Get schema for a new SharePoint column with Power Automate

“I’d like to create a new SharePoint column with a Power Automate flow, is there some easy way to define its schema, e.g. using SP interface?”

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There’s an older article explaining how to create a new SharePoint column from a Power Automate flow. You prepare the column schema, use it in the HTTP request, and a new column is created. While it’s just a few steps, the first one can be a tricky one. How do you create the column schema? How to define all the properties of the new column? Do you have to understand all the properties and set them all manually?

Get the schema from an existing column

While preparing the XML manually is one of the options, it’s not an easy one. Luckily, as many times before, you can use the existing user interface to do some work for you. In this case we’re talking about the preparation of the column schema.

Firstly, prepare the column exactly as you want it in some SharePoint list. It can be a separate SharePoint list that’ll just help you define all the column properties.

Secondly, use the HTTP request to SharePoint below to extract the column schema.

Method: GET

Uri:
_api/web/lists/getByTitle('<listName>')/fields/getByTitle('<columnName>')/SchemaXML

Note: <…> are placeholders, replace them including the < and >.

Extract the schema with an expression and use is to create copy of the column.

body('Send_an_HTTP_request_to_SharePoint')?['d']?['SchemaXml']

And the last step could be adding the column to a view.

Summary

As you can see, even a seemingly complicated task as creating schema of a SharePoint column can be simplified if you know what HTTP request to use in your Power Automate flow. You can create the column using the SharePoint interface, set all its properties by a few clicks, and then just extract its schema with the HTTP request above. The only prerequisite being that you must be avare that such HTTP request exists, which is the reason why I created the HTTP requests to SharePoint cheat sheet.

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