July 3rd, 2024

Retirement of Office 365 connectors within Microsoft Teams

Update 10/16/2024: New information related to Office 365 Connectors Retirement in Teams – Webhook URL Migration

As shared in the last communication, we are publishing guidance for owners of webhook-based connectors to update their URLs with a new structure. To allow ample time for replacing URLs, connector owners will have until January 31, 2025, which is an extension from our previous deadline of December 31, 2024. See below for complete guidance.

 

Webhook-based connectors within the O365 Connectors service in Teams are transitioning to a new URL structure due to the implementation of further service hardening updates. During this transition, you may receive notifications to update your configured connector to use the new URL. We strongly recommend that you update your connector immediately to prevent any disruption to connector services. URLs for all webhook-based connectors must be updated by January 31, 2025 for the connectors to continue posting messages into Teams. Keep in mind the entire O365 Connectors service in Teams will be retired at the end of 2025, so consider moving your webhooks to the Workflows app within Teams to avoid conducting another migration. Documentation: Create incoming webhooks with Workflows for Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Support
This change is needed only for webhook-based Connectors such as Incoming Webhook and third-party connectors where a URL is provided for posting messages. The change is not required for polling-based connectors such as RSS.

 

To update webhook URLs for existing O365 Connectors, follow these steps below or within this documentation: Manage Microsoft 365 connectors and custom connectors – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
  1. Go to Manage Channel in a Teams channel, select Edit under the Connectors option, and select Configured section. Review the existing connections listed on this page.
    • Screenshot showing the configured connections in a Teams channel that need attention.
  2. Do one of the following to generate a new URL:
    • For connectors that contain a webhook URL, select Manage and Update URL.
    • Screenshot showing the option to update a webhook URL.
    • For other types of connectors, remove the connector and reconfigure the connector to generate a new URL.
  3. Replace the old URL with the new URL (or the new connection in the service that triggers the post). You’ll know the new URL is ready for you to copy when the Configure page shows a message that the URL is updated (“Url is up-to-date”).
    • Screenshot showing a confirmation after URL update.
Additional documentation:

 

Note about parity features for the Workflows app
We are currently developing a method for webhooks in the Workflow app to support the following scenarios and will share more details before March 30, 2025.
  • Post messageCard formatted message payloads (so you do not have to reformat the payload to adaptive card)
  • Post to private channels

— End of update —

Update 07/23/2024: We understand and appreciate the feedback that customers have shared with us regarding the timeline provided for the migration from Office 365 connectors. We have extended the retirement timeline through December 2025 to provide ample time to migrate to another solution such as Power Automate, an app within Microsoft Teams, or Microsoft Graph.

— End of update —

Office connectors in Microsoft Teams deliver content and service updates directly from third-party services into a Teams channel. By using Office connectors, users can receive updates from popular services such as Azure DevOps Services, Trello, Wunderlist, GitHub, and more. Office connectors post these updates directly into the chat stream. This functionality makes it easy for all team members to stay in sync and informed on relevant information.

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Why are we retiring Office 365 connectors?

Starting August 15th, 2024 we will be retiring the Office 365 connectors feature from Microsoft Teams. We recommend Power Automate workflows as the solution to relay information into and out of Teams in a scalable, flexible, and secure way.

Power Automate workflows not only offer a much deeper catalog of Office connectors (see all connectors) but also ensure that your integrations are built on an architecture that can grow with your business needs and provide maximum security of your information. These changes are aligned to the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative, and our company-wide priority to safeguard our customers from cyber threats. Users currently utilizing Office 365 connectors should transition to Power Automate to maintain smooth operation of their services.

We will gradually roll out this change in waves:

  • Wave 1 – effective August 15th, 2024: All new Connector creation will be blocked within all clouds
  • Wave 2 – effective October 1st, 2024: All connectors within all clouds will stop working

What’s the new experience within Microsoft Teams?

The Workflows app in Microsoft Teams has received dozens of updates in the last year to more deeply integrate into your stream of work. For newcomers who aren’t yet familiar, workflows save time, reduce mistakes, and boost productivity across various activities. They facilitate approval processes, project updates, and any routine operation, offering notifications on task changes, quick actions from chats, improved meeting management, and the ability to swiftly customize workflows.

Learn more about the Workflows app here.

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How do I transition from Office 365 connectors to Workflows?

If you are currently using Office 365 connectors in Microsoft Teams, you will need to migrate your existing Office connectors to Workflows before the relevant retirement dates above. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Workflows app in Teams and click on the “Create” tab. Choose the type of workflow you want from a template, or from scratch:

  1. If you choose to create from a template, you can browse or search for workflow templates that match your Office connectors’ functionality. For example, if you use the Trello connector, you can find templates for creating cards, updating lists, or posting messages based on Trello actions.
  2. If you choose to create from scratch, you can select the trigger and action for your workflow. You can use many of the same services that you used with your Office 365 connectors or explore new ones from the hundreds of Office connectors available in Power Automate. Once you have created your workflow, you will name it and add a description. You can also test it, share it, or edit it anytime from the “My flows” tab.

2. Open the Workflows app within the chat or channel by right-clicking on the conversation, or by clicking on More options (…). From there you can also browse a list of templates that are specific to the chat or channel context that match your current Office connectors’ functionality.

Image 03

    1. For example, if you use the Webhook or RSS connector, you can find similar workflow templates within this list.
    2. Explore these popular templates:

To learn more about creating workflows in Teams, check out these support articles:

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Author

Connor Rodewald
Senior Product Manager

496 comments

Discussion is closed. Login to edit/delete existing comments.

  • Michel Zehnder

    What a totally weird move. Microsoft, do better!

  • Thomas Dang · Edited

    Hi, we are sending messages to a Teams channel using its email address (“Get email address” from 3 dots menu of the channel). Do we need to make any changes for this? Thanks.

  • Warren Foat - Azure · Edited

    I raised a support ticket with the Devops support team on how to setup connectors without the need to use PREMIUM workflows and how to send to Private channels without having to register apps and setup certificates (extra maintenance). I also asked how to setup new workflows without having to use specific user accounts.
    We use a lot of web-hooks to send automated messages to specific teams. A lot of those Powershell commands will require...

    Read more
  • Philippe Desaulniers | Club de hockey Canadien

    How are updates to this going to be communicated? Honestly, this is an extremely low-level feature that should just work (e.g. posting to private Teams channels through some generic secure method). It also DOES work currently! I don’t really have a need, nor time for learning a whole new workflow framework, just so I can have a script post on a Teams channel.

  • BRUNO Tonino (ENGIE IT)

    Hi,

    I know this is nothing new to Power Automate connector replacing the Office 365 connector but we have a security concern allowing this connector and having a publicly and anonymously exposed webhooks into Teams Channels. What if someone got their hands on this webhook URL and starts spamming or sending phishing messages etc.. We lack the proper controls, monitoring or reporting on this functionality as an enterprise to be confident enough to release this connector.

    Or...

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  • Harianja, Anggi Permana

    THIS IS NOT GOOD, I DONT GET IT WHY

  • Stefano Bagnatica

    I also currently use “Incoming Webhooks” with Teams private channels, so I cannot switch to Power Automate workflow…

  • David Grain (LCP)

    Anyone have anything official on what is happening with new teams connectors? As of today (19/08) I can still create connectors using the Teams Web app. Its very confusing (and makes us look unprofessional as a technical department) if MS announce these changes, which require people to review and make changes, but then do not execute them.

  • Petri X

    Hi Connor and Trent,

    Is there any possibility for you and take a view the issues what this is generating to your customers?
    - When the support for private channels will be arriving? At the moment your roadmap says nothing about this. I hope you are not forcing companies to go away from O365 Connectors and not giving the same possibilities.
    - How it is expected that administrators are able managing these? E.g. if employee who...

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    • Kristof Janssens

      I also have the same concerns. Right now when i create new webhooks via the workflow method. it looks all attached to my account. but what if,..