How to Access Microsoft Bookings Custom Question Data in Power Automate
Question details
The user needs to extract and read customer answers from custom questions within a Microsoft Bookings appointment using a Power Automate flow.
- Product
- Microsoft Bookings and Power Automate
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Automating appointment data extraction to process customer information from custom fields.
- Observed behavior
- The standard Microsoft Bookings trigger returns blank fields for customer answers or causes an 'Apply to each' error because the custom data is returned as a string rather than a parseable array.
Ensure you have the necessary permissions to access Microsoft Graph API, and verify whether your Power Automate environment includes access to premium connectors.
Use the Microsoft Graph API to Retrieve Booking Details
Bypass the limitations of the standard Bookings trigger by directly querying the Graph API to extract custom question answers.
The standard Microsoft Bookings trigger in Power Automate has known limitations when exposing custom-question data. Instead of relying on the trigger's outputs, you can make a direct call to the Microsoft Graph API to retrieve the full, unformatted booking appointment details, including custom answers.
In your Power Automate flow, add the 'HTTP' premium action to make a GET request to the Microsoft Graph API endpoint for the specific booking appointment.
Set up the required authentication in the HTTP action using OAuth or a registered Azure AD application that possesses 'Bookings.Read.All' permissions.
Add a 'Parse JSON' action to format the HTTP response body. This converts the custom questions string into a proper array, allowing you to use an 'Apply to each' loop without errors.
Consult the Power Platform Community
Seek targeted assistance from specialized engineers if Graph API implementation proves difficult or if premium licenses are unavailable.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Bookings trigger output return blank for customer answers?
The standard Microsoft Bookings trigger in Power Automate currently has a known limitation where custom fields and answers are not reliably included in the output payload, frequently returning them as null or blank strings.
Can I access Bookings custom questions without a premium Power Automate license?
Generally, accessing the raw, correctly formatted data via the Microsoft Graph API requires the premium HTTP connector. Without a premium license, you may be severely limited to the flawed data provided directly by the standard trigger.
How do I fix the 'Apply to each' error when reading customer answers?
This error occurs because the trigger returns the custom answers as a single unformatted string instead of an iterable array. You must use a 'Parse JSON' action to explicitly convert the string data into an array before passing it into an 'Apply to each' loop.
