{"id":15654,"date":"2023-10-18T08:00:31","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T15:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/microsoft365dev\/?p=15654"},"modified":"2023-10-18T07:06:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:06:42","slug":"build-message-extensions-for-microsoft-teams-and-copilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/microsoft365dev\/build-message-extensions-for-microsoft-teams-and-copilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Build message extensions for Microsoft Teams and Copilot"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are message extensions?<\/h2>\n

Message extensions are a way to enhance the messaging functionality of Microsoft Teams beyond what is available out-of-the-box. It enables users to easily search for and share information through rich cards, capture data, and preview app content right within Teams. This enhances the overall user experience while using your app within Teams.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1Did you know?<\/strong> If you already have a Teams message extension, then you have a plugin that works with Copilot. Read more at the end of this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why use message extensions?<\/h2>\n

So, the golden question is: Why use message extensions at all?<\/p>\n

Imagine<\/strong> you’re a project manager and you are in a team chat. You need a specific update on a work item in Azure DevOps. Typically, you’d open your browser, search for the item, copy the link, return to the chat, and share it. Then you’d write a message to ask for the update.<\/p>\n

Your teammate, perhaps out walking her dog, clicks the link. Her mobile browser opens, but she’s not logged into Azure DevOps, so it prompts her to sign in. Frustrated, she gives up due to a forgotten password. Later, she abandons the task, planning to try again at home but forgets.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Reimagine <\/strong>this with message extension for Azure DevOps (which you can also build).<\/p>\n

As a project manager in a team chat, you need an update on an Azure DevOps work item. You use the Azure DevOps message extension in the channel to find the item, insert an actionable card with edit\/view buttons into the chat, and mention your teammate responsible for it. Your teammate sees the mention, clicks “Edit,” updates the status to “done,” shares the updated card, and informs you. Task complete!<\/p>\n

As seen in the above scenario, message extensions <\/strong>help streamline communication and workflows by allowing users to easily access and interact with external apps and services directly within Teams. With over 300 million MAU in Teams, this is also a great way for your app to reach a bigger audience organically.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What are the capabilities of message extensions?<\/h2>\n

Message extensions can have two main capabilities<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Search commands<\/strong>: allow users to search for information or content from your app or service and insert the results into their conversations as rich cards.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Action commands<\/strong>: allow users to perform an action or a task from your app or service and optionally insert the results into their conversations as rich cards. You can also use message extensions to initiate a task module, which is a modal dialog that can display an Adaptive Card or a web page and collect user inputs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Another capability of message extensions is link unfurling<\/strong>: enrich the user experience by offering previews of the contents. This capability can be seen in most messaging apps, social media platforms, and various online communication tools to make shared links more informative and visually appealing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How to build message extensions?<\/h2>\n

If you want to try out a sample, you\u2019ll only need Teams Toolkit<\/strong> and a developer tenant <\/strong>to develop one today.<\/p>\n

Typically to build your own based on your app\/webservice, you\u2019ll need Teams Toolkit<\/strong>, a developer tenant<\/strong> to test your app and your API endpoint<\/strong> to search\/add \/update information from your app.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s build?<\/h2>\n

This blog focuses on building search command<\/strong> message extension application using Visual Studio Code\u2019s <\/strong>extension Teams Toolkit<\/strong>. If you prefer Visual Studio,<\/strong> scroll down to References to see the documentation for Visual Studio\u2019s Teams Toolkit extension.<\/p>\n