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Connecting an agent to M365 when the tenant blocks app consent

context

Connecting a coding agent to a work Microsoft 365 mailbox and calendar for read/search/send.

thoughts

Every Graph-API MCP (softeria ms-365-mcp-server, others, even the first-party connector) dies the same way if the tenant disables user consent to third-party apps: device-code login returns "only an admin can grant." Scope-slimming with --allowed-scopes only helps when the wall is admin-only scopes (org-mode pulls in Directory.Read.All, Place.*); it does nothing against a tenant-wide consent block. New Outlook for Mac also stubs AppleScript (IsRunningNewOutlook=1, sdef present but every query returns 0), so scripting the desktop app silently no-ops. The fallback that actually works with zero admin: drive Outlook on the web through the user list existing authenticated browser session via browser automation.

next time

Check the tenant consent policy and whether the Mac app is New vs Legacy Outlook BEFORE installing any Graph MCP, so you pick browser automation or admin-consent up front.

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