Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code update with new AI chat bot template

Junjie Li

Welcome to the August 2023 update for Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code! In this release, we’re excited to bring you an array of new features to make your Teams app development experience even better, including:

• AI Chat Bot App Template
• One Productivity Hub sample using Graph Toolkit with SPFx
• Enhanced teamsapp.yml with CodeLens

Additionally, there are many other enhancements and bug fixes. Let’s dive in!

AI chat bot app template

We’re thrilled to introduce the new AI chat bot app template, designed to kickstart your journey building sophisticated chat bots with AI capabilities using the Teams AI Library. This template empowers you to create GPT-like chat bots that can engage and interact intelligently with users.

Teams AI Library is a Teams-centric interface to GPT-based common language models and user intent engines. It provides a simple capabilities-driven approach and helps you to create intelligent apps quickly and easily. The library helps you with:

• Simple Teams-centric component scaffolding
• Natural language modeling
• Prompt engineering
• Predictive engine for mapping intents to actions

Check out Teams AI Library repository or read more on the official documentation site.

One Productivity Hub sample using Graph Toolkit with SPFx

Our new sample, One Productivity Hub using Graph Toolkit with SPFx, showcases how to craft a tab that seamlessly displays your calendar events, to-do tasks, and files. By utilizing Microsoft Graph Toolkit components and SharePoint provider, you’ll be able to enhance user productivity and convenience.

Enhanced teamsapp.yml with CodeLens

Editing the teamsapp.yml file in Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code has become more efficient with the added CodeLens feature. Now, running life-cycle commands after editing the file is as simple as a click, streamlining your development workflow.

Enhancements

• Our Collect Form Input and Process Data template has been refined to eliminate redundant code, making creating interactive and efficient forms easier than ever.
• The Custom Search Result template now employs Adaptive Cards for rendering search results, enhancing your app’s visual appeal and utility.
• Encountering system errors is never ideal, but now, Teams Toolkit makes troubleshooting easier. When errors arise, you’ll find a link that directs you to similar issues, helping you swiftly find solutions.
• Importing xml-based Outlook add-in projects has become more user-friendly with the addition of a progress bar, giving you clearer visibility during the import process.

Teams Toolkit CLI and TeamsFx SDK Updates

Also, we made noteworthy changes to our CLI and SDK to enhance your development experience.

Teams Toolkit CLI (@microsoft/teamsfx-cli)

We’re pleased to introduce the version v2.0.2@beta of our CLI. The teamsfx new command now starts by allowing you to choose from various app templates. Simply use teamsfx new template <sample-app-name> to swiftly create a project from sample apps.

TeamsFx SDK (@microsoft/teamsfx)

Our TeamsFx SDK has advanced to v2.2.3@beta. As part of this update, we’ve deprecated the TeamsFx class, introduced replacements for APIs like handleMessageExtensionQueryWithToken, and made improvements in authentication with TokenCredentialAuthentication.

Here is the list of changes in this version of TeamsFx SDK:

• Deprecated TeamsFx class as it’s no longer being used to construct credentials anymore.
• Deprecated handleMessageExtensionQueryWithToken API as it has been replaced by handleMessageExtensionQueryWithSSO.
• Deprecated AuthenticationConfiguration interface as it has been replaced by OnBehalfOfCredentialAuthConfig type.
• Deprecated MsGraphAuthProvider class as TokenCredentialAuthentication has been natively supported in Microsoft Graph Client Library since version 3.0.0.

Bug fixes

We’ve been diligent in addressing issues to ensure a seamless experience for you:

• Fixed a problem with input arguments being ignored in teamsfx validate command when setting --interactive false.
• Restored the appearance of the Get Started with Teams Toolkit for new users after installation.
• Resolved a missing option issue in teamsfx new template <sample-name> command for Teams Chef Bot.
• Ensured the Teams: Upgrade Teams Manifest command updates the manifest to the expected version.
• Rectified a severity vulnerability reported when using Teams Toolkit CLI.

We 💖 your feedback

Thank you for all your feedback that has helped make this release possible. Build with us on GitHub, share feedback as an issue, or email our team directly at ttkfeedback@microsoft.com.

We are excited for you to try Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code Prelease. Please share your experience with us.

More resources:

• Visit our Microsoft 365 Dev Center.
• Follow us on Microsoft 365 Developer (@Microsoft365Dev) / Twitter for the latest news and announcements.

Junjie Li Product Manager

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