Microsoft Teams Bot: Private channel messages not delivered to webhook despite tier1 manifest configuration

Question

I have a Teams bot with RSC permissions (ChannelMessage.Read.Group) that successfully receives messages from standard team channels and personal chats. I'm attempting to enable private channel support following the documentation at Build apps for shared and private channels.

My app qualifies as a simple "Apps with no dependence on specified parameters" per the documentation:

• Does NOT check channel/team membership for permissions
• Does NOT access SharePoint files directly (only downloads message attachments via Bot Framework contentUrl)
• Does NOT combine data across channels
• Does NOT customize behavior based on user type (guest/external)

Result:

• Regular team channels: Bot receives message webhooks successfully
• Private channel installation: conversationUpdate event fires when bot is added to private channel
• Private channel messages: Zero webhooks received at /api/teams/webhooks endpoint when users send messages in private channel

Environment:

• Webhook endpoint: CloudAdapter from @microsoft/agents-hosting
• Authentication: Azure AD with Bot Framework JWT validation
• Bot credentials: Single-tenant bot (appId, appSecret, appTenantId configured)
• Tested manifest versions: v1.16 (without supportsChannelFeatures), v1.25 (with supportsChannelFeatures: tier1), vDevPreview
• Installation: App installed to host team, then manually added to private channel via Teams UI

Manifest configuration (v1.25):

{
  "manifestVersion": "1.25",
  "supportsChannelFeatures": "tier1",
  "authorization": {
    "permissions": {
      "resourceSpecific": [
        {
          "type": "Application",
          "name": "ChannelMessage.Read.Group"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "bots": [{
    "botId": "",
    "scopes": ["team", "personal"]
  }]
}

Troubleshooting efforts:

• Verified RSC permissions granted in Azure AD
• Confirmed bot receives conversationUpdate (eventType: teamMemberAdded) when added to private channel
• Added debug logging to webhook endpoint - no HTTP requests received for private channel messages
• Tested with multiple manifest versions (v1.16, v1.25, vDevPreview)
• Removed supportsChannelFeatures and groupChat scope (matching working Unleash bot config) - no change
• Verified Azure Bot Service Teams channel is configured and messaging enabled
• Completely uninstalled/reinstalled app between manifest changes

Is private channel message delivery currently functional for Teams bots with RSC permissions? The documentation states tier1 support requires no admin permissions and should work automatically, but our bot receives zero message webhooks from private channels despite successful installation and conversationUpdate delivery.

This appears to match GitHub issue microsoft-365-agents-toolkit#15615 which reports the same symptoms (installation succeeds, no messages delivered) with no resolution.

Expected behavior:

Bot should receive message activity webhooks from private channels automatically after:

• App installed to team
• supportsChannelFeatures: tier1 in manifest
• Bot manually added to private channel

Is this a known platform limitation, or is additional configuration required beyond the documentation?

Answer 1

Hi @Jessa Pajarito   

Thank you for sharing the details. 

They are very helpful for me to investigate and better understand the situation. 

Based on the information I have gathered so far, one possible explanation is related to MC1197145. This update indicates that the app feature, including bots for private channels, has been postponed, and the rollout timeline has not yet been confirmed. 

For an official confirmation, you may consider reaching out to the support team through the Azure portal by submitting a ticket via Microsoft Azure Support Ticket | Microsoft Azure. 

At this time, one possible workaround is to use a broader permission such as ChannelMessage.Read.All. This approach requires tenant admin consent, along with submission of the Microsoft Graph protected APIs request form, as mentioned in the discussion: Teams Bot: Receiving all messages from Private Channels using RSC permissions - Microsoft Q&A 

I hope this information provides some additional clarity. 

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Answer 2

Private channel message delivery to bots is not supported.

Channel and group chat bots in Teams only receive messages when they are @mentioned, and even then there is an explicit limitation for private channels:

• "Posting a message or Adaptive Card to a private channel isn't supported." This reflects the broader limitation that bots cannot fully participate in private channel conversations the same way they do in standard channels.
• The RSC permission ChannelMessage.Read.Group enables a bot to receive all channel messages without @mentions only in teams where it is installed, but this applies to standard channels. The documentation and examples for RSC-based “receive all messages” focus on channels in general and do not extend that capability to private channels.

The shared/private channel guidance for supportsChannelFeatures: tier1 is primarily about enabling apps (tabs, bots, messaging extensions) to be installed and present in shared/private channels, not about changing the underlying limitation on bot message delivery in private channels.

Given the documented restriction on private channels and the absence of any guidance that RSC or supportsChannelFeatures: tier1 lifts that restriction, the behavior described (installation and conversationUpdate working, but no message activities from private channels) aligns with current platform limitations rather than a misconfiguration.

No additional configuration is documented that would enable full message delivery from private channels to bots with RSC permissions.

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References:

• Channel and group chat conversations with a bot
• Receive all messages for bots and agents
• Upload a custom app in a conversation
• Update app manifest
• Apps for shared and private channels
• How to enable shared channel support for a Teams app/bot - Microsoft Q&A
• Teams App / Bot 'Unauthorized' error when responding to an activity - Microsoft Q&A
• Issue with Azure BOT communication with Teams - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft Foundry publish to Teams Bot service error - Microsoft Q&A
• Permission Denied Error in Apps Service - Microsoft Q&A