Bug - New Teams - You cannot send messages to this bot

[romeroej-inch]

When you have a BotFramework published Bot services Teams Bot and you are using the "new teams"

Chat box gets disabled with message: "You cannot send messages to this bot"

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams/quot-you-cannot-send-messages-to-this-bot-quot-chat-with-bot/m-p/3952378

[sydlawrencedev]

Hi, we've had a customer report this issue. The app has been uploaded into Teams via the Teams admin, and has been added as an approved 3rd party app under the app policies.

But yet under seemingly random occasions some users are presented with "You cannot message this bot" only on "New" teams.

Just to confirm, the app has been added to their organisations teams tenant by a teams admin, and added to their relevant app policy.

However, they've also had a user who was seeing this message, but after various restarts of Teams, it no longer shows this message.

Any guidance would be appreciated. Even if it's a "we're still investigating", at the moment all I can see is "feature not a bug" and "it's by design".

Thanks!

[namtp-ai]

Hello Everyone, This behavior is by design in New Teams Client. To interact with bot via azure portal, you need to have side loading of apps enabled in the tenant. For classic Teams also, same behavior will be implemented but we don't have exact ETA to share. Reference docs: Enable custom Teams apps and turn on custom app uploading: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/build-and-test/prepare-your-o365-tenant#enable-custom-teams-apps-and-turn-on-custom-app-uploading Upload your app in Teams: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/deploy-and-publish/apps-upload Thanks!!

Hello Everyone - Sorry for delay in response. Engineering team has fixed the issue in T1 (Classic Team) but it is not publicly released. We will let you know once it is done but we don't have exact ETA to share.

Please check, our customer waiting for this release. Thank team so much.

[ChetanSharma-msft]

Hello Everyone, We are checking this issue with engineering team and let you know the updates.

[ChetanSharma-msft]

Hello Everyone, This behavior is by design in New Teams Client. To interact with bot via azure portal, you need to have side loading of apps enabled in the tenant. For classic Teams also, same behavior will be implemented but we don't have exact ETA to share. Reference docs: Enable custom Teams apps and turn on custom app uploading: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/build-and-test/prepare-your-o365-tenant#enable-custom-teams-apps-and-turn-on-custom-app-uploading Upload your app in Teams: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/deploy-and-publish/apps-upload Thanks!!

Hello Everyone - Sorry for delay in response. Engineering team has fixed the issue in T1 (Classic Team) but it is not publicly released. We will let you know once it is done but we don't have exact ETA to share.

Please check, our customer waiting for this release. Thank team so much.

Hello @namtp-ai - There is no release pending as T2.1 behavior is already implemented in T1 for below. "For user to be able to interact with bot via azure portal, user need to have side loading of apps enabled in the tenant. "

We will check with engineering for below; If organization is submitting the app to store, do we still need to enable the sideloading to make it work?

If there is anything else, please let us know.

[AaronBarreiro1]

Hi, I think it's still not working

[ChetanSharma-msft]

Hi, I think it's still not working

Hello @AaronBarreiro1 - Could you please confirm whether you have enabled the app sideloading in Teams?

[Vaibhav-MSFT]

Hello @AaronBarreiro1, Make sure you have side loading of apps enabled in your teams. For more information refer to the link below- [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/build-and-test/prepare-your-o365-tenant#enable-custom-teams-apps-and-turn-on-custom-app-uploading]()

[AaronBarreiro1]

Hi, I think it's still not working

Hello @AaronBarreiro1 - Could you please confirm whether you have enabled the app sideloading in Teams?

Yes I have it enabled:

In the dev.framework it's giving me HTTP Bad Request

[Vaibhav-MSFT]

Hello Everyone, We are checking this issue with engineering team and will let you know the updates.

[ChetanSharma-msft]

Hello Everyone - Engineering team is working on it and will let you know once we get any update from engineering team.

[TomHartogs-Neople]

Hello, I have installed/side-loaded a chat application as an admin. After a day, it becomes available in the Teams environment as expected, however, in the teams web application the message "You cannot send messages to this bot" is shown. In the (new) Teams app, this message is not shown and I can interact with the bot.

After enabling "Upload custom apps" on the global level, the message is removed, but here's the thing. I don't want everybody in my organisation to be able to upload custom apps. How can I create a setup where only I, as an admin, am able to upload custom apps?

[cb0001]

Hello, let me ask, when will this bug be fixed? I have this problem regardless of whether it is a new team or a classic team. If I don’t send messages for a long time in the classic team, an error will appear.

[ChetanSharma-msft]

Hello, I have installed/side-loaded a chat application as an admin. After a day, it becomes available in the Teams environment as expected, however, in the teams web application the message "You cannot send messages to this bot" is shown. In the (new) Teams app, this message is not shown and I can interact with the bot.

After enabling "Upload custom apps" on the global level, the message is removed, but here's the thing. I don't want everybody in my organisation to be able to upload custom apps. How can I create a setup where only I, as an admin, am able to upload custom apps?

Hello @TomHartogs - We will check on your below query with engineering team and let you know.

[mathijs95]

I have a similar same issue. However, I have global wide custom apps enabled: Teams app does not work. Neither in new teams nor in old teams. The direct teams link from azure bot service also does not work. "You cannot send messages to this bot". The bot works fine in WebChat, Emulator etc.

[mathijs95]

any update on this? @ChetanSharma-msft. Our development and testing is really slowed down by this...

[gerald560]

Same issue

[Vaibhav-MSFT]

Hello @mathijs95, We are checking the status with the engineering team. We will inform you once we have any update.

[vashek]

OK, sorry to be that guy, but "me too". I'm developing a bot, it worked for a day, next day Teams says "You cannot send messages to this bot". Switching back to old Teams and marking messages as unread seems to help, mobile app also works so far, but new Teams is not working. Please give us something better and more concrete than "checking the status with the engineering team".

[Wajeed-msft]

We have rolled out a fix to make sure that behavior in Classic Teams and new Teams is same for chat with the Azure bot through a direct link. Please let me know if you are facing issue where you have enabled app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps but you are not able to chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

Ref: Upload your app in Teams

From January 31 2024, users can't chat with bots that aren't connected to a Microsoft Teams app such as Azure bots created through the Bot Framework or Power Virtual Agents. We recommend you to create a new Teams app connected to the Azure Bot using the Developer Portal, publish it to the Teams, and allow users to install the app using the app permission policies.

If you want to test the app, you can assign users an app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps and chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

[siva9046]

We have rolled out a fix to make sure that behavior in Classic Teams and new Teams is same for chat with the Azure bot through a direct link. Please let me know if you are facing issue where you have enabled app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps but you are not able to chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

Ref: Upload your app in Teams From January 31 2024, users can't chat with bots that aren't connected to a Microsoft Teams app such as Azure bots created through the Bot Framework or Power Virtual Agents. We recommend you to create a new Teams app connected to the Azure Bot using the Developer Portal, publish it to the Teams, and allow users to install the app using the app permission policies. If you want to test the app, you can assign users an app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps and chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

still we see the same message, after your fix

[mathijs95]

Hi all, I found the issue which solved it for us. Inside the manifest.json, the flag "isNotificationOnly" was put on True. I put it on False, and now the bot works like a charm again.

[ShefaliKukreja]

Hi

We have rolled out a fix to make sure that behavior in Classic Teams and new Teams is same for chat with the Azure bot through a direct link. Please let me know if you are facing issue where you have enabled app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps but you are not able to chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

Ref: Upload your app in Teams From January 31 2024, users can't chat with bots that aren't connected to a Microsoft Teams app such as Azure bots created through the Bot Framework or Power Virtual Agents. We recommend you to create a new Teams app connected to the Azure Bot using the Developer Portal, publish it to the Teams, and allow users to install the app using the app permission policies. If you want to test the app, you can assign users an app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps and chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

Hi, we are still facing the issue with classic Teams client. PFB the screenshot:

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 3 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 3 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[siva9046]

Hi all, I found the issue which solved it for us. Inside the manifest.json, the flag "isNotificationOnly" was put on True. I put it on False, and now the bot works like a charm again.

This tip isn't working for me. By default we have "isNotificationOnly" is False.

@Wajeed-msft: We are still facing the same issues (The direct link approach - "https://teams.microsoft.com/l/chat/0/0?users=*****)

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 3 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[san540]

Hello All, We continue to encounter the same issues when using the Direct Line approach in the Teams. As part of a large organization, we have uploaded the production app to the organization, and they are submitting it to the store. However, this process is not applicable to the development and quality assurance (QA) bots. we used to work through Direct Line, but it is not functioning in the classic Teams/New Teams environment. Could you please provide a solution for managing the development and QA bots?

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 3 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[blakesmith-se]

Why was this marked as completed? It is not fixed. I'm still seeing it happening.

[san540]

We're still encountering the same problems with the direct link method. It's unclear why this issue was marked as closed.

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

Hi romeroej-inch! Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We will investigate and if we require further information we will reach out in one business day. Please use this link to escalate if you don't get replies.

Best regards, Teams Platform

[IoannisGianko]

We have rolled out a fix to make sure that behavior in Classic Teams and new Teams is same for chat with the Azure bot through a direct link. Please let me know if you are facing issue where you have enabled app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps but you are not able to chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

Ref: Upload your app in Teams From January 31 2024, users can't chat with bots that aren't connected to a Microsoft Teams app such as Azure bots created through the Bot Framework or Power Virtual Agents. We recommend you to create a new Teams app connected to the Azure Bot using the Developer Portal, publish it to the Teams, and allow users to install the app using the app permission policies. If you want to test the app, you can assign users an app setup policy that allows uploading custom apps and chat with the Azure bot through a direct link to a chat.

For us that just want to test the bot before publishing the app, it worked by creating this policy and switching on the upload custom apps on the App Setup Policy. Cheers

FYI MC699716 — Breaking Security Change: Ability to chat with bots based on custom app policy https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/public-sector-blog/january-2024-microsoft-365-us-public-sector-roadmap-newsletter/ba-p/4034768

[nrocy]

We're still encountering this issue on New Teams. In our case we've set an MPN ID, the application is linked to a Teams App that has been installed via the Teams Admin Portal and isn't an app policy issue as we were able to programmatically install the teams app for end users and send them initial messaging.

In case helpful:

We've found that if an affected user clears their browser/teams cache it can fix the issue; this strongly suggests the root cause is a bug in the Teams web application itself. The fact that mobile isn't affected further strengthens the argument and would suggest that this is not a configuration/manifest issue: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/troubleshoot/teams-administration/clear-teams-cache

Given this is clearly affecting many, it'd be great to understand the perceived status of this bug at Microsoft so that we can at least update/reassure our growing list of affected and frustrated customers.

Thanks

[ANCsystems]

We have the same issue at our org, it works fine on the mobile app, but on the desktop app i have to right click on the bot and then click mark as unread to be able to message the app, its impossible to go around and tell over 300 employees to do this.

[nrocy]

We have the same issue at our org, it works fine on the mobile app, but on the desktop app i have to right click on the bot and then click mark as unread to be able to message the app, its impossible to go around and tell over 300 employees to do this.

Absolutely feel your pain here, we've customers with tens of thousands of users encountering the same issue, it's completely untenable and so clearly a bug with the New Teams app that for whatever reason appears to be going unacknowledged/unaddressed by Microsoft.

[ChetanSharma-msft]

Hello @Everyone, Sorry for delay in response.

We have informed engineering team, and they are checking on it. We will let you know once we have further updates.

[codyc1515]

Also facing this issue.

[chulucninh09]

I also faced this issue, we have PoC project with big clients and this really hurts

[jamesemann]

This happening to us today, too. We are seeing it for all our bots on our tenant

[Vaibhav-MSFT]

Hello @everyone, We are checking this issue on priority basis. Will let you know once we get any updates.

[sydlawrencedev]

@Vaibhav-MSFT Thank you! Much appreciated, we've got accounts combining over 350,000 MS licences reporting this issue

[leandrodesouzadev]

I'm also facing this issue, after wandering for a few days, and being my first ever try to make a teams bot, i was thinking that i was doing something wrong.

[mike-iqmo]

We are currently experiencing this issue, it is a bot that has been working consistently for months. Now all users are getting the "You cannot send messages to this bot" error

[jamesemann]

Just to add to this, we don't see the "Built for your org" section in teams now - so users can't actually discover apps any more

@Vaibhav-MSFT would you be able to give an update with any info you can share at this time - thank you!

[mike-iqmo]

@jamesemann is your "Built for your org" section back? Everything is working for us again this morning. @Vaibhav-MSFT is there any update on what may have occurred yesterday?

[jamesemann]

@mike-iqmo unfortunately not for us, but glad you are back up and running

[jamesemann]

@mike-iqmo an hour later and it is back and the apps are accessible again 🤷‍♂️

[yu2003w]

It looks like it's intermittent issue. Is this already fixed?

[MasonGeloso]

Crazy how this isn't fixed

[marianocalero]

For the "you cannot send message to this bot" message, do the affected users all have custom app uploading turned on in the Teams App Setup policy? If not, then the message is expected if the bots are being accessed using the app ID or a link to the chat generated in Azure.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-app-setup-policies#use-app-setup-policy-to-allow-independent-bots