Eager to build a bot for Teams? Microsoft releases C# sample app
Microsoft on its Tech Community blog has announced a Microsoft Teams C# sample app, giving you "all the tools you need to start developing for Microsoft Teams."
Microsoft's Amit Agarwal writes that the sample app was written with two goals:
- As a starting point for patterns, examples, and tools that can be used as a template for creating a larger, scalable, enterprise-level bot to work within Teams.
- To demonstrate examples of how an app can integrate into Teams.
Microsoft provides full directions in the blog post and on Github. Prerequisites including installing Git for Windows, Visual Studio (run as an administrator), installing a tunneling service, and installing the Bot Emulator for Mac or Windows.
While Teams does not work nor render things exactly like the Bot Emulator, "it is a quick way to see if your bot is running and functioning correctly," writes Agarwal.
Bots in Teams must be built upon the Microsoft Bot Framework. Also, every bot must be registered in the Bot Framework, in order to be accessible by the services it uses like Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft in its instructions provides several samples to create your own bot, which involves creating a Microsoft App ID, password, bot display name and handle, and a long description (for channels and directories).