri = "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/employeeExperience/users/$userId/storyline/followers"
    $followers = @()
    while ($storylineUri) {
        try {
            $resp = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri $storylineUri
            if ($resp.value) {
                $followers += $resp.value
            }
            $storylineUri = $resp.'@odata.nextLink'
        } catch {
            Write-Warning "Error querying followers for $userId: $_"
            $storylineUri = $null
        }
    }
    Write-Host "User: $userId, Storyline followers: $($followers.Count)"
}

This script audits storyline presence and follower counts for each user with Employee Experience enabled. No data is modified. Always use the beta endpoint for these resources.

PORTAL PATH

• Entra Admin Center: Go to Identity Governance > Employee Experience or Viva section for resource configuration
• API Permissions: Navigate to App Registrations > API Permissions to validate EmployeeExperience.Read.All and related scopes
• Microsoft Graph Explorer: Test storyline endpoints under Beta mode

BOTTOM LINE

Prioritised Recommendation: If you integrate with Microsoft Viva or Employee Experience, audit storyline relationships now via Microsoft Graph, review permissions and licensing, and prepare for upcoming GA and analytics features. Stay ahead by monitoring roadmap changes and updating documentation for your HR and IT teams.