How do I configure the event grid so I can pull SMS events generated by the Comm. Service?

Hi ,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Azure Event Grid is designed for push-based event delivery and does not support pull-based access natively. If you are using Azure Communication Services (ACS) and want to work with SMS events, the events (like delivery reports, incoming messages) are pushed to a configured Event Grid topic or domain. However, since your requirement is to avoid webhooks and pull events when needed, here is the reality and how you can work around it:

The Truth: Event Grid Does Not Support Pulling Events

Event Grid cannot be queried like a queue. Once events are emitted and sent to a destination (webhook, Azure Function, Service Bus, etc.), they are not retained in Event Grid itself. Hence, you cannot "pull" events on demand from Event Grid directly.

Workaround: Use Event Grid -> Queue or Storage, Then Pull

To meet your requirement of "pulling events when needed", you need to route events to a service that supports pull-based access. Here is how to configure it:

Step by step Setup:

1. Create an Azure Storage Queue or Event Hub or Service Bus Queue/Topic - all support pull-based consumption.
2. Create an Event Subscription on your Azure Communication Services resource (or the Event Grid Topic handling ACS SMS events), with the destination set to one of the pull based services: For Azure Storage Queue: set destination type as Storage Queue For Service Bus: choose Service Bus Queue or Topic

     For Event Hubs: configure Event Hub namespace and name
   
     Configure the Azure Communication Services SMS Event Grid integration:
   
        ACS emits SMS delivery or inbound events to Event Grid automatically
   
           You need to ensure the resource is emitting the correct events (like `Microsoft.Communication.SMSDeliveryReportReceived`, etc.)
   
           Consume (Pull) Events from:
   
              Storage Queue: using Azure Storage SDK or REST API
   
                 Service Bus Queue: using Service Bus client libraries
   
                    Event Hub: using EventProcessorClient or Event Hub SDKs
   

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