Sending Messages
Sending messages is a core part of an agent's functionality. With all activity handlers, a send method is provided which allows your handlers to send a message back to the user to the relevant conversation.
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
await ctx.send(f"You said '{ctx.activity.text}'")
In the above example, the handler gets a message activity, and uses the send method to send a reply to the user.
@app.event("sign_in")
async def handle_sign_in(event: SignInEvent):
"""Handle sign-in events."""
await event.activity_ctx.send("You are now signed in!")
You are not restricted to only replying to message activities. In the above example, the handler is listening to sign_in events, which are sent when a user successfully signs in.
This shows an example of sending a text message. Additionally, you are able to send back things like adaptive cards by using the same send method. Look at the adaptive card section for more details.
Streaming​
You may also stream messages to the user which can be useful for long messages, or AI generated messages. The SDK makes this simple for you by providing a stream function which you can use to send messages in chunks.
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
ctx.stream.update("Stream starting...")
await asyncio.sleep(1)
# Stream messages with delays using ctx.stream.emit
for message in STREAM_MESSAGES:
# Add some randomness to timing
await asyncio.sleep(random())
ctx.stream.emit(message)
Streaming is currently only supported in 1:1 conversations, not group chats or channels
@Mention​
Sending a message at @mentions a user is as simple including the details of the user using the add_mention method
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
await ctx.send(MessageActivityInput(text='hi!').add_mention(account=ctx.activity.from_))
Targeted Messages​
Targeted messages are coming soon in May 2026.
Targeted messages, also known as ephemeral messages, are delivered to a specific user in a shared conversation. From a single user's perspective, they appear as regular inline messages in a conversation. Other participants won't see these messages, making them useful for authentication flows, help or error responses, personal reminders, or sharing contextual information without cluttering the group conversation.
To send a targeted message when responding to an incoming activity, use the with_recipient method with the recipient account and set the targeting flag to true.
from microsoft_teams.api import MessageActivity, MessageActivityInput
from microsoft_teams.apps import ActivityContext
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
# Using with_recipient with is_targeted=True explicitly targets the specified recipient
await ctx.send(
MessageActivityInput(text="This message is only visible to you!")
.with_recipient(ctx.activity.from_, is_targeted=True)
)
Reactions​
Reactions allow your agent to add or remove emoji reactions on messages in a conversation, and to receive reactions added by users. See the Message Reactions guide for full coverage.
Threading​
In Teams channels, messages can be organized into threads. The SDK provides helpers to simplify working with threads.
Reactive Threading (Within a Handler)​
When your agent receives a message in a thread, the conversation context already carries the thread ID. Use send() to send a message in the same thread without quoting, or reply() to send with a visual quote of the inbound message.
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
# Send in the same thread, no quote
await ctx.send("Acknowledged")
# Send in the same thread with a visual quote of the inbound message
await ctx.reply("Got it!")
For proactive threading (sending to a thread outside of a handler), see Proactive Messaging.
Quoted Replies​
Quoted replies are coming soon in May 2026.
Quoted replies let your agent reference a previous message in the conversation. When a user sends a message that quotes another message, your agent receives structured metadata about the quoted content. Your agent can also send messages that quote previous messages.
Receiving Quoted Replies​
When a user quotes a message and sends it to your agent, the quoted reply metadata is available on the inbound activity. Use the get_quoted_messages() method to access all quoted reply entities.
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
quotes = ctx.activity.get_quoted_messages()
if quotes:
quote = quotes[0].quoted_reply
await ctx.reply(
f"You quoted message {quote.message_id} from {quote.sender_name}: \"{quote.preview}\""
)
Each quoted reply entity contains the quoted message's ID, sender information, a preview of the quoted text, and whether the quoted message has been deleted.
Sending a Quoted Reply​
When your agent calls reply(), the SDK automatically stamps a quoted reply entity referencing the inbound message. The reply will appear as a quoted reply in Teams.
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
# reply() automatically quotes the inbound message
await ctx.reply("Got it!")
To quote a different message in the same conversation (not the inbound message), use the quote() method with the message ID you want to quote.
@app.on_message
async def handle_message(ctx: ActivityContext[MessageActivity]):
# Quote a specific message by its ID
parent_message_id = "1772050244572"
await ctx.quote(parent_message_id, "Referencing an earlier message")
Building Quoted Replies for Proactive Send​
For proactive scenarios (using app.send()) or when quoting multiple messages, use the add_quote() method on a message activity. Pass the message ID and an optional response text.
from microsoft_teams.api.activities.message import MessageActivityInput
parent_message_id = "1772050244572"
first_message_id = "1772050244573"
second_message_id = "1772050244574"
# Single quote with response below it
msg = (MessageActivityInput()
.add_quote(parent_message_id, "Here is my response"))
await app.send(conversation_id, msg)
# Multiple quotes with interleaved responses
msg = (MessageActivityInput()
.add_quote(first_message_id, "response to first")
.add_quote(second_message_id, "response to second"))
await app.send(conversation_id, msg)
# Grouped quotes — omit response to group quotes together
msg = (MessageActivityInput(text="see below for previous messages")
.add_quote(first_message_id)
.add_quote(second_message_id, "response to both"))
await app.send(conversation_id, msg)