Microsoft Learning: Introduction to building apps for Microsoft Teams

An introduction to creating custom apps for Microsoft Teams built on the Microsoft Teams Platform.

I work with Microsoft Learning to publish & maintain multiple self-paced learning modules related to Microsoft 365. These modules are primarily used as self-paced study resources for developers preparing to take the MS-600 exam, the only prerequisite to achieve the Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Application Developer Associate certification. This is one of those modules.

Microsoft Teams is an extensible platform you can create custom apps on; putting your app at the heart of your organizations collaboration platform. Apps for Microsoft Teams can be as simple or as complex as you need, from sending notifications to channels or users to complex multi-surface apps incorporating conversational bots, natural language processing, and embedded web experiences. You can build apps for an individual, your team, your organization, or for all Microsoft Teams users everywhere.

Some common scenarios that a custom Microsoft Teams app can help with are:

  • Proactively send information to Teams from an external system, and allow users to take action on that information from inside the Teams client.
  • Embed your website or web app directly in the Teams client.
  • Allow users to quickly look up information in another system, and add the results to a conversation in Teams.
  • Trigger workflows and processes based on a conversation in Teams, preserving the context of the conversation.

Here you’ll see how Microsoft Teams can be extended with your own custom app, learn about your options for distributing your app, and the fundamentals of what makes up a custom app for Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams can be extended in different kinds of ways; in this module you’ll also learn about each of those ways, and what scenarios they’re typically used for. The goal is to help you determine if building a custom app on the Microsoft Teams platform is right for you, and if so help you chose the right extensibility points and distribution model to make your app successful.

Andrew Connell
Developer & Chief Course Artisan, Voitanos LLC. | Microsoft MVP
Written by Andrew Connell

Andrew Connell is a full stack developer who focuses on Microsoft Azure & Microsoft 365. He’s a 20+ year recipient of Microsoft’s MVP award and has helped thousands of developers through the various courses he’s authored & taught. Andrew’s mission is to help web developers become experts in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, so they can become irreplaceable in their organization.