Microsoft 365 Agents SDK (Python)
Build enterprise agents for Microsoft 365, Teams, and Copilot Studio using the Microsoft Agents SDK with aiohttp hosting, AgentApplication routing, streaming responses, and MSAL-based authentication.
Before implementation
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Use the microsoft-docs MCP to verify the latest API signatures for AgentApplication, start_agent_process, and authentication options.
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Confirm package versions on PyPI for the microsoft-agents-* packages you plan to use.
Important Notice - Import Changes
⚠️ Breaking Change: Recent updates have changed the Python import structure from microsoft.agents to microsoft_agents (using underscores instead of dots).
Installation
pip install microsoft-agents-hosting-core pip install microsoft-agents-hosting-aiohttp pip install microsoft-agents-activity pip install microsoft-agents-authentication-msal pip install microsoft-agents-copilotstudio-client pip install python-dotenv aiohttp
Environment Variables (.env)
CONNECTIONS__SERVICE_CONNECTION__SETTINGS__CLIENTID=<client-id> CONNECTIONS__SERVICE_CONNECTION__SETTINGS__CLIENTSECRET=<client-secret> CONNECTIONS__SERVICE_CONNECTION__SETTINGS__TENANTID=<tenant-id>
Optional: OAuth handlers for auto sign-in
AGENTAPPLICATION__USERAUTHORIZATION__HANDLERS__GRAPH__SETTINGS__AZUREBOTOAUTHCONNECTIONNAME=<connection-name>
Optional: Azure OpenAI for streaming
AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT=<endpoint> AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION=<version> AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=<key>
Optional: Copilot Studio client
COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__ENVIRONMENTID=<environment-id> COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__SCHEMANAME=<schema-name> COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__TENANTID=<tenant-id> COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__AGENTAPPID=<app-id>
Core Workflow: aiohttp-hosted AgentApplication
import logging from os import environ
from dotenv import load_dotenv from aiohttp.web import Request, Response, Application, run_app
from microsoft_agents.activity import load_configuration_from_env from microsoft_agents.hosting.core import ( Authorization, AgentApplication, TurnState, TurnContext, MemoryStorage, ) from microsoft_agents.hosting.aiohttp import ( CloudAdapter, start_agent_process, jwt_authorization_middleware, ) from microsoft_agents.authentication.msal import MsalConnectionManager
Enable logging
ms_agents_logger = logging.getLogger("microsoft_agents") ms_agents_logger.addHandler(logging.StreamHandler()) ms_agents_logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
Load configuration
load_dotenv() agents_sdk_config = load_configuration_from_env(environ)
Create storage and connection manager
STORAGE = MemoryStorage() CONNECTION_MANAGER = MsalConnectionManager(**agents_sdk_config) ADAPTER = CloudAdapter(connection_manager=CONNECTION_MANAGER) AUTHORIZATION = Authorization(STORAGE, CONNECTION_MANAGER, **agents_sdk_config)
Create AgentApplication
AGENT_APP = AgentApplication[TurnState]( storage=STORAGE, adapter=ADAPTER, authorization=AUTHORIZATION, **agents_sdk_config )
@AGENT_APP.conversation_update("membersAdded") async def on_members_added(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): await context.send_activity("Welcome to the agent!")
@AGENT_APP.activity("message") async def on_message(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): await context.send_activity(f"You said: {context.activity.text}")
@AGENT_APP.error async def on_error(context: TurnContext, error: Exception): await context.send_activity("The agent encountered an error.")
Server setup
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)
APP = Application(middlewares=[jwt_authorization_middleware]) APP.router.add_post("/api/messages", entry_point) APP["agent_configuration"] = CONNECTION_MANAGER.get_default_connection_configuration() APP["agent_app"] = AGENT_APP APP["adapter"] = AGENT_APP.adapter
if name == "main": run_app(APP, host="localhost", port=environ.get("PORT", 3978))
AgentApplication Routing
import re from microsoft_agents.hosting.core import ( AgentApplication, TurnState, TurnContext, MessageFactory ) from microsoft_agents.activity import ActivityTypes
AGENT_APP = AgentApplication[TurnState]( storage=STORAGE, adapter=ADAPTER, authorization=AUTHORIZATION, **agents_sdk_config )
Welcome handler
@AGENT_APP.conversation_update("membersAdded") async def on_members_added(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): await context.send_activity("Welcome!")
Regex-based message handler
@AGENT_APP.message(re.compile(r"^hello$", re.IGNORECASE)) async def on_hello(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): await context.send_activity("Hello!")
Simple string message handler
@AGENT_APP.message("/status") async def on_status(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): await context.send_activity("Status: OK")
Auth-protected message handler
@AGENT_APP.message("/me", auth_handlers=["GRAPH"]) async def on_profile(context: TurnContext, state: TurnState): token_response = await AGENT_APP.auth.get_token(context, "GRAPH") if token_response and token_response.token: # Use token to call Graph API await context.send_activity("Profile retrieved")
Invoke activity handler
@AGENT_APP.activity(ActivityTypes.invoke) async def on_invoke(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): invoke_response = Activity( type=ActivityTypes.invoke_response, value={"status": 200} ) await context.send_activity(invoke_response)
Fallback message handler
@AGENT_APP.activity("message") async def on_message(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): await context.send_activity(f"Echo: {context.activity.text}")
Error handler
@AGENT_APP.error async def on_error(context: TurnContext, error: Exception): await context.send_activity("An error occurred.")
Streaming Responses with Azure OpenAI
from openai import AsyncAzureOpenAI from microsoft_agents.activity import SensitivityUsageInfo
CLIENT = AsyncAzureOpenAI( api_version=environ["AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION"], azure_endpoint=environ["AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"], api_key=environ["AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY"] )
@AGENT_APP.message("poem") async def on_poem_message(context: TurnContext, _state: TurnState): # Configure streaming response context.streaming_response.set_feedback_loop(True) context.streaming_response.set_generated_by_ai_label(True) context.streaming_response.set_sensitivity_label( SensitivityUsageInfo( type="https://schema.org/Message", schema_type="CreativeWork", name="Internal", ) ) context.streaming_response.queue_informative_update("Starting a poem...\n")
# Stream from Azure OpenAI
streamed_response = await CLIENT.chat.completions.create(
model="gpt-4o",
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a creative assistant."},
{"role": "user", "content": "Write a poem about Python."}
],
stream=True,
)
try:
async for chunk in streamed_response:
if chunk.choices and chunk.choices[0].delta.content:
context.streaming_response.queue_text_chunk(
chunk.choices[0].delta.content
)
finally:
await context.streaming_response.end_stream()
OAuth / Auto Sign-In
@AGENT_APP.message("/logout") async def logout(context: TurnContext, state: TurnState): await AGENT_APP.auth.sign_out(context, "GRAPH") await context.send_activity(MessageFactory.text("You have been logged out."))
@AGENT_APP.message("/me", auth_handlers=["GRAPH"]) async def profile_request(context: TurnContext, state: TurnState): user_token_response = await AGENT_APP.auth.get_token(context, "GRAPH") if user_token_response and user_token_response.token: # Use token to call Microsoft Graph async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session: headers = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {user_token_response.token}", "Content-Type": "application/json", } async with session.get( "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me", headers=headers ) as response: if response.status == 200: user_info = await response.json() await context.send_activity(f"Hello, {user_info['displayName']}!")
Copilot Studio Client (Direct to Engine)
import asyncio from msal import PublicClientApplication from microsoft_agents.activity import ActivityTypes, load_configuration_from_env from microsoft_agents.copilotstudio.client import ( ConnectionSettings, CopilotClient, )
Token cache (local file for interactive flows)
class LocalTokenCache: # See samples for full implementation pass
def acquire_token(settings, app_client_id, tenant_id): pca = PublicClientApplication( client_id=app_client_id, authority=f"https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant_id}", )
token_request = {"scopes": ["https://api.powerplatform.com/.default"]}
accounts = pca.get_accounts()
if accounts:
response = pca.acquire_token_silent(token_request["scopes"], account=accounts[0])
return response.get("access_token")
else:
response = pca.acquire_token_interactive(**token_request)
return response.get("access_token")
async def main(): settings = ConnectionSettings( environment_id=environ.get("COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__ENVIRONMENTID"), agent_identifier=environ.get("COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__SCHEMANAME"), )
token = acquire_token(
settings,
app_client_id=environ.get("COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__AGENTAPPID"),
tenant_id=environ.get("COPILOTSTUDIOAGENT__TENANTID"),
)
copilot_client = CopilotClient(settings, token)
# Start conversation
act = copilot_client.start_conversation(True)
async for action in act:
if action.text:
print(action.text)
# Ask question
replies = copilot_client.ask_question("Hello!", action.conversation.id)
async for reply in replies:
if reply.type == ActivityTypes.message:
print(reply.text)
asyncio.run(main())
Best Practices
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Use microsoft_agents import prefix (underscores, not dots).
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Use MemoryStorage only for development; use BlobStorage or CosmosDB in production.
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Always use load_configuration_from_env(environ) to load SDK configuration.
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Include jwt_authorization_middleware in aiohttp Application middlewares.
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Use MsalConnectionManager for MSAL-based authentication.
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Call end_stream() in finally blocks when using streaming responses.
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Use auth_handlers parameter on message decorators for OAuth-protected routes.
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Keep secrets in environment variables, not in source code.
Reference Files
File Contents
references/acceptance-criteria.md Import paths, hosting pipeline, streaming, OAuth, and Copilot Studio patterns
Reference Links
Resource URL
Microsoft 365 Agents SDK https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/agents-sdk/
GitHub samples (Python) https://github.com/microsoft/Agents-for-python
PyPI packages https://pypi.org/search/?q=microsoft-agents
Integrate with Copilot Studio https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/agents-sdk/integrate-with-mcs