Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

How to upload and refresh SharePoint site articles with Dynamics Knowledge Base

Hello fellow community members,

We have a requirement to import the articles from a sharepoint site that is outside the MS Dynamics tenant and refresh it as well as soon as the article gets updated.

Basically we need to use this SharePoint site as an external search provider and have the ability to use it to search in the knowledge base smart assist based on keywords etc.

I have already tried Integrated Search Provider and External Search provider which does not work as the site is not public and sits behind authentication. Got the same confirmation from MS.

Is there any alternative approach which can work in this case? Any help will be much appreciated.

To meet your requirement of accessing private SharePoint content in Dynamics 365 Knowledge Base with updates and keyword search, here are a few alternative approaches:

1. Scheduled Data Sync with Power Automate or Azure Logic Apps:

Use Power Automate or Azure Logic Apps to set up a scheduled flow that connects to SharePoint with the necessary authentication and pulls article updates. You could use the SharePoint REST API or Microsoft Graph API with the necessary permissions.

Store this data in a custom entity in Dynamics 365 to simulate the Knowledge Base article structure and ensure that keyword search is enabled.

2. Custom API Service:

Create a custom service that authenticates with SharePoint to pull the data and expose it through a REST API. This API could then be consumed by Dynamics 365, either directly or via a plugin or custom page, for on-demand retrieval.

You could then build a custom Knowledge Base interface within Dynamics 365 that queries this API, potentially providing more flexible search and retrieval options.

3. Azure Cognitive Search Integration:

Index the SharePoint content in Azure Cognitive Search with scheduled refreshes. Then, set up a connection between Dynamics 365 and Azure Cognitive Search using APIs.

You can implement custom UI components in Dynamics 365 that leverage Cognitive Search’s keyword and AI-driven search features.

4. Custom Knowledge Article Search Plugin:

Build a custom plugin that interfaces with SharePoint via Microsoft Graph API, triggered by events (e.g., on load or on demand) within the Dynamics 365 Knowledge Base interface.

Use Azure AD Application permissions to authenticate to SharePoint, even if it is outside the Dynamics tenant, as long as the SharePoint and Azure AD instances can connect.

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