#mention a user in Ms bot with in MS teams - botframework

Question

I have a bot built using ms bot v3 nodejs sdk. I add this bot in my MS team by using deep link for 1:1 conversation which looks like as follows
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/chat/0/0?users=28:{BotID}
I would like to add #mentioning users capability to this bot and I was trying to see if I can get some examples on how to it ?
Not sure if side loading bot as an app will allow it.

Answer 1

Bots and users can only at-mention members of the same conversation.
In a channel, you can mention any user in the team
In a 1:1 chat, you can at-mention the other user
In a group chat, you can mention any user in the chat
Right now neither bots nor users can at-mention arbitrary users who are not members of the conversation.
Your example above, "Hello #PersonB and #PersonC please take care of this ticket", can work if PersonB and PersonC are part of the team (if this in channel), or the group chat, but not in a 1:1 chat with the bot.
The deeplink in your question creates a 1:1 chat w/ the bot, so no other users could be at-mentioned :(

Answer 2

Bots in single user conversations do not require an # mention - the user can just type the command. Bots in channel conversations require the user to # mention the bot to invoke it in a channel.
In order to access your bot into channel, you need to add teams scope to your bot in App Manifest. Please use Teams App Studio to create your app manifest. You need to Upload an app package to Microsoft Teams to see your app.

Answer 3

You can upload your bot as a app, for that you need to create an app manifest in JSON format like this.
{
"$schema": "https://statics.teams.microsoft.com/sdk/v1.3.0-beta.2/manifest/MicrosoftTeams.schema.json",
"manifestVersion": "1.3",
"version": "1.3",
"id": "c9edb618-c5de-4be2-**f4-74c1*******1",
"packageName": "com.example.tcafebot",
"developer": {
"name": "Harsh Raj",
"websiteUrl": "https://www.sdharshraj.github.io",
"privacyUrl": "https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement",
"termsOfUseUrl": "https://www.botframework.com/Content/Microsoft-Bot-Framework-Preview-Online-Services-Agreement.htm"
},
"name": {
"short": "TCafeBot",
"full": "Tea and Coffee bot"
},
"description": {
"short": "TCafeBot - a bot helping you with twiter.",
"full": "It will help you find a user or tweets from twiter. Also it can read text from image or even it can tell what is there in a photo."
},
"icons": {
"outline": "bot_blue.png",
"color": "bot_blue.png"
},
"accentColor": "#0079bf",
"configurableTabs": [{
"configurationUrl": "https://contoso.com/teamstab/configure",
"canUpdateConfiguration": true,
"scopes": [
"team",
"groupchat"
]
}],
"staticTabs": [{
"contentUrl": "https://harshcognitivebot.azurewebsites.net/loading",
"entityId": "1on1test123",
"name": "Bot Info",
"scopes": [
"team",
"personal"
]
},
{
"contentUrl": "https://harshcognitivebot.azurewebsites.net/tab-auth/simple",
"entityId": "simpleAuth",
"name": "Simple Auth",
"scopes": [
"personal"
]
},
{
"contentUrl": "https://harshcognitivebot.azurewebsites.net/tab-auth/silent",
"entityId": "silentAuth",
"name": "Silent Auth",
"scopes": [
"personal"
]
}
],
"bots": [{
"botId": "c9edb618-c5de-4be2-**f4-74c1*******1",
"scopes": [
"team",
"personal",
"groupchat"
],
"commandLists": [{
"scopes": [
"team"
],
"commands": [{
"title": "hello",
"description": "Runs the simplest hello dialog"
}
]
},
{
"scopes": [
"personal"
],
"commands": [{
"title": "hello",
"description": "Runs the simplest hello dialog"
}
]
}
]
}],
"composeExtensions": [{
"botId": "c9edb618-c5de-4be2-**f4-74c1*******1",
"canUpdateConfiguration": true,
"commands": [{
"id": "search123",
"description": "Find a card",
"title": "Search",
"initialRun": true,
"parameters": [{
"title": "query123",
"name": "query",
"description": "Search string"
}]
}]
}],
"permissions": [
"identity",
"messageTeamMembers"
],
"validDomains": [
"787c30bb.ngrok.io"
]
}
And also keep a icon with the name given in the Manifest file.
Then you need to make a zip file of these two files(Manifest and Icon). Note that these two file should not be in any folder you should make a zip directly with the two files.
Then Go to Team App and select upload a custom app there you can browse your zip file.
Also for fetching team details you can refer this Link

Answer 4

To use #mention, add your bot to a Teams channel:
Use Teams App Studio to create an App Manifest zip file. Details here.
Upload the App Manifest zip file to the Teams channel. Go to the Teams channel -> Manage Team -> Apps -> Upload a Custom App link (at the bottom)
Your bot is now available in the channel, and users can talk to it using #mention.
Important tip for bots in Teams - Remove the #mention once the text is received by the Bot (in MessageController.cs), before it is sent to LUIS etc
if (activity.ChannelId == ChannelIds.Msteams)
{
//remove bot #mention
if (activity.Text.Contains("<at>"))
{
activity.Text = Regex.Replace(activity.Text, "<at>.*</at>", "", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase).Trim();
}
}