M365 Agents Dotnet

Microsoft 365 Agents SDK (.NET)

Overview

Build enterprise agents for Microsoft 365, Teams, and Copilot Studio using the Microsoft.Agents SDK with ASP.NET Core hosting, agent routing, and MSAL-based authentication.

Before implementation

• Use the microsoft-docs MCP to verify the latest APIs for AddAgent, AgentApplication, and authentication options.
• Confirm package versions in NuGet for the Microsoft.Agents.* packages you plan to use.

Installation

dotnet add package Microsoft.Agents.Hosting.AspNetCore
dotnet add package Microsoft.Agents.Authentication.Msal
dotnet add package Microsoft.Agents.Storage
dotnet add package Microsoft.Agents.CopilotStudio.Client
dotnet add package Microsoft.Identity.Client.Extensions.Msal

Configuration (appsettings.json)

{
  "TokenValidation": {
    "Enabled": true,
    "Audiences": [
      "{{ClientId}}"
    ],
    "TenantId": "{{TenantId}}"
  },
  "AgentApplication": {
    "StartTypingTimer": false,
    "RemoveRecipientMention": false,
    "NormalizeMentions": false
  },
  "Connections": {
    "ServiceConnection": {
      "Settings": {
        "AuthType": "ClientSecret",
        "ClientId": "{{ClientId}}",
        "ClientSecret": "{{ClientSecret}}",
        "AuthorityEndpoint": "https://login.microsoftonline.com/{{TenantId}}",
        "Scopes": [
          "https://api.botframework.com/.default"
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "ConnectionsMap": [
    {
      "ServiceUrl": "*",
      "Connection": "ServiceConnection"
    }
  ],
  "CopilotStudioClientSettings": {
    "DirectConnectUrl": "",
    "EnvironmentId": "",
    "SchemaName": "",
    "TenantId": "",
    "AppClientId": "",
    "AppClientSecret": ""
  }
}

Core Workflow: ASP.NET Core agent host

using Microsoft.Agents.Builder;
using Microsoft.Agents.Hosting.AspNetCore;
using Microsoft.Agents.Storage;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddHttpClient();
builder.AddAgentApplicationOptions();
builder.AddAgent<MyAgent>();
builder.Services.AddSingleton<IStorage, MemoryStorage>();

builder.Services.AddControllers();
builder.Services.AddAgentAspNetAuthentication(builder.Configuration);

WebApplication app = builder.Build();

app.UseAuthentication();
app.UseAuthorization();

app.MapGet("/", () => "Microsoft Agents SDK Sample");

var incomingRoute = app.MapPost("/api/messages",
    async (HttpRequest request, HttpResponse response, IAgentHttpAdapter adapter, IAgent agent, CancellationToken ct) =>
    {
        await adapter.ProcessAsync(request, response, agent, ct);
    });

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    incomingRoute.RequireAuthorization();
}
else
{
    app.Urls.Add("http://localhost:3978");
}

app.Run();

AgentApplication routing

using Microsoft.Agents.Builder;
using Microsoft.Agents.Builder.App;
using Microsoft.Agents.Builder.State;
using Microsoft.Agents.Core.Models;
using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public sealed class MyAgent : AgentApplication
{
    public MyAgent(AgentApplicationOptions options) : base(options)
    {
        OnConversationUpdate(ConversationUpdateEvents.MembersAdded, WelcomeAsync);
        OnActivity(ActivityTypes.Message, OnMessageAsync, rank: RouteRank.Last);
        OnTurnError(OnTurnErrorAsync);
    }

    private static async Task WelcomeAsync(ITurnContext turnContext, ITurnState turnState, CancellationToken ct)
    {
        foreach (ChannelAccount member in turnContext.Activity.MembersAdded)
        {
            if (member.Id != turnContext.Activity.Recipient.Id)
            {
                await turnContext.SendActivityAsync(
                    MessageFactory.Text("Welcome to the agent."),
                    ct);
            }
        }
    }

    private static async Task OnMessageAsync(ITurnContext turnContext, ITurnState turnState, CancellationToken ct)
    {
        await turnContext.SendActivityAsync(
            MessageFactory.Text($"You said: {turnContext.Activity.Text}"),
            ct);
    }

    private static async Task OnTurnErrorAsync(
        ITurnContext turnContext,
        ITurnState turnState,
        Exception exception,
        CancellationToken ct)
    {
        await turnState.Conversation.DeleteStateAsync(turnContext, ct);

        var endOfConversation = Activity.CreateEndOfConversationActivity();
        endOfConversation.Code = EndOfConversationCodes.Error;
        endOfConversation.Text = exception.Message;
        await turnContext.SendActivityAsync(endOfConversation, ct);
    }
}

Copilot Studio direct-to-engine client

DelegatingHandler for token acquisition (interactive flow)

using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using Microsoft.Agents.CopilotStudio.Client;
using Microsoft.Identity.Client;

internal sealed class AddTokenHandler : DelegatingHandler
{
    private readonly SampleConnectionSettings _settings;

    public AddTokenHandler(SampleConnectionSettings settings) : base(new HttpClientHandler())
    {
        _settings = settings;
    }

    protected override async Task<HttpResponseMessage> SendAsync(
        HttpRequestMessage request,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        if (request.Headers.Authorization is null)
        {
            string[] scopes = [CopilotClient.ScopeFromSettings(_settings)];

            IPublicClientApplication app = PublicClientApplicationBuilder
                .Create(_settings.AppClientId)
                .WithAuthority(AadAuthorityAudience.AzureAdMyOrg)
                .WithTenantId(_settings.TenantId)
                .WithRedirectUri("http://localhost")
                .Build();

            AuthenticationResult authResponse;
            try
            {
                var account = (await app.GetAccountsAsync()).FirstOrDefault();
                authResponse = await app.AcquireTokenSilent(scopes, account).ExecuteAsync(cancellationToken);
            }
            catch (MsalUiRequiredException)
            {
                authResponse = await app.AcquireTokenInteractive(scopes).ExecuteAsync(cancellationToken);
            }

            request.Headers.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", authResponse.AccessToken);
        }

        return await base.SendAsync(request, cancellationToken);
    }
}

Console host with CopilotClient

using Microsoft.Agents.CopilotStudio.Client;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;

HostApplicationBuilder builder = Host.CreateApplicationBuilder(args);

var settings = new SampleConnectionSettings(
    builder.Configuration.GetSection("CopilotStudioClientSettings"));

builder.Services.AddHttpClient("mcs").ConfigurePrimaryHttpMessageHandler(() =>
{
    return new AddTokenHandler(settings);
});

builder.Services
    .AddSingleton(settings)
    .AddTransient<CopilotClient>(sp =>
    {
        var logger = sp.GetRequiredService<ILoggerFactory>().CreateLogger<CopilotClient>();
        return new CopilotClient(settings, sp.GetRequiredService<IHttpClientFactory>(), logger, "mcs");
    });

IHost host = builder.Build();
var client = host.Services.GetRequiredService<CopilotClient>();

await foreach (var activity in client.StartConversationAsync(emitStartConversationEvent: true))
{
    Console.WriteLine(activity.Type);
}

await foreach (var activity in client.AskQuestionAsync("Hello!", null))
{
    Console.WriteLine(activity.Type);
}

Best Practices

1. Use AgentApplication subclasses to centralize routing and error handling.
2. Use MemoryStorage only for development; use persisted storage in production.
3. Enable TokenValidation in production and require authorization on /api/messages.
4. Keep auth secrets in configuration providers (Key Vault, managed identity, env vars).
5. Reuse HttpClient from IHttpClientFactory and cache MSAL tokens.
6. Prefer async handlers and pass CancellationToken to SDK calls.

Reference Files

Reference Links

When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

AGI Framework Integration

Adapted for @techwavedev/agi-agent-kit Original source: antigravity-awesome-skills

Memory-First Protocol

Retrieve prior agent configurations, team compositions, and orchestration patterns. Critical for multi-agent system consistency.

# Check for prior AI agent orchestration context before starting
python3 execution/memory_manager.py auto --query "agent patterns and orchestration strategies for M365 Agents Dotnet"

Storing Results

After completing work, store AI agent orchestration decisions for future sessions:

python3 execution/memory_manager.py store \
  --content "Agent pattern: hierarchical orchestration with Control Tower dispatcher, 3 specialist sub-agents" \
  --type decision --project <project> \
  --tags m365-agents-dotnet ai-agents

Multi-Agent Collaboration

This skill is inherently multi-agent. Use cross-agent context to coordinate task distribution and avoid duplicate work.

python3 execution/cross_agent_context.py store \
  --agent "<your-agent>" \
  --action "Agent architecture designed — Control Tower + specialist agents with shared Qdrant memory" \
  --project <project>

Control Tower Integration

Register agents and tasks with the Control Tower (execution/control_tower.py) for centralized orchestration across machines and LLM providers.

Blockchain Identity

Each agent has a cryptographic Ed25519 identity. All memory writes are signed — enabling trust verification in multi-agent systems.

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