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Teams App Developer

MicrosoftOfficialPublished by Microsoft

  • Skill
  • Tool integration
  • Software development
  • MIT
  • Medium risk

From the author

Builds, tests, and deploys Microsoft 365 apps and agents for Teams and Copilot. Includes sub-skills for project creation, local testing, cloud deployment, troubleshooting, and Slack-to-Teams migration. USE FOR: Teams agent, bot, tab, message extension, Declarative Agents, Custom Engine Agents, local testing, Agents Playground, Azure resource provision, remote deployment, Slack to Teams migration, cross-platform bot development, Block Kit to Adaptive Cards conversion. DO NOT USE FOR: general web development, non-bot/non-Teams projects.
— the description by Microsoft

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The teams-app-developer skill provides a structured framework for managing the lifecycle of Microsoft 365 agents and Teams applications. It leverages the ATK CLI to handle project scaffolding, local testing via the Agents Playground, cloud provisioning on Azure, and troubleshooting. The skill includes specialized guidance for migrating Slack bots to Teams, including converting Block Kit UI to Adaptive Cards, and provides access to an extensive library of micro-expert documentation for cross-platform development.

What it does

  • Scaffolds new Microsoft 365 agents and Teams applications from templates.
  • Facilitates local testing using the Agents Playground or Teams-specific environments.
  • Automates Azure resource provisioning and cloud deployment workflows.
  • Provides diagnostic procedures for common authentication and configuration errors.
  • Supports migration of Slack bots to the Teams platform.
  • Manages project configuration and environment variables for ATK-based projects.

When to use it

  • When starting a new Teams app, bot, or Declarative Agent project.
  • When you need to test an agent locally before deploying to the cloud.
  • When migrating existing Slack bots to the Microsoft Teams ecosystem.
  • When troubleshooting deployment or authentication issues in a Teams project.
  • When you need to provision Azure infrastructure for a Teams application.

Advantages

  • Streamlines the development lifecycle with standardized CLI commands.
  • Reduces development time by offering a local testing playground.
  • Provides expert-level guidance for complex cross-platform migrations.
  • Ensures consistent configuration management across development environments.
  • Includes robust error-handling protocols for common platform-specific pitfalls.

Usage examples

“Create a new Teams bot project using the default template.”
The agent will initialize a new project folder, configure the necessary YAML files, and guide you through the initial setup using the ATK CLI.
“How do I migrate my Slack bot to Microsoft Teams?”
The agent will initiate the slack-to-teams workflow, providing access to cross-platform bridging experts and guidance on converting UI components.
“My Teams bot is returning a 401 error, how do I fix it?”
The agent will trigger the troubleshooting workflow, checking your environment variables, tunnel status, and authentication configuration.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/microsoft/teams-app-developer/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip teams-app-developer.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Microsoft

Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit Skill

Build Microsoft 365 agents and Teams apps using the ATK CLI.

AI Behavior Guidelines

  1. Testing Strategy: Recommend Agents Playground first (faster, no M365 needed). Use Teams workflow only if user explicitly requests it.

  2. Environment Variables: NEVER hardcode secrets or make up placeholder values. Always ask users for real values.

  3. Error Handling: Read error messages carefully. Check env/.env.local, .localConfigs, and atk auth list. Common pitfalls:

    • AADSTS7000229 → aadApp/create missing generateServicePrincipal: true in YAML — add it and re-provision

    • Missing TENANT_ID in .localConfigs → SDK uses wrong token authority → 401 from Bot Connector

    • 401 persists after auth fix → devtunnel URL may be blacklisted — create a fresh tunnel

    • See troubleshoot/troubleshoot.md for full diagnostic steps

  4. Long-Running Commands — WAIT for completion:

    • atk new, atk provision, atk deploy can take several minutes

    • Always wait for completion before running the next step (timeout 120000ms+)

  5. Local Service Startup — Hangs terminal (expected):

    • npm run dev, npm start, python app.py, devtunnel host, etc. will hang — the process keeps running indefinitely

    • ALWAYS run as a background process (isBackground=true) — NEVER use isBackground=false for these commands

    • Do NOT wait for it to "finish" — verify startup by checking output for "listening on port" or tunnel URL

    • If errors appear, read logs, diagnose, fix, restart

    • Use a NEW terminal to launch Agents Playground or open Teams sideloading URL

  6. Monitor App Logs: Periodically check background terminal output for runtime errors. If the app crashes, read the error, fix the root cause, and restart.

  7. Telemetry Tagging: Before running any atk CLI commands, set the session environment variable so all CLI invocations are tagged as skill-initiated:

    export ATK_CLI_SKILL=true

    Run this once at the start of the session. All subsequent atk commands in the same terminal will inherit it.

ATK CLI Setup

atk --version  # Must be > 1.1.5-beta

If ATK is not found or version is too old:

npm i -g @microsoft/m365agentstoolkit-cli@beta

CLI Global Options

OptionMeaningRecommendation
-iInteractive modeAlways use -i false in automation to avoid hanging
-fProject folderDefault to be current directory, used when specifying a custom folder. When scaffolding a new project, this is the parent folder where the project folder will be created under.
-hCommand helpUse atk <command> -h for quick syntax checks

Sub-Skills

Sub-SkillWhen to UseReference
create-projectScaffold new project from template, choose template, atk newcreate-project/create-project.md
test-playgroundTest locally with Agents Playground, agentsplayground, quick testingtest-playground/test-playground.md
test-teamsRun on Teams, devtunnel, sideload, Teams testing, test in Copilottest-teams/test-teams.md
provision-deployProvision Azure resources, deploy to cloud, atk provision, atk deployprovision-deploy/provision-deploy.md
troubleshootFix errors, 401, port conflicts, YAML errors, stale botstroubleshoot/troubleshoot.md
slack-to-teamsMigrate Slack bot to Teams, cross-platform bridging, Block Kit to Adaptive Cardsslack-to-teams/SKILL.md

MANDATORY: Before executing any workflow, read the corresponding sub-skill document.

Shared References

  • manifest-and-yaml.md — Project files, YAML config, env vars, .localConfigs flow

  • commands.md — ATK CLI commands: package, validate, share, collaborate

  • templates.md — Complete template catalog with language support

  • experts/ — 100+ micro-expert files: Teams SDK, Slack SDK, cross-platform bridging, deploy, AI models, security, language conversion

  • docs/ — Platform comparison guides: UI, messaging, identity, infrastructure, feature gaps

Workflow Chains

Match user intent to the smallest valid workflow.

User IntentWorkflow (read in order)
Build new app from scratchcreate-project → test-playground
Test existing project locallytest-playground (recommended) or test-teams
Deploy to Azureprovision-deploy
Fix broken bottroubleshoot → re-test
Migrate Slack bot to Teamsslack-to-teams

MANDATORY: Before executing any slack-to-teams workflow, read slack-to-teams/SKILL.md first. The sub-skill contains a routed expert system with 100+ micro-expert files for cross-platform bot development.

ATK Project Context Resolution

Resolve config values only when missing. If a value is already known in the session, reuse it.

Step 1: Detect ATK Project

If m365agentstoolkit*.yml exists in the current folder, treat it as an ATK project and parse configuration.

Step 2: Resolve Common Configuration

Resolve variables referenced in m365agentstoolkit*.yml. Common variables: AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME

Step 3: Collect Missing Values

If required values are missing, ask the user for only the missing ones.

Refer to manifest-and-yaml.md for full config-file details.

Files

experts/bridge/rate-limiting-resilience-ts.md

rate-limiting-resilience-ts

purpose

Bridges Slack and Teams rate limiting patterns, retry logic, and resilience strategies for cross-platform bots targeting Slack, Teams, or both.

rules

  1. Slack 429 + Retry-After header → same pattern for Bot Framework and Graph API. Both platforms return HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header (seconds) when throttled. The retry pattern is identical: wait the specified duration, then retry. The difference is in the rate limits themselves. learn.microsoft.com -- Graph throttling

  2. Slack Bolt retry config → manual retry with exponential backoff + jitter. Slack Bolt has built-in retry (retryConfig: { retries: 3 }). The Teams SDK does not have built-in retry. Implement exponential backoff with jitter: delay = min(baseDelay * 2^attempt + random(0, jitter), maxDelay). learn.microsoft.com -- Retry guidance

  3. Teams Bot Framework rate limits: ~1 msg/sec per conversation, ~30 msg/min per conversation. These are soft limits that vary by channel type (1:1 vs group vs channel). Exceeding them results in 429 responses. Slack's rate limits are per-method (e.g., chat.postMessage at ~1/sec per token). Teams limits are per-conversation, not per-method. learn.microsoft.com -- Bot rate limiting

  4. Graph API has separate throttling from Bot Framework. Graph API rate limits are per-app and per-tenant, varying by API. Common limits: 10,000 requests/10 minutes per app, with lower limits for specific APIs (e.g., channel messages). Graph 429s include Retry-After headers. These are independent of Bot Framework message rate limits. learn.microsoft.com -- Graph throttling

  5. Proactive broadcast to many conversations needs a send queue. Sending the same message to 500 users at once will hit rate limits. Implement a queue with concurrency control: process N messages concurrently, respect per-conversation limits, and handle 429s with retry. Use p-limit, p-queue, or a custom queue. npmjs.com/p-queue

  6. Circuit breaker pattern (opossum) protects against cascading failures. When an external service (your database, a third-party API) is down, the bot should fail fast instead of timing out on every request. Use opossum to wrap external calls: after N failures, the circuit opens and rejects immediately for a cooldown period. npmjs.com/opossum

  7. Slack slack_api_error with response.headers['retry-after'] → same extraction pattern for Teams. The error handling pattern is similar: catch HTTP errors, check for 429 status, extract Retry-After, and schedule retry. The API client libraries differ but the logic is identical. learn.microsoft.com -- Graph error handling

  8. Bot Framework Connector API has a separate 30-second timeout. Beyond rate limits, the Bot Framework Connector API has a response timeout. If the bot doesn't respond to an invoke within ~3-10 seconds (depending on activity type), the Connector may retry or time out. This is separate from rate limiting but can compound issues under load. learn.microsoft.com -- Bot Framework

  9. Graph API batch requests reduce API call volume. Instead of N individual Graph API calls, batch up to 20 requests in a single POST /$batch call. This counts as fewer requests against rate limits and reduces network overhead. Useful for bulk channel operations, user lookups, or file operations. learn.microsoft.com -- JSON batching

  10. Log and monitor throttling events. Unlike Slack where Bolt logs retries automatically, Teams throttling must be explicitly logged. Track: 429 count, average retry delay, circuit breaker state, queue depth. Use Application Insights custom metrics or console logging. Throttling spikes indicate you're approaching platform limits. learn.microsoft.com -- App Insights

  11. Reverse direction (Teams → Slack): For Teams → Slack, Slack Bolt provides built-in retryConfig. Map custom Teams retry plugins to Bolt's retry configuration. Slack rate limits are per-method-per-token (not per-conversation like Teams). The p-queue and circuit breaker patterns apply equally in both directions. For Graph API batch requests, there is no Slack equivalent — individual API calls are needed but Bolt's built-in retry handles 429s automatically.

patterns

Exponential backoff wrapper

Slack (before):

import { App } from "@slack/bolt";

const app = new App({
  token: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
  signingSecret: process.env.SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET!,
  // Built-in retry handling
  retryConfig: {
    retries: 3,
    factor: 2, // exponential backoff
  },
});

// Bolt automatically retries on 429
app.message(/hello/i, async ({ say }) => {
  await say("Hello!"); // auto-retried on rate limit
});

Teams (after) — manual retry wrapper:

import { App } from "@microsoft/teams.apps";
import { ConsoleLogger } from "@microsoft/teams.common";

const logger = new ConsoleLogger("my-bot", { level: "info" });

const app = new App({
  logger,
});

// Exponential backoff with jitter — replaces Bolt's retryConfig
async function withRetry<T>(
  fn: () => Promise<T>,
  options: {
    maxRetries?: number;
    baseDelayMs?: number;
    maxDelayMs?: number;
    jitterMs?: number;
  } = {}
): Promise<T> {
  const {
    maxRetries = 3,
    baseDelayMs = 1000,
    maxDelayMs = 30_000,
    jitterMs = 500,
  } = options;

  for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (err: any) {
      const status = err?.statusCode ?? err?.response?.status ?? err?.code;
      const isRetryable = status === 429 || status === 503 || status === 502;

      if (!isRetryable || attempt === maxRetries) {
        throw err;
      }

      // Use Retry-After header if available, otherwise exponential backoff
      const retryAfterSec = err?.response?.headers?.["retry-after"];
      let delay: number;

      if (retryAfterSec) {
        delay = parseInt(retryAfterSec, 10) * 1000;
      } else {
        delay = Math.min(baseDelayMs * Math.pow(2, attempt), maxDelayMs);
      }

      // Add jitter to prevent thundering herd
      delay += Math.random() * jitterMs;

      logger.warn(
        `Rate limited (attempt ${attempt + 1}/${maxRetries}). ` +
        `Retrying in ${Math.round(delay)}ms...`
      );

      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
    }
  }

  throw new Error("withRetry: unreachable");
}

// Usage: wrap any API call that might be rate limited
app.message(/hello/i, async ({ send }) => {
  await withRetry(() => send("Hello!"));
});

app.start(3978);
Rate-limited proactive broadcast

Slack (before):

import { App } from "@slack/bolt";

const app = new App({
  token: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
  signingSecret: process.env.SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET!,
});

// Broadcast to all channels — Bolt retries handle 429s
app.command("/broadcast", async ({ ack, command, client }) => {
  await ack();
  const channels = await client.conversations.list({ types: "public_channel" });

  for (const channel of channels.channels ?? []) {
    try {
      await client.chat.postMessage({
        channel: channel.id!,
        text: command.text,
      });
    } catch (err: any) {
      if (err.data?.error === "ratelimited") {
        const retryAfter = parseInt(err.data.response_metadata?.retry_after ?? "1", 10);
        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, retryAfter * 1000));
        await client.chat.postMessage({ channel: channel.id!, text: command.text });
      }
    }
  }
});

Teams (after) — queued broadcast with concurrency control:

import { App } from "@microsoft/teams.apps";
import { ConsoleLogger } from "@microsoft/teams.common";
import PQueue from "p-queue";

const logger = new ConsoleLogger("my-bot", { level: "info" });
const app = new App({ logger });

// Store conversation references at install time
const conversationRefs = new Map<string, {
  conversationId: string;
  serviceUrl: string;
}>();

app.on("install.add", async ({ activity }) => {
  const convId = activity.conversation?.id ?? "";
  conversationRefs.set(convId, {
    conversationId: convId,
    serviceUrl: (activity as any).serviceUrl,
  });
});

// Rate-limited broadcast queue
// Concurrency: 5 simultaneous sends, 200ms between each
const sendQueue = new PQueue({
  concurrency: 5,
  interval: 200,
  intervalCap: 1, // 1 task per interval per concurrency slot
});

app.message(/^\/?broadcast (.+)$/i, async ({ send, activity }) => {
  const text = activity.text?.replace(/^\/?broadcast\s+/i, "") ?? "";
  const targets = Array.from(conversationRefs.values());

  await send(`Broadcasting to ${targets.length} conversations...`);

  let sent = 0;
  let failed = 0;

  const promises = targets.map((ref) =>
    sendQueue.add(async () => {
      try {
        await withRetry(() => app.send(ref.conversationId, text));
        sent++;
      } catch (err) {
        failed++;
        logger.error(`Failed to send to ${ref.conversationId}:`, err);
      }
    })
  );

  await Promise.all(promises);
  await send(`Broadcast complete: ${sent} sent, ${failed} failed.`);
});

// withRetry from previous pattern
async function withRetry<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 3; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (err: any) {
      const status = err?.statusCode ?? err?.response?.status;
      if (status !== 429 || attempt === 2) throw err;
      const retryAfter = parseInt(err?.response?.headers?.["retry-after"] ?? "2", 10);
      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, retryAfter * 1000 + Math.random() * 500));
    }
  }
  throw new Error("unreachable");
}

app.start(3978);
Circuit breaker for downstream services
import CircuitBreaker from "opossum";

// Wrap an external API call with a circuit breaker
const fetchUserData = new CircuitBreaker(
  async (userId: string) => {
    const response = await fetch(`https://api.internal.com/users/${userId}`);
    if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
    return response.json();
  },
  {
    timeout: 5000,       // If the function takes longer than 5s, trigger a failure
    errorThresholdPercentage: 50, // Open circuit when 50% of requests fail
    resetTimeout: 30_000, // After 30s, try again (half-open)
    volumeThreshold: 5,  // Minimum 5 requests before evaluating threshold
  }
);

// Circuit events for monitoring
fetchUserData.on("open", () => logger.warn("Circuit OPEN — failing fast"));
fetchUserData.on("halfOpen", () => logger.info("Circuit HALF-OPEN — testing"));
fetchUserData.on("close", () => logger.info("Circuit CLOSED — normal operation"));

// Usage in a handler
app.message(/^\/?user (.+)$/i, async ({ send, activity }) => {
  const userId = activity.text?.match(/user\s+(\S+)/)?.[1] ?? "";
  try {
    const user = await fetchUserData.fire(userId);
    await send(`User: ${user.name} (${user.email})`);
  } catch (err: any) {
    if (err.message === "Breaker is open") {
      await send("The user service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.");
    } else {
      await send(`Error fetching user: ${err.message}`);
    }
  }
});
Best practice: retry utility + p-queue broadcast (Y17)

Always build a retry utility with exponential backoff and jitter. Apply it to all outbound API calls. For proactive broadcasts, combine with p-queue concurrency control.

// Production retry utility — apply to all outbound calls
async function withRetry<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>, maxRetries = 3): Promise<T> {
  for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (err: any) {
      if (attempt === maxRetries) throw err;
      const retryAfter = err?.response?.headers?.["retry-after"];
      const baseDelay = retryAfter ? parseInt(retryAfter) * 1000 : 1000 * 2 ** attempt;
      const jitter = Math.random() * 1000;
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, baseDelay + jitter));
    }
  }
  throw new Error("Unreachable");
}

// Proactive broadcast with concurrency control
import PQueue from "p-queue";

const broadcastQueue = new PQueue({ concurrency: 5, interval: 200, intervalCap: 1 });

async function broadcastToAll(
  conversationIds: string[],
  message: string
): Promise<{ sent: number; failed: number }> {
  let sent = 0, failed = 0;

  const promises = conversationIds.map(convId =>
    broadcastQueue.add(async () => {
      try {
        await withRetry(() => app.send(convId, message));
        sent++;
      } catch {
        failed++;
      }
    })
  );

  await Promise.all(promises);
  return { sent, failed };
}

Key rules:

  • Always add jitter. Without it, multiple bot instances retry simultaneously (thundering herd).

  • Set a max queue depth. Unbounded queues accumulate thousands of items in memory.

  • Treat 503 the same as 429. Both are retryable with backoff.

Don't: Retry without jitter, or use Bolt's retryConfig and assume it covers Graph API calls (it only covers Slack API calls).

Reverse (Teams → Slack): Configure Bolt's built-in retryConfig: { retries: 3, factor: 2 } for Slack API calls. The p-queue pattern applies equally for Slack broadcasts.

Rate limit comparison table
AspectSlackTeams Bot FrameworkTeams Graph API
Rate limit scopePer-method per-tokenPer-conversationPer-app per-tenant
Message send limit~1/sec per token~1/sec per conversationN/A (use Bot Framework)
Throttle responseHTTP 429 + Retry-AfterHTTP 429 + Retry-AfterHTTP 429 + Retry-After
Built-in retry (SDK)Bolt retryConfigNone (manual)None (manual)
Batch APIN/AN/APOST /$batch (up to 20)
Burst limit~30/min per token~30/min per conversationVaries by API

pitfalls

  • No built-in retry in Teams SDK: Slack Bolt's retryConfig automatically retries rate-limited requests. The Teams SDK has no equivalent. You must implement retry logic yourself or use a library wrapper.

  • Per-conversation vs per-token limits: Slack rate limits are per-method-per-token (global). Teams Bot Framework limits are per-conversation. Sending to 100 different conversations simultaneously is fine; sending 100 messages to the same conversation will be throttled.

  • Graph API and Bot Framework throttling are independent: A bot can be rate-limited on Graph API calls (user lookups, channel operations) while Bot Framework message sends are fine, or vice versa. Implement retry logic for both independently.

  • Thundering herd on retry: Without jitter, all rate-limited requests retry at exactly the same time, causing another burst. Always add random jitter to retry delays.

  • Queue depth unbounded: Using p-queue without a size limit can accumulate thousands of pending messages in memory. Set a maximum queue size and reject new items when full (with a user-facing error).

  • Circuit breaker not covering all dependencies: The circuit breaker should wrap every external dependency (database, third-party API, Graph API) — not just one. A bot with an unprotected dependency can still cascade-fail.

  • Forgetting to handle 503 Service Unavailable: In addition to 429, Bot Framework may return 503 during outages. Treat 503 the same as 429 (retryable with backoff).

references

instructions

Use this expert when adding cross-platform support in either direction for rate limiting and resilience. It covers: Slack Bolt retryConfig bridged to Teams manual exponential backoff + jitter, Teams Bot Framework per-conversation rate limits, Graph API per-app throttling, proactive broadcast with send queue concurrency control, circuit breaker pattern with opossum, Graph API batch requests, monitoring throttling events, and reverse mapping from custom Teams retry logic back to Bolt's built-in retry configuration. Pair with ../teams/runtime.proactive-messaging-ts.md for proactive send infrastructure, ../teams/graph.usergraph-appgraph-ts.md for Graph API patterns, and scheduling-deferred-send-ts.md for rate-limited scheduled sends.

research

Deep Research prompt:

"Write a micro expert for bridging Slack and Teams rate limiting patterns, retry logic, and resilience strategies in either direction. Cover: Bolt retryConfig vs manual exponential backoff + jitter, Teams Bot Framework per-conversation rate limits (1 msg/sec, 30 msg/min), Graph API per-app throttling, proactive broadcast send queues with concurrency control, circuit breaker pattern with opossum, Graph API $batch for reducing call volume, 429/503 retry handling, monitoring, and reverse mapping from Teams retry patterns back to Slack Bolt's built-in retry configuration. Include TypeScript code examples and a comparison table."

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs an API key, Needs Python, Needs Node.js

Security

What our scanner noticed· Medium risk

  • Possible data-exfiltration endpoints
  • Instructions that use the network
  • Downloads piped into a shell

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by
Microsoft
Publisher
Microsoft (Official)
Source
microsoft/skills · .github/plugins/microsoft-365-agents-toolkit/skills/teams-app-developer · commit 0696600
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download teams-app-developer.zip