SharePoint Connector - Architecture

High-Level Architecture

Key Components

In Short

• The system reads content and permissions from Microsoft Graph and SharePoint REST API, processes it, and pushes it into Unique AI
• All communication is secure, well-defined, and limited to known ports and protocols
• The design aligns with typical financial-sector network security expectations
• SharePoint REST API is only needed if permission sync is enabled
• Site configurations can be loaded from a static YAML file or dynamically from a SharePoint list
• Subsites can be configured as standalone sites using compound site IDs (hostname,siteCollectionId,webId)
• When subsitesScan is enabled per-site, the connector recursively discovers and syncs content from subsites

Dynamic Site Configuration

The connector supports two configuration sources:

• Static (YAML): Site configurations are defined in the tenant configuration file using sitesSource: config_file
• Dynamic (SharePoint List): Site configurations are read from a designated SharePoint list using sitesSource: sharepoint_list

When using SharePoint list configuration:

• Each row in the list represents a site to sync
• Changes to the list take effect on the next sync cycle
• No connector restart required for configuration changes

Microsoft Graph (External SaaS)

• Provides authentication, authorization, SharePoint content, and permission information
• Accessed securely over the internet
• Traffic:
  • UDP/TCP:53 (DNS) - for name resolution
  • TCP:443 (HTTPS) - for API communication
• Direction: Outbound (Egress) from the connector

SharePoint REST (External SaaS)

• Provides site-specific permissions and group member information
• Only used when permission sync is enabled
• Accessed securely over the internet
• Traffic:
  • UDP/TCP:53 (DNS) - for name resolution
  • TCP:443 (HTTPS) - for API communication
• Direction: Outbound (Egress) from the connector

SharePoint Connector (Internal Service, Node.js)

• Fetches content from Microsoft Graph and SharePoint REST API
• Processes and forwards content to Unique AI's APIs
• Handles authentication through the Unique IDP
• Traffic:
  • Outbound HTTPS to Microsoft Graph (TCP:443)
  • Outbound HTTPS to SharePoint REST (TCP:443)
  • Internal HTTPS to Unique AI (TCP:443)
  • DNS lookups (UDP/TCP:53)

Unique AI (Internal Service)

• Core content ingestion and API service
• Receives processed data from the SharePoint Connector
• Serves APIs used by other internal or external systems
• Traffic:
  • Receives HTTPS (TCP:443) requests from the connector
  • Uses internal DNS (UDP/TCP:53)

Unique IDP (Identity Provider)

• Manages authentication for Unique AI APIs
• Traffic:
  • TCP:443 (HTTPS) for token retrieval
  • UDP/TCP:53 (DNS) for resolution

Cluster-Internal Deployment

In cluster-internal mode:

• Zitadel token validation is not needed
• Services communicate securely within the cluster
• Company and user scope is maintained via request headers:
  • x-company-id
  • x-user-id

Multi-Origin Support

Note: Multi-origin support is not available in the current release line.

Scenarios

Multi-Origin Until Supported

Until native multi-origin support is available, clients can achieve the same functionality by deploying the connector multiple times, each configured for a different origin/SharePoint.

Container Platform

The connector runs on any container orchestrator. Unique provides a versioned Helm chart for Kubernetes deployment.

Clients desiring to run the connector outside Kubernetes can use the Helm chart as documentation and inspiration.

Connectivity

All external communication is encrypted via HTTPS (TCP:443).

Authentication Endpoint

https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenantId}/oauth2/v2.0/token

Used to obtain OAuth2 tokens for Microsoft Graph and SharePoint REST APIs.

Microsoft Graph Endpoints

SharePoint REST Endpoints (Permission Sync Only)

Hosting Models

Self-Hosted (SH)

Single-Tenant: Client-Hosted

Client uses Unique Single Tenant but hosts the connector:

• Suitable for isolated/on-premise SharePoints
• Client manages both connector and Entra App Registration
• Connector connects to Unique via external API

Single-Tenant: Unique-Hosted

Unique hosts the connector on behalf of the client:

• Unique provides App ID (client ID) of the Entra App Registration
• Client provides:
  • SharePoint URL
  • Tenant ID
  • Site configuration (one of):
    • Site IDs and settings via YAML configuration, or
    • SharePoint list location for dynamic configuration

System Scalability and Resource Sizing

The Node.js service operates with the following resource allocation:

• Memory allocation: approximately 2 GB
• CPU allocation: 1 core

These settings ensure the service has sufficient capacity for expected workloads.

Note: The connector is an IO-driven, low CPU workload. Unique AI ingestion services are typically the bottleneck, depending on embedding models used.

Standard References

• Microsoft Graph API - Graph API documentation
• SharePoint REST API - SharePoint REST documentation
• Microsoft Entra ID - Authentication documentation