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Microsoft Agents MSAL Authentication

PyPI version

Provides secure authentication for your agents using Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL). It handles getting tokens from Azure AD so your agent can securely communicate with Microsoft services like Teams, Graph API, and other Azure resources.

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

Version Date Release Notes
1.3.0 2026-07-30 1.3.0 Release Notes
1.2.0 2026-07-17 1.2.0 Release Notes
1.1.0 2026-06-19 1.1.0 Release Notes
1.0.0 2026-05-22 1.0.0 Release Notes
0.9.1 2026-05-04 0.9.1 Release Notes
0.9.0 2026-04-15 0.9.0 Release Notes
0.8.0 2026-02-23 0.8.0 Release Notes
0.7.0 2026-01-21 0.7.0 Release Notes
0.6.1 2025-12-01 0.6.1 Release Notes
0.6.0 2025-11-18 0.6.0 Release Notes
0.5.0 2025-10-22 0.5.0 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 PyPI Types and validators implementing the Activity protocol spec.
microsoft-agents-hosting-core PyPI Core library for Microsoft Agents hosting.
microsoft-agents-hosting-aiohttp PyPI Configures aiohttp to run the Agent.
microsoft-agents-hosting-fastapi PyPI Configures fastapi to run the Agent.
microsoft-agents-hosting-msteams PyPI Provides classes to host an Agent for Teams.
microsoft-agents-hosting-dialogs PyPI Dialog system with waterfall dialogs, prompts, and multi-turn conversation management.
microsoft-agents-hosting-slack PyPI Provides classes to host an Agent for Slack.
microsoft-agents-storage-blob PyPI Extension to use Azure Blob as storage.
microsoft-agents-storage-cosmos PyPI Extension to use CosmosDB as storage.
microsoft-agents-authentication-msal PyPI MSAL-based authentication for Microsoft Agents.
microsoft-agents-authentication-entra-auth-sidecar PyPI 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 PyPI Direct to Engine client to interact with Agents created in CopilotStudio

Installation

pip install microsoft-agents-authentication-msal

Quick Start

Basic Setup with Client Secret

Define your client secrets in the ENV file

CONNECTIONS__SERVICE_CONNECTION__SETTINGS__CLIENTID=client-id
CONNECTIONS__SERVICE_CONNECTION__SETTINGS__CLIENTSECRET=client-secret
CONNECTIONS__SERVICE_CONNECTION__SETTINGS__TENANTID=tenant-id

Load the Configuration (Code from main.py Quickstart Sample)

from .start_server import start_server

start_server(
    agent_application=AGENT_APP,
    auth_configuration=CONNECTION_MANAGER.get_default_connection_configuration(),
)

Then start the Agent (code snipped from (start_server.py Quickstart Sample](https://github.com/microsoft/Agents/blob/main/samples/python/quickstart/src/start_server.py)):

def start_server(
    agent_application: AgentApplication, auth_configuration: AgentAuthConfiguration
):
    async def entry_point(req: Request) -> Response:
        agent: AgentApplication = req.app["agent_app"]
        adapter: CloudAdapter = req.app["adapter"]
        return await start_agent_process(
            req,
            agent,
            adapter,
        )
[...]

Authentication Types

The M365 Agents SDK in Python supports the following Auth types:

class AuthTypes(str, Enum):
    certificate = "certificate"
    certificate_subject_name = "CertificateSubjectName"
    client_secret = "ClientSecret"
    user_managed_identity = "UserManagedIdentity"
    system_managed_identity = "SystemManagedIdentity"

Key Classes

  • MsalAuth - Core authentication provider using MSAL
  • MsalConnectionManager - Manages multiple authentication connections

Features

Multiple auth types - Client secret, certificate, managed identity
Token caching - Automatic token refresh and caching
Multi-tenant - Support for different Azure AD tenants
Agent-to-agent - Secure communication between agents
On-behalf-of - Act on behalf of users

Security Best Practices

  • Store secrets in Azure Key Vault or environment variables
  • Use managed identities when possible (no secrets to manage)
  • Regularly rotate client secrets and certificates
  • Use least-privilege principle for scopes and permissions

Quick Links

Sample Applications

Explore working examples in the Python samples repository:

Name Description README
Quickstart Simplest agent Quickstart
Auto Sign In Simple OAuth agent using Graph and GitHub auto-signin
OBO Authorization OBO flow to access a Copilot Studio Agent obo-authorization
Semantic Kernel Integration A weather agent built with Semantic Kernel semantic-kernel-multiturn
Streaming Agent Streams OpenAI responses azure-ai-streaming
Copilot Studio Client Console app to consume a Copilot Studio Agent copilotstudio-client
Cards Agent Agent that uses rich cards to enhance conversation design cards

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