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Work with conversation transcripts

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Important

Power Virtual Agents capabilities and features are now part of Microsoft Copilot Studio following significant investments in generative AI and enhanced integrations across Microsoft Copilot.

Some articles and screenshots may refer to Power Virtual Agents while we update documentation and training content.

You can view, export and download transcripts of customer interactions with your bot in both Power Apps and Microsoft Copilot Studio. The information that each app exports is slightly different. This article covers downloading conversation transcripts in Power Apps and using them to create reports in Power BI. Download bot session transcripts in Microsoft Copilot Studio.

By default, Power Apps downloads conversation transcripts from the last 30 days. You can change the retention period.

Note

If you no longer have access to your environment, you'll need to create a support request in the Power Platform admin center.

Prerequisites

View and export bot conversation transcripts from the Power Apps portal

You can also view and export bot conversation transcripts from the Power Apps portal.

First, you'll need to sign in to https://www.powerapps.com with your credentials.

View conversation transcripts

  1. In the side pane select the Tables node. At the top, select All.

    Screenshot showing All selected on the Tables node.

  2. Type Conversation in the Search textbox on the top right. Select ConversationTranscript under Tables.

    Screenshot showing Conversation Transcript selected.

  3. A page for the ConversationTranscript table will open and show a list of data available to view.

    Screenshot showing Active conversation transcripts expanded.

Export conversation transcripts

  1. In the side pane, select the Tables node. At the top, select All.

    Select All on the Tables node.

  2. Type Conversation in the Search textbox at the top right. Select ConversationTranscript under Tables.

    Select the transcript for export.

  3. Expand the Export menu item at the top of the screen and select Export data. It may take a few minutes for the data to be compiled for export.

    Selecting Export data from the Export menu.

  4. Select Download exported data to download the content.

    Download exported data.

Download bot conversation transcripts

  1. In the Power Apps navigation menu, select Dataverse, and then select Tables.

  2. Select All.

  3. In the search box at the upper-right corner, type conversation.

  4. Select the ConversationTranscript table.

    Screenshot of the Power Apps Tables page with the ConversationTranscript table highlighted.

  5. Select Export, and then select Export data.

    Screenshot of the ConversationTranscript table Export data option.

  6. Allow a couple of minutes for Power Apps to prepare the data for export. Select Download exported data.

The file is saved as a zipped archive to your browser's default download location.

Work with conversation transcripts

The conversation transcript is a CSV (comma-separated values) file. The following table describes the most important fields in your conversation transcripts.

Field Description Example
Content The entire transcript in JSON format Refer to the Content field section.
ConversationStartTime The time the conversation started (not the time the transcript record was written to the data store) 2021-04-19T20:39:09Z
ConversationTranscript The unique identifier of the row in the Dataverse table 28eccb77-xxxx-4a63-985f-ffaaadd6f391
Metadata JSON that includes the bot ID, tenant ID, and bot name {"BotId": "198eca5f-xxxx-4ae6-8c08-835d884a8688", "AADTenantId": "72f988bf-xxxx-41af-91ab-2d7cd011db47", "BotName": "Test Bot"}
Name The name of the custom row that's created from ConversationId followed by BotId followed by a batch number. The batch number indicates the order when there are multiple analytic sessions for the conversation. Classic bots do not include the batch number. 8YYe8iif49ZKkycZLe7HUO-o_198eca5f-xxxx-4ae6-8c08-835d884a8688_0
Bot_ConversationTranscript The bot ID 198eca5f-xxxx-4ae6-8c08-835d884a8688
Created on The date and time the transcript record was created 2021-04-20T02:40:13Z

Content field

The Content field is a raw log of all the activities that users had with the bot. Common activity types include message and event:

  • Message activities represent the content that's shown in a conversation. Message activities may contain text, speech, interactive cards, and binary or unknown attachments.
  • Event activities communicate programmatic information from a client or channel to the bot.

For more information on activity types, see Bot Framework Activity schema.

The following table describes some of the key fields in the Content JSON:

Key Description
ID The unique GUID of the activity object
valueType The type of value that's stored in the activity; dictates what information the activity is providing (Common activity value types)
timestamp The timestamp of when the activity was generated, in Epoch format (the number of seconds since midnight UTC January 1, 1970)
type The type of activity; for example, message, event, or trace
replyToId The ID of the activity that the current activity is responding to
from Contains fields id and role:
  • id - the ID of the invoker
  • role - holds 0 or 1
    • 0 - the activity is coming from the bot
    • 1 - the activity is coming from the user interacting with the bot
Notes:
The id can be used to calculate the number of active users that are interacting with the bot if the canvas is passing in a unique ID of the user. If the canvas doesn't pass an ID, a unique ID per conversation is passed.
For security and privacy, the ID is hashed before it's written to the transcript.
channelId The ID of where the activity is coming from; for example, directline, msteams, or facebook
textFormat The format of the text; for example, plain or markdown
attachments Dynamic rich data associated with the activity; for example, AdaptiveCards, HeroCards, or Carousel data
text The text for message activities
value Fields specific to the activity based on the value type; this field is where most of the useful information exists
channeldata
  • Contains channel data:
    • for messages:
      • DialogTraceDetail
      • DialogErrorDetail
      • VariableDetail (contains the value assigned to a variable)
      • CurrentMessageDetail
    • for events:
      • cci_trace_id
      • traceHistory
      • enableDiagnostics
      • clientTimestamp
      • clientActivityId
name The name of the event activity; for example, SetPVAContext

Common activity value types

Activity value type Description
ConversationInfo Whether the conversation is from the Microsoft Copilot Studio test pane (isDesignMode) and the locale of the conversation
CSATSurveyRequest The user is presented with a customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey
CSATSurveyResponse The user responds to a CSAT survey
DialogRedirect The user is redirected to another topic
ImpliedSuccess The user has reached a question node in the topic, where one of the conditions points to the "Confirmed Success" CSAT system topic or calls the "End of Conversation" system topic
IntentRecognition A topic was triggered by the user
PRRSurveyRequest The user was asked if the topic answered their question from the "End of Conversation" topic
PRRSurveyResponse The user's response to whether the topic answered their question from the "End of Conversation" topic
SessionInfo The type (unengaged or engaged), outcome (Escalated, Resolved, Abandon), and the turn count of the session
VariableAssignment A value has been assigned to a variable

Build custom Power BI reports from conversation transcripts

A useful way to approach building custom reports from conversation transcripts is to look at the number of messages that need to be processed.

Lightweight approach

Connect Power BI to Dataverse with a Power BI dataflow. Other infrastructure isn't required and all records are retrieved from Dataverse with every refresh.

Diagram showing the flow of data from Dataverse to the Power BI model.

Pros Cons
Easiest implementation. Refresh time may increase as transcripts increase.
High cost for storage in Dataverse.

Standard Azure Data Lake Storage approach

Export Dataverse data to Azure Data Lake Storage. This method requires an Azure Data Lake Storage account, but no other Azure infrastructure.

Use a Power Platform dataflow on the transcripts to prepare the data, and extract the data into a structured form.

Power BI refreshes data from the dataflow. Power Platform and Power BI manage all compute infrastructure. Records for a certain day are retrieved from Dataverse with every refresh.

Diagram showing the data flowing from Dataverse into Azure Data Lake Storage and being processed by Power Platform and Power BI.

Pros Cons
Low storage cost in Azure Data Lake Storage.
Moderately simple implementation.
No Azure Compute required.		 Refresh time may increase as transcripts increase each day.

Azure Data Lake Storage + Synapse approach

The data size in the Standard Azure Data Lake Storage approach can cause slow refreshes or other operational problems. In that case, you can use Azure Synapse Analytics and integrate it into Power BI.

Diagram of data flowing from Dataverse into Azure Data Lake and being processed by Azure Synapse and Power Platform.

Pros Cons
Refresh time is constant.
Moderately simple implementation.
Low storage cost in Azure Data Lake Storage.		 Compute cost for Azure Synapse.

Change the default retention period

A Power Apps bulk delete job automatically removes bot transcripts that are older than 30 days. To keep the transcripts longer, cancel the existing job and create a new one that runs on a different schedule.

Cancel the existing bulk delete job

  1. In Power Apps, in the upper-right corner, select the Settings cog icon, and then select Advanced settings.

    Screenshot of the Power Apps Settings menu with Advanced settings highlighted.

    The Dynamics 365 portal opens in a new tab.

  2. Select the caret next to Settings, and then under System, select Data Management.

    Screenshot of the Settings menu, with Data Management highlighted.

  3. Select Bulk Record Deletion.

    Screenshot of the Data Management page, with the Bulk Record Deletion option highlighted.

  4. In the View list, select Recurring Bulk Deletion System Jobs.

    Screenshot of the list of recurring bulk deletion jobs.

  5. Select the Bulk Delete Conversation Transcript Records Older Than 1 Month job.

    Screenshot of a list of bulk delete jobs, with the first one highlighted.

  6. In the More Actions list, select Cancel.

    Screenshot of the More actions list, with Cancel highlighted.

Create a new bulk delete job

  1. Select New, and then select Next to start the Bulk Deletion Wizard.

  2. Set the following search criteria:

    • In the Look for list, select ConversationTranscripts.
    • Select ConversationStartTime, select Older Than X Months, and type 12.
      This setting keeps the transcripts for 12 months. Choose a different comparison and value if you like.
    • Select SchemaType, leave equals, and type powervirtualagents.

    Screenshot of the bulk delete job search criteria settings.

  3. Select Next.

  4. Enter a name for the job, select Run this job after every, and enter 1.
    Choose a different schedule if you don't want the job to run every day.

    Screenshot of the bulk delete job name and run settings.

  5. Select Next, and then select Submit.

Tips for getting the most out of your conversation transcripts

Variables can be used to store data relevant to your bot content or bot user. Parsing the variable and its value from the conversation transcript lets you filter or slice the data by the variable.

In many places, the conversation transcripts refer to content by its ID. For example, the ID of the topic that's being redirected to by the current topic is only referred to by its ID. To get the name of the topic, look up its name in the bot content.