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Create Business Central tabs for Teams

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This article explains how to add tabs in Teams in channels and chats.

To learn about how users can add Business Central tabs in the Teams client, see Add a Business Central Tab in Teams.

Add tabs programmatically

Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft REST Graph API, which allows apps to connect to Teams and create resources like channels, chats, and tabs. Using the Graph API, you can add Business Central tabs to new or existing channels and chats in Teams. Together with the Business Central app for Teams, you can set up a Teams environment complete with teams, channels, and Business Central tabs—without requiring users to do anything extra.

To add a Business Central tab to a channel or chat, you send a POST request to either the channel tab or chat tab endpoint.

Important

The user identity that runs the code must have access to the Business Central app for Teams for the POST request to succeed. To increase the reliability of your code, you can add the app to the Team channel or chat before adding the tab.

For channels

You need the ID the team and the channel that you want to add the tab to.

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/{teamId}/channels/{channelId}/tabs

{
    "displayName": "<tab name>",​
    "teamsApp@odata.bind": ​"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps/84c2de91-84e8-4bbf-b15d-9ef33245ad29",​
    "configuration": {​
        "entityId": "<unique id>",​
        "contentUrl": "https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/teams?<company and page ID>",​
        "websiteUrl": "https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/?<company and page ID>"​
    }
}

For chats

You need the ID the chat that you want to add the tab to.

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/chats/{chat-id}/tabs

{
    "displayName": "<tab name>",​
    "teamsApp@odata.bind": ​"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps/84c2de91-84e8-4bbf-b15d-9ef33245ad29",​
    "configuration": {​
        "entityId": "<unique id>",​
        "contentUrl": "https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/teams?<company and page ID>",​
        "websiteUrl": "https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/?<company and page ID>"​
    }
}

Composing request body

The request body also called the payload, follows the request URL and specifies the content of the tab. There are several string properties that you can set. Some are required. The following table describes the properties and any specific values that you must provide.

Property Description Required
displayName Specifies the name that shows for the tab in the channel or chat Yes
teamsApp@odata.bind This property binds the tab to the Business Central app for Teams. The ID of the Business Central app is 84c2de91-84e8-4bbf-b15d-9ef33245ad29. So set the value to ​"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps/84c2de91-84e8-4bbf-b15d-9ef33245ad29" Yes
entityId Specifies an identifier for tab
contentUrl Specifies the URL used for rendering Business Central tab and its content in the channel or chat. It's important to include /teams in the path, which directs the Business Central web client to deliver a Teams-specific view and use the Teams authentication platform. If you omit it, that tab can't authenticate. Replace <company and page ID> with parameters that identify the company and page that you want to show. For more information about the Business Central web client URL and parameters, see Web Client URL. Yes
removeUrl Specifies the URL called by Teams client when a tab is removed using the Teams client.
websiteUrl Specifies the URL for showing tab contents outside of Teams, which users do by selecting Go to website option on the tab in the Teams client. Typically, you would set the value to the URL of the Business Central page in the web client.

Example

This example illustrates how you can add a team, channel, and Business Central tab. You add a tab in Teams that displays page 9305 Sale Orders. There are several tools that you can use, like AL code, PowerShell, API explorer tools, and more. In this example, you use the Graph Explorer. For details about using Graph Explorer, see Working with Graph Explorer.

Create team

  1. Open and sign in to Graph Explorer.

  2. Create a team.

    The first step is to create a team using the teams endpoint. In this example, you create a team named is Warehouse.

    1. At the top, set the method to Post and add the following URL:

      https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams

    2. Go to the Modify permissions tab and consent to required permissions.

    3. In the Request body, add the following:

      {
  "template@odata.bind": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teamsTemplates('standard')",
  "displayName": "Warehouse",
  "description": "Team for communicating with the warehouse personnel"
}

    4. Select Run Query.

      If successful, you get an Accepted - 202 message.

    5. In the Response headers, get the ID of the new team from the "location" entry:

      "location": "/teams('734c3798-b644-4b50-8f42-b3d56b6d1e35')/operations('df79c928-7cae-4d3f-8584-016d01dcfc56')",

      In this case, 734c3798-b644-4b50-8f42-b3d56b6d1e35.

Create channel

The next step is to create a channel using the channels endpoint. In this example, you create a channel for raising issues about sales orders.

  1. Start a new query, set the method to Post and add the following endpoint URL:

    https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/734c3798-b644-4b50-8f42-b3d56b6d1e35/channels

  2. Go to the Modify permissions tab and consent to required permissions.

  3. In the Request body, add the following:

    {
  "displayName": "Sales order complaints",
  "description": "This channel is for raising issues with sales orders. ",
  "membershipType": "standard"
}

  4. Select Run Query.

    If successful, you get an Created - 201 message.

  5. In the Response headers, get the ID of the new team from the "location" entry:

    "location": "https://teamsgraph.teams.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams('734c3798-b644-4b50-8f42-b3d56b6d1e35')/channels('19:7f4bae394f7c479a921c679123aa8e7c@thread.tacv2')",

    In this case, 19:7f4bae394f7c479a921c679123aa8e7c@thread.tacv2.

Install the Business Central app for Teams

Complete this step if the Business Central app isn't already installed for the team. The app must be installed in the team, otherwise you get an error when you try to add the tab.

  1. Start a new query, set the method to Post and add the following endpoint URL:

    https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/734c3798-b644-4b50-8f42-b3d56b6d1e35/installedApps

    For more information about this endpoint, go to Post app in team.

  2. Go to the Modify permissions tab and consent to required permissions.

  3. In the Request body, add the following:

    {
"teamsApp@odata.bind": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps/84c2de91-84e8-4bbf-b15d-9ef33245ad29"
}

  4. Select Run Query.

    If successful, you get an Created - 201 message.

Add tab

The final step is to add a Business Central tab to the channel by using the tabs endpoint.

  1. Start a new query, set the method to Post and add the following endpoint URL:

    https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/734c3798-b644-4b50-8f42-b3d56b6d1e35/channels/19:7f4bae394f7c479a921c679123aa8e7c@thread.tacv2/tabs

  2. Go to the Modify permissions tab and consent to required permissions.

  3. In the Request body, add the following:

    {
    "displayName": "Overdue Sales Orders",
    "teamsApp@odata.bind": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps/84c2de91-84e8-4bbf-b15d-9ef33245ad29",
    "configuration": {
        "entityId": "2DCA2E6C7A10415CAF6B8AB6661B3154",
        "contentUrl": "https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/teams?company=CRONUS%20USA%2C%20Inc.&page=9305",
        "websiteUrl": "https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/?company=CRONUS%20USA%2C%20Inc.&page=9305"
    }
}

  4. Select Run Query.

    If successful, you get an Created - 201 message.

  5. In the Response headers, get the ID of the new team from the "location" entry:

    "location": "https://teamsgraph.teams.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams('734c3798-b644-4b50-8f42-b3d56b6d1e35')/channels('19:7f4bae394f7c479a921c679123aa8e7c@thread.tacv2')",

    In this case, 19:7f4bae394f7c479a921c679123aa8e7c@thread.tacv2.

Next steps

Change the recommended content for the tab. See Add and Remove Recommended Content for Business Central Tabs.

See also

Developing for Microsoft Teams Integration