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2026.04.28 · 3 min read

From Prompt to Production: Teams Agent Setup, Simplified

AUTHORS :Aamir Jawaid, Kavin Singh, Umang Sehgal
TOPICS :
teams-sdkclipreviewannouncementskills

You want to build a Teams agent. Maybe it answers customer questions from a knowledge base. Maybe it runs your team's standups. The interesting part is the logic, the thing the agent actually does.

But before you write a single line of that logic, you have to register it with Teams. That takes a number of steps.

How It Works Today​

Getting an agent into Teams requires configuring an identity, generating credentials, authoring a manifest, and wiring it all together. These steps span the Azure portal, Developer Portal, and your editor. Each one is straightforward on its own, but the context-switching between them adds up.

The 9 steps required to register a Teams agent today

Let Your Coding Agent Handle It​

The teams-dev agent skill works with AI coding agents like Copilot, Claude Code, and Cursor. Instead of learning the registration steps yourself, tell your coding agent:

  • "Help me build a Teams agent that answers FAQs"
  • "Get my agent running in Teams"
  • "My agent isn't loading in Teams, can you help?"

The teams-dev agent skill in action

The skill uses the CLI under the hood to handle the full infrastructure workflow, from login to a working agent in Teams, and troubleshooting when something breaks. Beyond infrastructure, it also helps your coding agent write application logic following best practices from the Teams SDK documentation.

Under the Hood: The Teams CLI​

For developers who want direct control, the skill is powered by the next iteration of our CLI. Install it and log in:

npm install -g @microsoft/teams.cli@preview
teams login

Create Is Now Just One Command​

teams app create --name "My Bot" --endpoint https://my-bot.example.com/api/messages --env .env

teams app create does the heavy lifting (registration, credentials, manifest, and more) so you can start building immediately. All the steps from above happen behind the scenes.

Showcasing how a single command is able to set up your entire agent infra

Now you can focus on your agent's logic without worrying about app registration concepts. See the CLI docs for all available flags.

Easy Installation​

Traditionally, getting an agent into Teams means building an app package, managing a manifest, and sideloading it. With the CLI, app create gives you an installation link. Open it and Teams handles the install flow without a manual zip/package upload.

Teams install dialog from the installation link

The CLI also includes a teams app doctor command that checks your agent's registration, credentials, endpoint, and manifest so when something breaks, you know exactly what to fix.

For CI pipelines and custom tooling, every CLI command supports --json output for programmatic consumption.

Get Started​

Install the teams-dev agent skill (Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor):

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/teams-sdk
/plugin install teams-sdk@teams-skills

See the agent skills guide for VS Code and other editors.

Install the CLI:

npm install -g @microsoft/teams.cli@preview

Full docs at microsoft.github.io/teams-sdk/cli. File issues at github.com/microsoft/teams-sdk.