Options for testing against the MS Graph API and email

Dave 206 Reputation points

I have a Visual Studio "Professional monthly" subscription. It isn't the Visual Studio "Professional standard" subscription with Azure access. We have an application that we need to test against the MS Graph API to read emails. What options do I have to get a sandbox or test access to emails and Microsoft Graph? I don't want to upgrade to professional standard as it will double the monthly payments to $600 a year, and doesn't justify the minimal amount of work we need to do to test Microsoft Graph for a specific feature. I tried to access Azure using another M365 Outlook account we use for testing, but it keeps throwing up errors in Azure about no tokens found. Can we not use Azure with personal email accounts?

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  1. Teddie-D 18,055 Reputation points • Microsoft External Staff • Moderator

    Hi @Dave

    You don’t need to upgrade your Visual Studio subscription to test Microsoft Graph with email. The simplest and most reliable approach is to use the Microsoft 365 Developer Program: Developer Program | Microsoft 365 Dev Center.

    Even with a Visual Studio Professional monthly subscription, you are still eligible to join. Visual Studio Professional and Enterprise subscribers qualify for a free Microsoft 365 E5 developer subscription as mentioned in Microsoft 365 Developer Program FAQ | Microsoft Learn.

    You'll get:

    • A free Microsoft 365 E5 tenant
    • Exchange Online mailboxes
    • Up to 25 test users
    • Full Microsoft Graph support for mail scenarios

    This provides a realistic, isolated environment specifically designed for development and testing without requiring any additional licensing.

    The error message you’re seeing no_tokens_found is an authentication issue where the Azure portal cannot retrieve a valid token from the session cache.

    More importantly, Microsoft Graph, especially for mail access, requires a Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) tenant. This is because access tokens are always issued in the context of a specific tenant, and both app registrations and permission grants are tied to that tenant environment. Personal Outlook accounts do not provide a full tenant-backed environment in the same way that an Entra ID tenant does. As a result, they can lead to authentication inconsistencies in Azure, including the issue you are encountering.

    You can read more at Join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program with a Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise subscripti…

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".       

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    1. Dave 206 Reputation points

      Thanks, but the docs for the program specifically state the monthly sub isn't eligible:

      https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/developer-program/join-with-visual-studio

      Only Visual Studio "standard" type subscriptions are eligible. You must have either a Visual Studio Professional standard or Visual Studio Enterprise standard subscription to receive an automatically renewable Microsoft 365 E5 developer subscription. Monthly Visual Studio subscriptions (such as "Professional monthly" or "Enterprise monthly") are not eligible.

      When I go to My Visual Studio > Benefits, there is no Microsoft 365 Developer subscription (E5) tile available.

      👁 Screenshot of the Microsoft 365 developer subscription tile on the Visual Studio benefits page
      Trying to sign up to Azure with our Outlook account just leads to all sorts of problems, like not being able to select a billing account, which is required, but not being able to create a billing account either. Plus more auth errors like "Selected user account does not exist in tenant 'Microsoft Services'"

    2. Teddie-D 18,055 Reputation points • Microsoft External Staff • Moderator

      Hi @Dave

      Apologies for the earlier confusion. I missed that note in the documentation.

      You’re absolutely right, Visual Studio Professional monthly subscriptions are not eligible for the Microsoft 365 Developer Program benefit that automatically provides the E5 developer subscription. That requirement applies only to the standard Professional or Enterprise subscriptions, which is why you don’t see the E5 developer benefit in your Visual Studio dashboard.

      Given that limitation, a practical alternative for your scenario is to use a trial tenant instead: Office 365 E5 for enterprise | Microsoft 365. It’s short-lived, but typically sufficient for development and validation work.

      Note: After your one-month free trial ends, your subscription will automatically convert into a 12-month paid subscription and you will be charged the applicable subscription fee. Cancel anytime during your free trial to stop future charges. Credit card required to sign up.

      This approach gives you a proper tenant-backed environment, which is required for Graph mail scenarios and avoids the authentication/token issues you’ve been seeing with personal Outlook accounts.

    3. Dave 206 Reputation points

      Thanks Teddie, yes, I've come to the conclusion that a real, paid Azure tenant is probably the way forward

    4. Teddie-D 18,055 Reputation points • Microsoft External Staff • Moderator

      Hi @Dave

      I understand. Opting for a paid Azure tenant will provide the flexibility and capabilities you need.

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