Azure Bot Registration & Deployment

Create and manage Azure Bot resources using the Azure CLI (az bot). This skill covers the full lifecycle: identity creation, bot registration, channel configuration, and deployment.

Prerequisites

Before running any commands, verify the user has:

# Check Azure CLI is installed and logged in
az account show --query "{subscription:name, tenantId:tenantId}" -o table

If not logged in, run az login first.

Required tools:

Azure CLI 2.39.0+ (az --version)
An active Azure subscription

When to Use This Skill

Use when the user asks to:

Create an Azure Bot resource
Register a bot with Azure AI Bot Service
Connect a bot to channels (Teams, Slack, Telegram, Direct Line, etc.)
Deploy a bot to Azure App Service
Manage bot identity (single-tenant, user-assigned managed identity)
Set up a messaging endpoint for an existing bot

Important Notes

Multi-tenant bot creation is deprecated after July 31, 2025. Always default to SingleTenant or UserAssignedMSI.
Bot names must be 4-42 characters, alphanumeric + hyphens + underscores only.
The free tier (F0) is suitable for development; use S1 for production.

Step-by-Step: Create an Azure Bot

Step 1: Gather Required Information

Ask the user for these values (provide sensible defaults):

Parameter	Description	Default
`BOT_NAME`	Resource name (4-42 chars, alphanumeric/hyphens/underscores)	— (required)
`RESOURCE_GROUP`	Azure resource group	`rg-<BOT_NAME>`
`LOCATION`	Azure region	`eastus`
`APP_TYPE`	Identity type: `SingleTenant` or `UserAssignedMSI`	`SingleTenant`
`DISPLAY_NAME`	Human-readable display name	Same as BOT_NAME
`ENDPOINT`	Messaging endpoint URL (https://...)	Can be set later
`SKU`	Pricing tier: `F0` (free) or `S1` (standard)	`F0`

Step 2: Create Resource Group (if needed)

az group create \
  --name "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --location "${LOCATION}"

Step 3: Create Identity

Option A: Single-Tenant App Registration (Recommended)

# Create the app registration
az ad app create \
  --display-name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --sign-in-audience "AzureADMyOrg"

# Note the appId from the output, then generate a password
az ad app credential reset --id "<appId>"

Record these values:

APP_ID — the appId from az ad app create output
APP_PASSWORD — the password from az ad app credential reset output
TENANT_ID — from az account show --query tenantId -o tsv

Option B: User-Assigned Managed Identity

# Create the managed identity
az identity create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}-identity"

Record:

CLIENT_ID — the clientId from output
TENANT_ID — from az account show --query tenantId -o tsv
MSI_RESOURCE_ID — the id from output (full ARM resource ID)

Step 4: Create the Azure Bot Resource

For Single-Tenant:

az bot create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --app-type "SingleTenant" \
  --appid "${APP_ID}" \
  --tenant-id "${TENANT_ID}" \
  --display-name "${DISPLAY_NAME}" \
  --endpoint "${ENDPOINT}" \
  --sku "${SKU}"

For User-Assigned Managed Identity:

az bot create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --app-type "UserAssignedMSI" \
  --appid "${CLIENT_ID}" \
  --tenant-id "${TENANT_ID}" \
  --msi-resource-id "${MSI_RESOURCE_ID}" \
  --display-name "${DISPLAY_NAME}" \
  --endpoint "${ENDPOINT}" \
  --sku "${SKU}"

Step 5: Verify Bot Creation

az bot show \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  -o table

Channel Configuration

Microsoft Teams

az bot msteams create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}"

Slack

# Requires: Slack App client ID, client secret, verification token, and landing page URL
az bot slack create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --client-id "<slack-client-id>" \
  --client-secret "<slack-client-secret>" \
  --verification-token "<slack-verification-token>" \
  --landing-page-url "<landing-page-url>"

# Requires: Telegram bot token from @BotFather
az bot telegram create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --access-token "<telegram-bot-token>"

Direct Line (for web/mobile apps)

az bot directline create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}"

Get the Direct Line secret:

az bot directline show \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --query "properties.properties.sites[0].key" -o tsv

Facebook Messenger

az bot facebook create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --appid "<facebook-app-id>" \
  --app-secret "<facebook-app-secret>" \
  --page-id "<facebook-page-id>" \
  --access-token "<facebook-page-access-token>"

Email

az bot email create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --email-address "<email@outlook.com>" \
  --password "<email-password>"

Web Chat (enabled by default)

Web Chat is automatically configured. Get the secret:

az bot webchat show \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --query "properties.properties.sites[0].key" -o tsv

Show Channel Details

# Teams
az bot msteams show --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"

# Slack
az bot slack show --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"

# Telegram
az bot telegram show --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"

# Direct Line
az bot directline show --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"

Update Bot Configuration

Update Messaging Endpoint

az bot update \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --endpoint "https://your-bot.azurewebsites.net/api/messages"

Update Display Name and Description

az bot update \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --display-name "My Bot Display Name" \
  --description "Bot description here"

Upgrade SKU

az bot update \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --sku S1

Deploy Bot Code to App Service

Step 1: Create App Service Plan + Web App (if hosting on Azure)

# Create App Service Plan
az appservice plan create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}-plan" \
  --sku B1 \
  --is-linux

# Create Web App (Python example)
az webapp create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --plan "${BOT_NAME}-plan" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}-app" \
  --runtime "PYTHON:3.11"

# Or for Node.js
az webapp create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --plan "${BOT_NAME}-plan" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}-app" \
  --runtime "NODE:20-lts"

Step 2: Configure App Settings

For Single-Tenant:

az webapp config appsettings set \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}-app" \
  --settings \
    MicrosoftAppType=SingleTenant \
    MicrosoftAppId="${APP_ID}" \
    MicrosoftAppPassword="${APP_PASSWORD}" \
    MicrosoftAppTenantId="${TENANT_ID}"

For User-Assigned Managed Identity:

az webapp config appsettings set \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}-app" \
  --settings \
    MicrosoftAppType=UserAssignedMSI \
    MicrosoftAppId="${CLIENT_ID}" \
    MicrosoftAppPassword="" \
    MicrosoftAppTenantId="${TENANT_ID}"

Step 3: Prepare & Deploy Code

# Prepare deployment files (run from bot project root)
az bot prepare-deploy --lang <Csharp|Javascript|Typescript> --code-dir "."

# Deploy via zip
zip -r bot.zip . -x "*.git*" "node_modules/*" "__pycache__/*" ".env"
az webapp deploy \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}-app" \
  --src-path bot.zip \
  --type zip

Step 4: Update Bot Endpoint

az bot update \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --endpoint "https://${BOT_NAME}-app.azurewebsites.net/api/messages"

OAuth Connection Settings

For bots that need OAuth (e.g., accessing Microsoft Graph):

# List available OAuth providers
az bot authsetting list-providers \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}"

# Create an OAuth connection
az bot authsetting create \
  --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" \
  --name "${BOT_NAME}" \
  --setting-name "<connection-name>" \
  --provider-scope-string "<scopes>" \
  --client-id "<oauth-client-id>" \
  --client-secret "<oauth-client-secret>" \
  --service "Aadv2"

Bot Configuration File Templates

Python (`config.py`)

import os

class DefaultConfig:
    PORT = 3978
    APP_TYPE = os.environ.get("MicrosoftAppType", "SingleTenant")
    APP_ID = os.environ.get("MicrosoftAppId", "")
    APP_PASSWORD = os.environ.get("MicrosoftAppPassword", "")
    APP_TENANTID = os.environ.get("MicrosoftAppTenantId", "")

JavaScript (`.env`)

MicrosoftAppType=SingleTenant
MicrosoftAppId=<your-app-id>
MicrosoftAppPassword=<your-app-password>
MicrosoftAppTenantId=<your-tenant-id>

C# (`appsettings.json`)

{
  "MicrosoftAppType": "SingleTenant",
  "MicrosoftAppId": "<your-app-id>",
  "MicrosoftAppPassword": "<your-app-password>",
  "MicrosoftAppTenantId": "<your-tenant-id>"
}

Management Commands

# List all bots in a resource group
az bot list --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" -o table

# Show bot details
az bot show --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"

# Delete a bot
az bot delete --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"

# Delete a channel
az bot msteams delete --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"
az bot slack delete --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"
az bot telegram delete --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"
az bot directline delete --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}"

# Generate a new app password
az ad app credential reset --id "${APP_ID}"

Troubleshooting

Bot not responding

Check the messaging endpoint is correct and starts with https://
Verify App ID and password match between Azure Bot and your app settings
Check App Service logs: az webapp log tail --resource-group "${RESOURCE_GROUP}" --name "${BOT_NAME}-app"

Channel-specific issues

Teams: Ensure the bot is also registered in the Teams Developer Portal
Slack: Verify the verification token and OAuth redirect URLs
Telegram: Check the bot token from @BotFather is correct

Common errors

MicrosoftAppId or MicrosoftAppPassword is not correct — regenerate password with az ad app credential reset
Endpoint must start with https — update endpoint: az bot update --endpoint "https://..."
Bot name already taken — bot names are globally unique, choose a different name

Reference Links

Azure Bot registration: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-service-quickstart-registration
Deploy a bot: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/provision-and-publish-a-bot
Channel configuration: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bot-service/bot-service-manage-channels
az bot CLI reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/bot
Bot Framework Samples: https://github.com/microsoft/BotBuilder-Samples