[Client bug]: $search and $expand not working when mixed up together

[zagoskin]

Describe the bug
As per microsoft documentation following this link, I am able to make queries about users for my tenant. When using the $search parameter, we are specified to use the ConsistencyLevel=eventual header for it to work (and adviced to use $count=true for some cases). This works as expected when making an HTTP request against the API. However, if I use the $expand parameter to get the users manager, I get an error "Request with $search query parameter only works through MSGraph with a special request header: 'ConsistencyLevel: eventual'", but this is not the case at all.

For example, the next request works just fine. I get the expected HTTP 200 result

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users?$filter=userType eq 'guest'&$search="displayName:jua"
ConsistencyLevel: eventual

Whereas the next one does not work

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users?$select=id,displayName,manager&$filter=userType eq 'guest'&$search="displayName:jua"&$expand=manager&$count=true  
ConsistencyLevel: eventual

I get an HTTP 400 response

{
    "error": {
        "code": "Request_UnsupportedQuery",
        "message": "Request with $search query parameter only works through MSGraph with a special request header: 'ConsistencyLevel: eventual'",
        "innerError": {
            "date": "2023-10-20T20:39:09",
            "request-id": "b39648ff-4c5b-4543-8059-845688f86b1d",
            "client-request-id": "1466b344-12f4-cf07-be3c-2a2b99ed5917"
        }
    }
}

Nonetheless, this does not work using the Microsoft.Graph package for .NET (version 5.31.0) even, which is actually where I found the bug and is my biggest concern. I am using .NET 7.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior in .NET application:

1. Create a simple .Net 7 console application.
2. Instantiate a GraphServiceClient
3. Make the following call

var graphServiceClient = SomeFactory.CreateClient();
var userCollectionResponse = await graphServiceClient.Users.GetAsync(requestConfiguration =>
        {
            requestConfiguration.Headers.Add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual");            
            requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = "userType eq 'member'";
            requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Search = "\"displayName:whatever\"";
            requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Top = 100;
            requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Count = true;
            requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Select = new string[] { "id", "displayName", "manager" };
            requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Expand = new string[] { "manager" };
        }, cancellationToken: token);

4. This throws an exception of type ODataError

Microsoft.Graph.Models.ODataErrors.ODataError: Request with $search query parameter only works through MSGraph with a special
request header: 'ConsistencyLevel: eventual'

Expected behavior
I can make a call to microsoft graph either using an HTTP request or the .NET package to retrieve specific users, using a $search query parameter in combination with the $expand parameter to also get their manager.

Package Version
5.31.0.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Windows 11
• Browser: microsoft edge
• Version: 118.0.2088.57

[andrueastman]

Thanks for raising this @zagoskin

The code snippet constructed looks correct. However, it seems due to a current API limitation, it is currently not possible to use the $expand parameter combined with the advanced queries on Microsoft Entra ID objects. You can find more information in the documentation below. Removing the $expand should result in a successful response.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/aad-advanced-queries?view=graph-rest-1.0&tabs=http#query-scenarios-that-require-advanced-query-capabilities

[zagoskin]

Thanks for the reply @andrueastman

I hope in the future we get access to combine these parameters then! Removing the $expand does work, so I guess I'll have to make a second call to get the manager field for every user and make a join-like operation. I would be great if the error we get was more in the lines of "query not supported" instead of pointing to a missing header.

[andrueastman]

Thanks for confirming this @zagoskin

We'll close this for now as there is nothing SDK related to resolve. Incase of any API related questions/issues, you can always create a question at the link below.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/tags/161/ms-graph