How to Simulate “Request Approval” Flow for a Custom Teams App in Dev Tenant

Question

Hi Team,

I’m working with a Microsoft 365 Developer (E5) tenant where I’m the admin. I’ve created and submitted a custom Teams app via the Developer Portal and published it.

To simulate the “Request approval” experience for users, I set the app’s availability in the Teams Admin Center to “Available to no one.” However, when I sign in to Teams as a test user (non-admin, part of the same dev tenant), the app still appears under "Built for your org" and is available to Add—instead of prompting for approval.

My goal:

I want to simulate the real-world experience where an end user tries to install a custom app and sees the “Request approval” option, not the ability to install it directly.

What I’ve done:

I'm using a dev tenant with M365 E5 developer subscription.

Published the app via Developer Portal as the tenant admin.

• In Teams Admin Center: Set App availability to “Available to no one.”
  • Custom app settings are set to
    Let users install and use available apps by default - Off
    Let users interact with custom apps in preview - On
  Logged into Teams as a test user from the same tenant (not an admin).

Issue:

Despite these settings, the test user can still see and install the app without any approval prompt.

Question:

What are the exact steps or configurations required to trigger the “Request approval” flow for a custom Teams app within a dev tenant? Am I missing a policy or permission that restricts app visibility properly?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Verify App Permission Policies: App permission policies control which apps users can install.

1. Go to the Teams Admin Center:
   • Navigate to Teams apps > Permission policies.
2. Create a Custom Permission Policy:
   • Click Add to create a new permission policy.
   • Name the policy (e.g., "Restricted Custom Apps").
   • Under Custom apps, set the following:
   • Allow interaction with custom apps: On (to allow users to see the app).
   • Allow uploading custom apps: Off (to prevent users from uploading apps directly).
   • Allow specific apps and block all others: Add the custom app to the allowed list.
3. Assign the Policy to Test Users:
   • Go to Users in the Teams Admin Center.
   • Select the test user and assign the newly created permission policy.

Verify App Setup Policies: App setup policies control how apps are displayed and pinned for users.

1. Go to the Teams Admin Center:
   • Navigate to Teams apps > Setup policies.
2. Create a Custom Setup Policy:
   • Click Add to create a new setup policy.
   • Name the policy (e.g., "Restricted Setup Policy").
   • Under Installed apps, ensure the custom app is not added.
   • Save the policy.
3. Assign the Policy to Test Users:
   • Go to Users in the Teams Admin Center.
   • Select the test user and assign the newly created setup policy.

Set App Availability to "Available to No One": You’ve already done this step, but ensure it is configured correctly:

• Go to Teams apps > Manage apps in the Teams Admin Center.
• Search for your custom app.
• Set the app's availability to Available to no one.

It can take up to 24 hours for policy changes to propagate. You can expedite this by signing out and back into Teams or clearing the Teams cache.