Agent-Skills azure-bot-service
Expert knowledge for Azure AI Bot Service development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. Use when building Azure AI bots with Direct Line/Web Chat, Teams/SMS channels, OAuth/SSO, skills, or proactive messages, and other Azure AI Bot Service related development tasks. Not for Azure Health Bot (use azure-health-bot), Azure Functions (use azure-functions), Azure App Service (use azure-app-service), Azure Logic Apps (use azure-logic-apps).
git clone https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/Agent-Skills
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/Agent-Skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/azure-bot-service" ~/.claude/skills/microsoftdocs-agent-skills-azure-bot-service && rm -rf "$T"
skills/azure-bot-service/SKILL.mdAzure AI Bot Service Skill
This skill provides expert guidance for Azure AI Bot Service. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.
How to Use This Skill
IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g.,
), useL35-L120with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g.,read_file), use[security.md](security.md)on the linked reference fileread_file
IMPORTANT for Agent: If
is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. Ifmetadata.generated_attools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guidemcp_microsoftdocs
This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:
- Preferred: Use
with query stringmcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch
. Returns Markdown.from=learn-agent-skill - Fallback: Use
with query stringfetch_webpage
. Returns Markdown.from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown
Category Index
| Category | Lines | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Troubleshooting | L37-L51 | Debugging and troubleshooting bots: using Emulator, transcripts, Dev Tunnels, inspection middleware, fixing HTTP 500, auth, config/channel issues, and skill/consumer problems. |
| Best Practices | L52-L66 | Guidance on designing, testing, and managing bot conversations: greetings, flow, navigation, interruptions, expirations, multimodal UX, debugging, unit testing, and Virtual Assistant best practices. |
| Decision Making | L67-L73 | Guidance on selecting the right Microsoft bot platform, choosing Azure channels vs adapters, and picking the best Direct Line option based on integration, control, and hosting needs. |
| Architecture & Design Patterns | L74-L86 | Designing bot architectures: dialog modularization, branching/looping flows, multi-LUIS/QnA routing, embedding bots in apps/web, human handoff, knowledge bots, and reusable skills. |
| Limits & Quotas | L87-L92 | Handling long-running bot operations (deferred replies, proactive messages) and checking which channels support specific features, attachments, and card types. |
| Security | L93-L112 | Securing bots: auth & SSO (OAuth, Web Chat, skills), Direct Line security, network isolation/VNET, encryption, and privacy/security best practices for Azure Bot Service. |
| Configuration | L113-L157 | Configuring Azure AI bots: dialogs, language generation/understanding, memory/state, channels (Web Chat, Direct Line), telemetry/monitoring, skills, and environment-specific settings. |
| Integrations & Coding Patterns | L158-L217 | Connecting bots to channels (Teams, SMS, web, social), using Direct Line/Web Chat, handling activities/messages, media, cards, prompts, OAuth, state, skills, and channel-specific features. |
| Deployment | L218-L223 | Guides for provisioning App Service, deploying Bot Framework bots to Azure, and setting up CI/CD pipelines for automated bot deployment. |
Troubleshooting
Best Practices
Decision Making
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Choose the right Microsoft chatbot solution | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-overview?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |
| Choose between Azure channels and adapters for bots | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-service-channel-additional-channels?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |
| Choose the right Direct Line option for bots | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-service-channel-directline?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |
Architecture & Design Patterns
Limits & Quotas
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Handle long-running operations in Azure bots | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-builder-howto-long-operations-guidance?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |
| Channel feature and card support reference | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-service-channels-reference?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |
Security
Configuration
Integrations & Coding Patterns
Deployment
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Set up continuous deployment for Azure bots | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-service-build-continuous-deployment?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |
| Provision and deploy Bot Framework bots to Azure | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/provision-and-publish-a-bot?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |
| Provision Azure App Service for bot deployment via CLI | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/provision-app-service?view=azure-bot-service-4.0 |