Setting up SharePoint AI Connector on Egnyte

Egnyte offers its users the ability to connect to external AI connectors in order to bridge the gap between Egnyte and widely used productivity tools.

This guide walks Egnyte admins through connecting SharePoint as an AI Connector using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Once configured, users can now search and read SharePoint content directly from Egnyte's AI Assistant.

Prerequisites

• Microsoft 365 Tenant with Entra/Azure AD Global Admin access
• Egnyte admin privileges (Power User role or higher)
• SharePoint connector already visible in the Egnyte connectors library as a pre-loaded connector

Tenant Admin Consent (Pre-Step for SharePoint Connector) 

Before the connector can be published to end users, a Microsoft 365 tenant admin must grant tenant-wide consent to the SharePoint MCP by Egnyte app. This lets the app access the Microsoft Graph permissions it needs on behalf of the whole organization.

1. Open the consent link: Grant admin consent and sign in as a Global Administrator.
   
2. Review the list of permissions in the dialog.
   
3. Select Accept to confirm. This gives the app access to your organization's data through the listed permissions.

The app requests scopes that individual non-admin users cannot consent to on their own. Without tenant-wide consent, every non-admin user will see Microsoft's Need admin approval screen and will be blocked from authenticating.

Refer to these steps to use a pre-loaded connector, publish the connector, editing the connector, along with the other admin actions.

Configure Tool Permissions

The following tools are available in the SharePoint connector for configuration:

• sharepoint_find_site: Perform a keyword search to locate accessible sites and retrieve the required site_id as a preliminary step.
• sharepoint_get_site_by_path: Identify a site via its specific hostname and relative path. This is applicable only when the complete URL structure is known.
• sharepoint_list_subsites: Enumerate child sites under a specific parent site, with pagination support available.
• sharepoint_list_document_libraries: View all document libraries contained within a site, including paginated results.
• sharepoint_get_default_document_library: Directly retrieve the primary document library (often labeled Documents) without scanning all libraries.
• sharepoint_get_folder_children: List items within a specific document library folder. The library root is shown if no folder ID is provided.
• sharepoint_find_file_or_folder: Search for files and folders across all reachable SharePoint locations. It is recommended to use specific queries as only the initial page is returned.
• sharepoint_get_file_or_folder_metadata: Fetch detailed information, such as file size, source URLs, timestamps, and ownership, for a given item.
• sharepoint_get_file_or_folder_metadata_by_url: Extract metadata using a SharePoint sharing link, provided the user possesses existing access rights.
• sharepoint_read_text_file: Open and retrieve the content of text files smaller than 5MB in plain text format.
• sharepoint_list_lists: Enumerate all SharePoint Lists available on a site with optional pagination.
• sharepoint_list_list_items: Access rows and associated column data from a list, supporting paginated views.
• sharepoint_get_list_item: Fetch a particular list item and its column values using a specific ID.
• sharepoint_list_columns: Review the schema and column definitions of a list to better understand the returned item results.

Admins can set permissions for each tool by selecting either Allow unsupervised (checkmark icon)or Always ask permission (info icon).

Additional Information and Resources

Consideration

Users Previously Granted Individual Consent

Some users may have already granted individual consent to the application prior to tenant-wide approval. Egnyte’s authentication flow supports this scenario. Once tenant admin consent is granted, users can proceed without any additional action.

Troubleshooting

Need Admin Approval Error

If users see a Need admin approval message during authentication, it means tenant-wide admin consent for Microsoft Graph permissions has not yet been granted. A Microsoft 365 tenant admin must approve access by visiting their admin portal.

OAuth Authentication Fails

Authentication may fail if admin consent is incomplete or still propagating. After granting consent, allow a few minutes for changes to take effect and retry. Also ensure the required Microsoft Graph permissions are correctly configured.

Tools Return Empty Results or No Access Errors

If tools return no results, it may be due to SharePoint or Microsoft Graph permission constraints. The connector only returns data that the user has access to in SharePoint. Verify that the user has access to the relevant content, and retry if needed.