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Create and delete Power Virtual Agents bots in Teams

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Select the version of Power Virtual Agents you're using here:

You can create chatbots in the Power Virtual Agents app in Teams and then share them with other people in your team, company, or organization.

The very first step is to add the Power Virtual Agents app. Then you can create bots.

Note

You can only see bots in the version of Power Virtual Agents where you created them.

This means if you create a bot with the Power Virtual Agents app in Microsoft Teams, you will not see the bot in the web app of Power Virtual Agents at https://web.powerva.microsoft.com.

Prerequisites

Add the Power Virtual Agents app in Microsoft Teams

  1. Select Apps at the bottom of the side pane in Microsoft Teams

    Screenshot of the apps icon in the Teams side navigating bar.

  2. In the search box, type power virtual agents and then select the tile that appears. Select Add for me in the description window that pops up. This adds the app to the side pane.

    Screenshot of the app search box.

  3. To make it easier to get back to, select and hold (or right-click) the Power Virtual Agents icon and select Pin.

    Screenshot of the popup menu with options to learn about the app, pin it, or uninstall it.

Create a bot

When you create a bot, it has to go into a team - everyone in that team will be able to see and use the bot (but you can share it with people in other teams later on). If you want other people to have access to edit the bot, you need to add them to your team.

All bots have to belong to a team. You can create a new team if necessary, before you add a bot to it.

Important

You can't create a bot in a hidden membership team (a team where members can't see the details of other members). If you try to do so, you'll see an error message, and you'll need to create your bot in another team that doesn't have the hiddenmembership setting.

The first time you create a bot in a team, it will take 1 to 10 minutes to build the necessary systems in the backend, but every bot after that will take much less time (around 1 or 2 minutes).

  1. Select the Power Virtual Agents icon to open the app.

  2. You can create a new bot two ways:

    • Select Start now and then choose the team you want to use.
    • Go to the Chatbots tab, select the team you want to use, and then New chatbot.

    If this is the first time a bot is being created in your team, you'll see a notice explaining that it will take some time (this could take from 1 to 10 minutes):

    Screenshot of a message that says 'You're the first person to create a bot in this team. We'll need to do some setting up, so loading time will be a little longer than usual'.

    Note

    If you were just recently added to a team that already has a bot, you may still see this message as Microsoft Teams is still adding you to the team. You should wait 15 minutes and then create your bot. You should also wait for 15 minutes before finding the team in the Chatbots tab.

  3. Select Create to begin the initial bot-building process for your team, which can take a few minutes.

    You can close the loading window, the bot creation process will continue in the background.

  4. After the building process is finished, you can create a bot in your team. In the list of teams, select your team and then New chatbot to make your bot.

    Screenshot of the create a new bot window.

Delete a bot

You can delete bots to remove them from your team. In the navigation menu, under Settings, select Details. Then select Delete.

Screenshot of the delete bot button.

You'll be asked to confirm the deletion of the bot by entering the bot's name, after which all bot content is immediately deleted.