microsoft-365-agents-toolkit✓ Pass

SKILL.md Content

---
name: microsoft-365-agents-toolkit
description: "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."
---

# 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](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:
   ```bash
   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

```bash
atk --version  # Must be > 1.1.5-beta
```

If ATK is not found or version is too old:
```bash
npm i -g @microsoft/m365agentstoolkit-cli@beta
```

## CLI Global Options

| Option | Meaning | Recommendation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `-i` | Interactive mode | Always use `-i false` in automation to avoid hanging |
| `-f` | Project folder | Default 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. |
| `-h` | Command help | Use `atk <command> -h` for quick syntax checks |

## Sub-Skills

| Sub-Skill | When to Use | Reference |
|-----------|-------------|-----------|
| **create-project** | Scaffold new project from template, choose template, `atk new` | [create-project/create-project.md](create-project/create-project.md) |
| **test-playground** | Test locally with Agents Playground, `agentsplayground`, quick testing | [test-playground/test-playground.md](test-playground/test-playground.md) |
| **test-teams** | Run on Teams, devtunnel, sideload, Teams testing, test in Copilot | [test-teams/test-teams.md](test-teams/test-teams.md) |
| **provision-deploy** | Provision Azure resources, deploy to cloud, `atk provision`, `atk deploy` | [provision-deploy/provision-deploy.md](provision-deploy/provision-deploy.md) |
| **troubleshoot** | Fix errors, 401, port conflicts, YAML errors, stale bots | [troubleshoot/troubleshoot.md](troubleshoot/troubleshoot.md) |
| **slack-to-teams** | Migrate Slack bot to Teams, cross-platform bridging, Block Kit to Adaptive Cards | [slack-to-teams/SKILL.md](slack-to-teams/SKILL.md) |

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

## Shared References

- [manifest-and-yaml.md](toolkit/manifest-and-yaml.md) — Project files, YAML config, env vars, .localConfigs flow
- [commands.md](toolkit/commands.md) — ATK CLI commands: package, validate, share, collaborate
- [templates.md](toolkit/templates.md) — Complete template catalog with language support
- [experts/](experts/index.md) — 100+ micro-expert files: Teams SDK, Slack SDK, cross-platform bridging, deploy, AI models, security, language conversion
- [docs/](docs/README.md) — Platform comparison guides: UI, messaging, identity, infrastructure, feature gaps

## Workflow Chains

Match user intent to the smallest valid workflow.

| User Intent | Workflow (read in order) |
|---|---|
| Build new app from scratch | create-project → test-playground |
| Test existing project locally | test-playground (recommended) or test-teams |
| Deploy to Azure | provision-deploy |
| Fix broken bot | troubleshoot → re-test |
| Migrate Slack bot to Teams | slack-to-teams |

> **MANDATORY:** Before executing any slack-to-teams workflow, read [slack-to-teams/SKILL.md](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](toolkit/manifest-and-yaml.md) for full config-file details.

License

Declared license: MIT

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 microsoft

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
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SOFTWARE.

View the license in the source repository — the version published there is authoritative.