Teams MCP - Permissions

5 min read

All permissions are Delegated (not Application), meaning they act on behalf of the signed-in user and can only access data that user has access to.

Permission Summary

These are all the scopes a Teams MCP server requests. Only one of them, ChannelMessage.Read.All, needs admin consent.

Permission	Type	Admin Consent	Used For
`User.Read`	Delegated	No	Identify the signed-in user
`offline_access`	Delegated	No	Refresh tokens for long-lived sessions
`ChannelMessage.Send`	Delegated	No	`send_channel_message`
`ChatMessage.Send`	Delegated	No	`send_chat_message`
`Chat.ReadBasic`	Delegated	No	`list_chats`
`Chat.Read`	Delegated	No	`get_chat_messages`, `search_messages`
`Team.ReadBasic.All`	Delegated	No	`list_teams`
`Channel.ReadBasic.All`	Delegated	No	`list_channels`
`ChannelMessage.Read.All`	Delegated	Yes	`get_channel_messages`, `search_messages`

No calendar, meeting, transcript, or recording scope is requested. The server reads and sends chat and channel messages, and nothing else.

Deployments with transcript capture request more

Setting UNIQUE_INTEGRATION=enabled adds four calendar and meeting scopes on top of this set, two of which need admin consent. They are documented with the feature that uses them — see Recordings & Transcripts — Required Microsoft Graph permissions.

Deployment Modes and Scope Sets

The requested scopes are composed from two independent capability toggles:

CHAT_INTEGRATION (default enabled) — the Teams chat/channel messaging tools.
UNIQUE_INTEGRATION (default disabled) — meeting transcript/recording capture into the Unique knowledge base.

The scopes fall into three groups:

Identity (always requested, regardless of toggles): openid, profile, email, offline_access, User.Read.
Messaging (requested only when CHAT_INTEGRATION=enabled): ChannelMessage.Send, ChatMessage.Send, Chat.ReadBasic, Chat.Read, Team.ReadBasic.All, Channel.ReadBasic.All, ChannelMessage.Read.All.
Knowledge base (requested only when UNIQUE_INTEGRATION=enabled): Calendars.Read, OnlineMeetings.Read, OnlineMeetingRecording.Read.All, OnlineMeetingTranscript.Read.All.

Mode	`UNIQUE_INTEGRATION`	`CHAT_INTEGRATION`	Scopes requested
Full	`enabled`	`enabled`	identity + messaging + knowledge base
Chat-only	`disabled`	`enabled` (default)	identity + messaging
Ingestion-only	`enabled`	`disabled`	identity + knowledge base (no messaging scopes)
Both off	`disabled`	`disabled`	— (server fails fast at startup)

Ingestion-only least-privilege scope set

An ingestion-only deployment (UNIQUE_INTEGRATION=enabled, CHAT_INTEGRATION=disabled) requests only the identity scopes plus Calendars.Read, OnlineMeetings.Read, OnlineMeetingRecording.Read.All, and OnlineMeetingTranscript.Read.All. It requests none of the messaging scopes, so the app cannot read or send any chat or channel message. This is the least-privilege app registration for transcript capture.

This is standard Microsoft behavior, not Teams MCP specific. All Microsoft 365 apps use the same consent model.

Admin adds the app and grants admin-required permissions

Organization-wide OR per-user
ChannelMessage.Read.Alldoes require admin consent (required for get_channel_messages to read channel message content). It is the only one in the set above that does.
Every other permission can be approved by individual users: User.Read, offline_access, Chat.ReadBasic, Chat.Read, ChatMessage.Send, Team.ReadBasic.All, Channel.ReadBasic.All, ChannelMessage.Send.

Admin approval workflow (if tenant has it enabled)

Users request admin approval
Admin approves app for that user
This is in addition to Step 1

User consent (always required for delegated permissions)

Each user must consent individually
Required even after admin consent (Microsoft's requirement for delegated permissions)

Microsoft Documentation:

User and admin consent overview - Standard Microsoft consent flows
Grant admin consent - Step-by-step guide
Admin consent workflow - Per-user approval process

Least-Privilege Justification

Each permission is the minimum required for its function. No narrower alternatives exist.

`User.Read`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	Retrieve the signed-in user's profile (ID, email, display name)
Used For	Identifying the user when storing tokens
Why Not Less	This is the minimum permission to read any user data
Why Not `User.ReadBasic.All`	That permission reads other users; we only need the signed-in user

`offline_access`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	Obtain refresh tokens for long-lived sessions
Used For	Refreshing expired access tokens without user re-authentication
Why Required	Without this, users would need to re-authenticate every ~1 hour when access tokens expire

`ChannelMessage.Send`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	Send messages to Microsoft Teams channels
Used For	`send_channel_message` tool to post messages on behalf of the user
Why Not Less	No narrower permission exists for sending channel messages
Why Not `ChannelMessage.ReadWrite`	We only send messages, not read or modify them

`ChatMessage.Send`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	Send messages to Microsoft Teams chats
Used For	`send_chat_message` tool to post messages on behalf of the user
Why Not Less	No narrower permission exists for sending chat messages
Why Not `Chat.ReadWrite`	We only send messages, not read full chat content via this permission

`Chat.ReadBasic`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	List the user's chats with basic metadata (topic, members, chat type)
Used For	`list_chats` tool, which returns chat ids plus distinguishing metadata (topic, members, creation and last-message dates) used to pick the right chat id
Why Not Less	No narrower permission exists for listing chats
Why Not `Chat.Read`	`Chat.ReadBasic` is sufficient for listing chats; `Chat.Read` is only needed for reading message content

`Chat.Read`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	Read full message content from Teams chats
Used For	`get_chat_messages` tool to retrieve message history; `search_messages` tool to run keyword searches via the Microsoft Search API and hydrate chat hits
Why Not Less	`Chat.ReadBasic` does not grant access to message content
Why Not `Chat.ReadWrite`	We do not modify or delete chat messages

`Team.ReadBasic.All`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	List all Teams the user is a member of
Used For	`list_teams` tool, which returns team ids plus `isArchived` status to disambiguate same-named teams
Why Not Less	No narrower permission exists for listing joined teams
Why Not `Team.Read.All`	`Team.ReadBasic.All` is sufficient for listing teams with the metadata needed for id-based targeting

`Channel.ReadBasic.All`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	List channels in a Team
Used For	`list_channels` tool, which returns channel ids plus `createdDateTime` and `membershipType` used to pick the right channel id
Why Not Less	No narrower permission exists for listing channels
Why Not `Channel.Read.All`	`Channel.ReadBasic.All` is sufficient for listing channels with the metadata needed for id-based targeting

`ChannelMessage.Read.All`

Aspect	Detail
Purpose	Read message content from Teams channels
Used For	`get_channel_messages` tool to retrieve channel message history; `search_messages` tool to hydrate channel hits when `detail=full`
Why Not Less	`Channel.ReadBasic.All` only covers listing channels, not reading message content
Why Not `ChannelMessage.ReadWrite`	We do not modify or delete channel messages
Admin Consent	Required because channel messages may contain sensitive organisational content

Why Delegated (Not Application) Permissions

Factor	Delegated	Application
User involvement	User signs in and consents	No user; admin pre-configures
Data access scope	Only the signed-in user's data	All users' data in tenant
Setup requirement	None (self-service)	Admin creates Access Policies
Least privilege	Yes - user controls their own data	No - broad tenant access

The MCP model requires self-service user connections where each user:

Connects their own account
Controls what data they share
Can disconnect at any time

Application permissions would require tenant administrators to pre-configure access for each user, defeating the self-service model.

Permission Reference Links

Microsoft Graph Permissions Reference - Official Microsoft documentation
ChannelMessage.Read.All - Third-party permission explorer
Chat.Read - Third-party permission explorer
Microsoft Graph API - Graph API overview

Architecture - System components and infrastructure
Security - Encryption, PKCE, and threat model
Flows - User connection, OAuth, token refresh, and chat tool sequences
Recordings & Transcripts - Technical Manual - The four additional calendar and meeting scopes, and where they are used

Teams MCP - Permissions

Permission Summary

Deployment Modes and Scope Sets

Understanding Consent Requirements

Standard Microsoft Consent Process

Least-Privilege Justification

User.Read

offline_access

ChannelMessage.Send

ChatMessage.Send

Chat.ReadBasic

Chat.Read

Team.ReadBasic.All

Channel.ReadBasic.All

ChannelMessage.Read.All