Since the launch of SharePoint Framework in February, developers have built or deployed modern client-side web parts made with the SharePoint Framework across thousands of Office 365 tenancies. The ability to build responsive, fluid web parts using modern web developer tools and techniques expands the audience and opportunities for all developers to tailor their SharePoint sites.
Building on this momentum, we announced at Microsoft Build new capabilities for the SharePoint Framework. This includes the ability to extend more of SharePoint – such as customizing the user experience of sites and the presentation of lists – with SharePoint Framework Extensions. Developers can also use script to extend toolbars and menus of SharePoint to integrate and connect with more applications. Finally, developers can use the new GraphHttpClient object to connect and access certain scopes of objects – Groups and Reports – within Microsoft Graph.
Today, we are pleased to announce the availability of the SharePoint Framework Extensions Developer Preview, which includes site, list, and command extensions, and GraphHttpClient support. The Developer Preview also supports new Dialog APIs (BaseDialog) that make it easier to support diverse interaction styles from a web part. Developers can get started by exploring the Preview documentation and set up Extension Preview projects. To test your extensions, you will need an Office 365 Developer Tenant, which you can get via the Office Developer Program. While in developer preview, you can expect these new SharePoint Framework Extension capabilities will evolve and change, based on community feedback. We welcome your feedback as we work to shape SharePoint Framework capabilities – you can provide feedback via our Github issues list, or discuss changes on the SharePoint tech community.
In the coming weeks, we will also look to preview other new capabilities for developers, such as support for web part connections, as well as new SharePoint Framework tools and support. SharePoint Framework web parts, which are ready and available across SharePoint Online for your development, will also be coming to on-premises SharePoint 2016 via Feature Pack 2 in the second half of 2017.
With the SharePoint Framework Extensions Developer Preview, the set of scenarios and areas you can extend with script has grown significantly. Whether you’re building web parts for production, or looking to get started and explore the SharePoint Framework Extensions Developer Preview, we look to continue to rapidly adapt the SharePoint developer platform to support more flexible user experiences with modern developer tools and techniques.
