Bot Framework Availability Frequently Asked Questions

We created the Bot Framework to make it easier for developers to build and connect great bots to users, wherever they converse, including on Microsoft's premier channels.

Azure AI Bot Service doesn't support region move. It's a global service that isn't tied to any specific region.

Before talking about the use of a bot offline, meaning a bot not deployed on Azure or on some other host services but on premises, let's clarify a few points.

• A bot is a web service that doesn't have a UI, so the user must interact with it via other means, in the form of channels, which use the Bot Framework Service. The connector functions as a proxy to relay messages between a client and the bot.
• The connector is a global application hosted on Azure nodes and spread geographically for availability and scalability.
• You use the Bot Channel Registration to register the bot with the connector.

You can run a bot offline with limited capabilities. For example, if you want to use a bot offline that uses Azure AI services, you must build a container for the bot, and required tools, and a container for the Azure AI services. Both connected via Docker Compose bridged network. This is a "partial" offline solution because an Azure AI services container needs periodic online connection.

For more information, see:

• Deploy the Language Understanding (LUIS) container to Azure Container Instances
• Container support in Azure AI services

Bot Framework v4 SDK builds on the feedback and learnings from the prior Bot Framework SDK versions. It introduces the right levels of abstraction while enabling rich set of components as the bot building blocks. You can start with a simple bot and grow it in sophistication using a modular and extensible framework. See also What's new with Bot Framework on GitHub.

Microsoft Bot Framework SDK V4 was released in September 2018, and since then we've shipped a few dot-release improvements. As announced previously, the V3 SDK is being retired. Accordingly, there will be no more development in V3 repositories. Existing V3 bot workloads will continue to run without interruption. We have no plans to disrupt any running workloads.

As mentioned, Bot Builder SDK V3 bots continue to run and be supported by Azure AI Bot Service. Bot Builder SDK V3 will only be supported for critical security bug fixes, connector, and protocol layer compatibility updates.

All new features and capabilities are developed exclusively on Bot Framework SDK V4. Customers are encouraged to migrate their bots to V4 as soon as possible.

Azure AI Bot Service

1. The Azure AI Bot Service will continue to support the running of V3 bots with no planned end of life, and any running bots won't be disrupted.
2. Channels will remain compatible with V3 with no disruption or end of life plan.
3. Creation of new V3 bots is disabled on the portal; however, expert users who wish to deploy their V3 bots independently through other services (such as another web app service) can do so.

SDK and Tools

1. We won't be updating the V3 SDK for the foreseeable future, except to apply critical security fixes and to add a skills connector to allow V4 bots to call legacy V3 bots.
2. SDKs and tools development is exclusively on V4 with no V3 work done or planned (hence we're already "there").
3. We don't prevent anyone from running old tools to manage their V3 bots.

References

• How bots work
• Primary V4 Repositories to develop Bot Framework bots
  • Bot Framework SDK for .NET
  • Bot Framework SDK for JavaScript
• QnA Maker Libraries were replaced with the following V4 libraries
  • Microsoft.Bot.Builder.AI.QnA
  • botbuilder-ai
• Azure Libraries were replaced with the following V4 libraries
  • botbuilder-azure
  • Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Azure