Plain text URLs sent via Bot Framework sendActivity() are not rendered as clickable hyperlinks in Teams Copilot UI

Question

Summary

When a backend agent sends a response containing a plain text URL using Bot Framework sendActivity(), the URL is displayed as non-clickable text in the Microsoft Teams Copilot UI.

This occurs even though:

The URL is valid

No HTML or markdown is used

The URL is on its own line

The same response renders as a clickable hyperlink in other channels (e.g., Teams bot chat), but not in Teams Copilot.

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Environment

Product: Microsoft Teams Copilot

Bot hosting: Azure Bot Service

Bot type: Copilot-enabled bot

Backend: Custom LLM agent

SDK: Bot Framework SDK

Response method: TurnContext.sendActivity()

Message type: message

Content: Plain text URL

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Steps to Reproduce

Create a Copilot-enabled bot in Azure Bot Service

Configure the messaging endpoint to a backend agent using Bot Framework SDK

Send a response using sendActivity() that includes a plain text URL

Sample code

await turn_context.send_activity(
    "You can find the travel policy here:\nhttps://example.com/travel-policy"
)

Open Microsoft Teams Copilot

Send a message to the agent

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Expected Result

The URL should be rendered as a clickable hyperlink in the Teams Copilot UI.

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Actual Result

The URL is displayed as plain, non-clickable text in the Teams Copilot UI.

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Additional Notes

No HTML or markdown formatting is used

The URL is placed on its own line

Markdown links and HTML links are also not rendered (understandable)

This appears to be specific to Teams Copilot UI

Other Bot Framework channels render the link correctly

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Documentation References

Copilot extensibility – Known issues & limitations
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/extensibility/known-issues
(Notes that Copilot does not support all Bot Framework message behaviors)

Bot Framework – Channel-specific rendering behavior
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-service-channel-inspector
(Rendering differs by channel)

Copilot content sanitization and URL rendering controls
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/image-render-embedded-url

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Request for Clarification

Could you please confirm:

Whether this is a known limitation when using Bot Framework sendActivity() with Teams Copilot, or

Whether there is a supported approach to ensure plain text URLs render as clickable hyperlinks in Teams Copilot UI

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Impact

This affects:

User experience in Teams Copilot

Sharing documentation and reference links

Migration of existing Teams bots to Copilot agents

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Answer 1

The behavior you are experiencing with plain text URLs not being rendered as clickable hyperlinks in the Microsoft Teams Copilot UI appears to be a known limitation. According to the documentation, Copilot does not support all Bot Framework message behaviors, which may include the rendering of URLs in the manner you expect.

Currently, there is no supported approach mentioned in the documentation to ensure that plain text URLs render as clickable hyperlinks specifically in the Teams Copilot UI. This limitation seems to be specific to the Copilot interface, as other channels within the Bot Framework do render links correctly.

For further details, you may want to refer to the known issues and limitations related to Copilot extensibility and the differences in rendering behavior across channels.

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References:

• Copilot extensibility – Known issues & limitations
• Bot Framework – Channel-specific rendering behavior