Microsoft Agents Activity

Core types and schemas for building conversational AI agents that work across Microsoft 365 platforms like Teams, Copilot Studio, and Webchat.

What is this?

This library is part of the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK for Python - a comprehensive framework for building enterprise-grade conversational AI agents. The SDK enables developers to create intelligent agents that work across multiple platforms including Microsoft Teams, M365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and web chat, with support for third-party integrations like Slack, Facebook Messenger, and Twilio.

Release Notes

Packages Overview

We offer the following PyPI packages to create conversational experiences based on Agents:

Package Name	PyPI Version	Description
microsoft-agents-activity		Types and validators implementing the Activity protocol spec.
microsoft-agents-hosting-core		Core library for Microsoft Agents hosting.
microsoft-agents-hosting-aiohttp		Configures aiohttp to run the Agent.
microsoft-agents-hosting-fastapi		Configures fastapi to run the Agent.
microsoft-agents-hosting-msteams		Provides classes to host an Agent for Teams.
microsoft-agents-hosting-dialogs		Dialog system with waterfall dialogs, prompts, and multi-turn conversation management.
microsoft-agents-hosting-slack		Provides classes to host an Agent for Slack.
microsoft-agents-storage-blob		Extension to use Azure Blob as storage.
microsoft-agents-storage-cosmos		Extension to use CosmosDB as storage.
microsoft-agents-authentication-msal		MSAL-based authentication for Microsoft Agents.
microsoft-agents-authentication-entra-auth-sidecar		Credential-free Entra ID Agent ID authentication via the sidecar.

Additionally we provide a Copilot Studio Client, to interact with Agents created in CopilotStudio:

Package Name	PyPI Version	Description
microsoft-agents-copilotstudio-client		Direct to Engine client to interact with Agents created in CopilotStudio

Architecture

The SDK follows a modular architecture:

• Activity Layer: Protocol definitions for cross-platform messaging
• Hosting Layer: Core agent lifecycle, middleware, and web hosting
• Storage Layer: Persistent state management with Azure backends
• Authentication Layer: Secure identity and token management
• Integration Layer: Platform-specific adapters (Teams, Copilot Studio)

Installation

pip install microsoft-agents-activity

Quick Start

Code below taken from the Quick Start sample.

@AGENT_APP.conversation_update("membersAdded")
async def on_members_added(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState):
    await context.send_activity(
        "Welcome to the empty agent! "
        "This agent is designed to be a starting point for your own agent development."
    )
    return True


@AGENT_APP.message(re.compile(r"^hello$"))
async def on_hello(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState):
    await context.send_activity("Hello!")


@AGENT_APP.activity("message")
async def on_message(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState):
    await context.send_activity(f"you said: {context.activity.text}")

Common Use Cases

Rich Messages with Cards

Code below taken from the Cards sample.

    @staticmethod
    async def send_animation_card(context: TurnContext):
        card = CardFactory.animation_card(
            AnimationCard(
                title="Microsoft Agents Framework",
                image=ThumbnailUrl(
                    url="https://i.giphy.com/Ki55RUbOV5njy.gif", alt="Cute Robot"
                ),
                media=[MediaUrl(url="https://i.giphy.com/Ki55RUbOV5njy.gif")],
                subtitle="Animation Card",
                text="This is an example of an animation card using a gif.",
                aspect="16:9",
                duration="PT2M",
            )
        )
        await CardMessages.send_activity(context, card)

    @staticmethod
    async def send_activity(context: TurnContext, card: Attachment):
        activity = Activity(type=ActivityTypes.message, attachments=[card])
        await context.send_activity(activity)

Activity Types

The library supports different types of communication:

• Message - Regular chat messages with text, cards, attachments
• Typing - Show typing indicators
• ConversationUpdate - People joining/leaving chats
• Event - Custom events and notifications
• Invoke - Direct function calls
• EndOfConversation - End chat sessions

Key Features

✅ Type-safe - Built with Pydantic for automatic validation
✅ Rich content - Support for cards, images, videos, and interactive elements
✅ Teams ready - Full Microsoft Teams integration
✅ Cross-platform - Works across all Microsoft 365 chat platforms
✅ Migration friendly - Easy upgrade from Bot Framework

Quick Links

• 📦 All SDK Packages on PyPI
• 📖 Complete Documentation
• 💡 Python Samples Repository
• 🐛 Report Issues

Sample Applications

Explore working examples in the Python samples repository: