Developing task status reporting in a Teams App that serve conversational purpose

Question

Hi all,

I would like to develop a Teams App with conversational function and a task status reporting side panel. Does anyone know how can I achieve that?

The conversation chatting in this Teams App is connected with an AI Agent. The AI Agent may trigger some tasks at backend and the tasks status is expected to be reflected on the Teams App. I welcome for any suggestion on how to achieve that in M365 development toolkits via since I am more familiar with it. I was think build that using Teams Tab and deploy it as Teams App, but I couldn't find any example so far. I would appreciate on any thought regarding that.

I also welcome for any other alternatives and ideas, thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Victor Wan,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Based on your description, I understand that you're looking to build a Microsoft Teams App that includes:

• A conversational interface powered by an AI Agent.
• The ability to trigger backend tasks.
• A side panel or UI to reflect task status/progress.

After researching and reviewing several documentations. I'd like to break down the architecture options and provide samples and documentation to help you move forward.

Before choosing the right architecture, it's important to clarify what kind of "tasks" you're referring to:

• If the tasks are server-side operations (e.g., generating reports, updating databases, calling APIs), then you can use bots or agents to trigger them.
• If the tasks are local client-side operations, Teams Apps cannot directly control the user's machine, so you'd need a companion app or service.

Assuming you're referring to backend tasks, here are some best-fit approaches that I could found.

1. AI Agent (Conversational + Backend Task Trigger)
   Microsoft’s AI Agent Toolkit allows you to build agents that understand user intent and trigger actions. This is the nearest approach if your scenario needs Natural conversation. However, AI Agents cannot directly render Adaptive Cards which is my first thought for UI to render tasks progress or invoke Task Modules or Dialogs directly. Sample GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/teams-agent-accelerator-templates/tree/main
   In the above sample, there are several templates, but I think the best fit to your need is Collab Agent.
   Since AI Agents can't directly render UI, here are recommended alternative:
   Return Deep Link to Tab App or Task Module:
   AI Agent can return a deep link that opens a custom UI in a tab or dialog.
   Use Case: Display task progress, charts, or status.
   Docs:
   • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/task-modules-and-cards/what-are-task-modules
   • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/task-modules-and-cards/task-modules/invoking-task-modules
   • Sample: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/samples/officedev/microsoft-teams-samples/officedev-microsoft-teams-samples-app-task-module-nodejs/
2. Declarative Agent Approach (Alternative to Conversational AI Agent)
   If your goal is to trigger backend tasks and display task progress in a structured, predictable way — without needing open-ended conversation — then a Declarative Agent is a strong fit.
   It’s ideal for scenarios where:
   • You want predictable, guided interactions.
   • You need to call REST APIs to manage tasks.
   • You want to display structured UI like task progress.
   Docs:
   • Build a Declarative Agent with API Plugin
   • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/copilot-declarative-agent-action-api-plugin-adaptive-cards-vsc/
   • Sample: https://github.com/microsoft/learn-declarative-agent-api-plugin-adaptive-cards-typescript
3. Workflow Bot:
   If you want Simple command-based task execution, you can use Workflow Bot with Adaptive Cards.
   Docs:
   • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/bots/overview
   • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/bots/how-to/conversations/workflow-bot-in-teams?tabs=JS

Hope this helps clarify the architecture and options with your scenario! If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.

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