ms graph add email to distribution list

Question

I'm trying to manage a distribution list in ms 365 from my website where I keep all user info. I'd like the users to be added to a distribution list with their personal email and so without being a member of the ms365 environment.

$graph = new Graph();
$graph
->setBaseUrl("https://graph.microsoft.com/")
->setApiVersion("beta")
->setAccessToken($this->accessToken);
$group_id = 'xxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxx';
$data = json_encode(array(
    "GivenName" => "John",
    "Surname" => "Doe",
    "EmailAddresses" => array(
        array(
            "Address" => "[email protected]",
            "Name" => "John Doe"
        )
    )
));
        
$response = $graph->createRequest("post", "/groups/{$group_id}/members")
->addHeaders(array("Content-Type" => "application/json"))
->setReturnType(Model\User::class)
->attachBody($data)
->setTimeout("1000")
->execute();    

The response I get is:

Uncaught GuzzleHttp\Exception\ClientException: Client error: POST https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/groups/xxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxx/members resulted in a 400 Bad Request response: {"error":{"code":"Request_BadRequest","message":"Unsupported resource type 'DirectoryObject' for operation 'Create'.","i (truncated...)

Further error stack:

C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\guzzle\src\Exception\RequestException.php:113 Stack trace: #0 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\guzzle\src\Middleware.php(69): GuzzleHttp\Exception\RequestException::create(Object(GuzzleHttp\Psr7\Request), Object(GuzzleHttp\Psr7\Response), NULL, Array, NULL) #1 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\Promise.php(204): GuzzleHttp\Middleware::GuzzleHttp\{closure}(Object(GuzzleHttp\Psr7\Response)) #2 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\Promise.php(153): GuzzleHttp\Promise\Promise::callHandler(1, Object(GuzzleHttp\Psr7\Response), NULL) #3 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\TaskQueue.php(48): GuzzleHttp\Promise\Promise::GuzzleHttp\Promise\{closure}() #4 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\Promise.php(248): GuzzleHttp\Promise\TaskQueue->run(true) #5 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\Promise.php(224): GuzzleHttp\Promise\Promise->invokeWaitFn() #6 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\Promise.php(269): GuzzleHttp\Promise\Promise->waitIfPending() #7 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\Promise.php(226): GuzzleHttp\Promise\Promise->invokeWaitList() #8 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\promises\src\Promise.php(62): GuzzleHttp\Promise\Promise->waitIfPending() #9 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\guzzlehttp\guzzle\src\Client.php(187): GuzzleHttp\Promise\Promise->wait() #10 
C:\xampp\htdocs\site\content\libraries\MicrosoftGraph\vendor\microsoft\microsoft-graph\src\Http\GraphRequest.php(270): GuzzleHttp\Client->request('post', 'beta/groups/aa2...', Array)

Now, from the documentation I understand the proper way to add one to a list/group is by using:

"@odata.id": "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/directoryObjects/{id}"

with its user ID but I'd like to use a non-existing user. From within the portal I can do this as admin but is there a way for the graph API to fix this as well? https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/api/group-post-members?view=graph-rest-beta&tabs=http

Answer 1

I never used this api, though, the documentations does not say that {id} should refer to an existing user, it says:

In the request body, supply a JSON representation of the id of the directoryObject, user, or group object you want to add.

So I'm guessing if you post to the directory object it should work