Distinguish and retrieve occurrences, exceptions, and the series master for a Microsoft Graph recurring calendar event
domain: learn.microsoft.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Identify a recurring event's type field: seriesMaster (the pattern owner), occurrence (unmodified instance), or exception (a modified instance).
Call GET /me/events/{seriesMasterId}/instances?startDateTime={start}&endDateTime={end} to list occurrences and exceptions within a range in one call.
To fetch exception ids directly from the master, GET the seriesMaster event with $select=exceptions (or $expand) — exception ids are only returned when explicitly selected.
When updating a single occurrence (time, subject, attendees), PATCH that specific instance id; Graph converts its type to "exception" automatically.
Remember occurrences canceled outright from the series are not included in the instances listing or the master's occurrences property — track deletions separately.
Known gotchas
The instances endpoint only returns items within the requested date window — a long-running recurring series requires paging the window forward, it won't return the whole series at once.
Canceled (deleted) occurrences don't show up as flagged "exception" items the way some other calendar APIs represent them; you generally have to track deletions via delta query or change notifications instead.
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