Microsoft Teams manifest and permissions

The Teams app manifest, the resource-specific consent permissions it declares, and the Microsoft Graph permissions that unlock media and history.

Current Teams RSC permissions (manifest)

These are the existing resourceSpecific permissions in our Teams app manifest. They only apply inside the team/chat where the app is installed. For channels (team scope):

ChannelMessage.Read.Group (Application) - receive all channel messages without @mention
ChannelMessage.Send.Group (Application)
Member.Read.Group (Application)
Owner.Read.Group (Application)
ChannelSettings.Read.Group (Application)
TeamMember.Read.Group (Application)
TeamSettings.Read.Group (Application)

For group chats:

ChatMessage.Read.Chat (Application) - receive all group chat messages without @mention

Add RSC permissions via the Teams CLI:

teams app rsc add <teamsAppId> ChannelMessage.Read.Group --type Application

Example Teams manifest (redacted)

Minimal, valid example with the required fields. Replace IDs and URLs.

{
  $schema: "https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/json-schemas/teams/v1.23/MicrosoftTeams.schema.json",
  manifestVersion: "1.23",
  version: "1.0.0",
  id: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
  name: { short: "OpenClaw" },
  developer: {
    name: "Your Org",
    websiteUrl: "https://example.com",
    privacyUrl: "https://example.com/privacy",
    termsOfUseUrl: "https://example.com/terms",
  },
  description: { short: "OpenClaw in Teams", full: "OpenClaw in Teams" },
  icons: { outline: "outline.png", color: "color.png" },
  accentColor: "#5B6DEF",
  bots: [
    {
      botId: "11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111",
      scopes: ["personal", "team", "groupChat"],
      isNotificationOnly: false,
      supportsCalling: false,
      supportsVideo: false,
      supportsFiles: true,
    },
  ],
  webApplicationInfo: {
    id: "11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111",
  },
  authorization: {
    permissions: {
      resourceSpecific: [
        { name: "ChannelMessage.Read.Group", type: "Application" },
        { name: "ChannelMessage.Send.Group", type: "Application" },
        { name: "Member.Read.Group", type: "Application" },
        { name: "Owner.Read.Group", type: "Application" },
        { name: "ChannelSettings.Read.Group", type: "Application" },
        { name: "TeamMember.Read.Group", type: "Application" },
        { name: "TeamSettings.Read.Group", type: "Application" },
        { name: "ChatMessage.Read.Chat", type: "Application" },
      ],
    },
  },
}

Manifest caveats (must-have fields)

bots[].botId must match the Azure Bot App ID.
webApplicationInfo.id must match the Azure Bot App ID.
bots[].scopes must include the surfaces you plan to use (personal, team, groupChat).
bots[].supportsFiles: true is required for file handling in personal scope.
authorization.permissions.resourceSpecific must include channel read/send for channel traffic.

Updating an existing app

# Download, edit, and re-upload the manifest
teams app manifest download <teamsAppId> manifest.json
# Edit manifest.json locally...
teams app manifest upload manifest.json <teamsAppId>
# Version is auto-bumped if content changed

After updating, reinstall the app in each team, and fully quit and relaunch Teams (not just close the window) to clear cached app metadata.

Capabilities: RSC only vs Graph

With Teams RSC only (app installed, no Graph API permissions)

Works:

Read channel message text content.
Send channel message text content.
Receive personal (DM) file attachments.

Does NOT work:

Channel/group image or file contents (payload only includes an HTML stub).
Downloading attachments stored in SharePoint/OneDrive.
Reading message history beyond the live webhook event.

With Teams RSC + Microsoft Graph Application permissions

Adds:

Downloading hosted content (images pasted into messages).
Downloading file attachments stored in SharePoint/OneDrive.
Reading channel/chat message history via Graph.

RSC vs Graph API

Capability	RSC permissions	Graph API
Real-time messages	Yes (via webhook)	No (polling only)
Historical messages	No	Yes (can query history)
Setup complexity	App manifest only	Requires admin consent + token flow
Works offline	No (must be running)	Yes (query anytime)

Bottom line: RSC is for real-time listening; Graph API is for historical access. To catch up on missed messages while offline, you need Graph API with ChannelMessage.Read.All (requires admin consent).

Graph-enabled media + history

Enable only the Microsoft Graph application permissions needed for the Teams scopes and data you use:

Entra ID (Azure AD) App Registration → add Graph Application permissions:
- ChannelMessage.Read.All for channel attachments and channel history.
- Chat.Read.All for group-chat attachments and group-chat history.
- Files.Read.All when attachment bytes must be downloaded from SharePoint/OneDrive storage; history-only setups do not need it.
Grant admin consent for the tenant.
Bump the Teams app manifest version, re-upload, and reinstall the app in Teams.
Fully quit and relaunch Teams to clear cached app metadata.

Channel/group file recovery (`graphMediaFallback`)

Teams can remove file markers from the HTML activity sent to a bot. In that case, the Bot Framework activity is indistinguishable from an ordinary HTML message; the complete attachment reference exists only on the Graph copy of the message. Enable the fallback after granting the permissions above:

{
  channels: {
    msteams: {
      graphMediaFallback: true,
    },
  },
}

This applies to channels and group chats only. It adds one Graph message lookup whenever an HTML activity produced no directly downloadable media, including ordinary or mention-only messages. The default is false so existing installations do not gain extra Graph traffic or permission errors automatically. User mentions: @mentions work out of the box for users already in the conversation. To dynamically search and mention users not in the current conversation, add User.Read.All (Application) permission and grant admin consent.

Overview

Mainstream messaging

Developer and self-hosted

Regional platforms

Configuration

Microsoft Teams manifest and permissions

Current Teams RSC permissions (manifest)

Example Teams manifest (redacted)

Manifest caveats (must-have fields)

Updating an existing app

Capabilities: RSC only vs Graph

With Teams RSC only (app installed, no Graph API permissions)

With Teams RSC + Microsoft Graph Application permissions

RSC vs Graph API

Graph-enabled media + history

Channel/group file recovery (`graphMediaFallback`)

​Current Teams RSC permissions (manifest)

​Example Teams manifest (redacted)

​Manifest caveats (must-have fields)

​Updating an existing app

​Capabilities: RSC only vs Graph

​With Teams RSC only (app installed, no Graph API permissions)

​With Teams RSC + Microsoft Graph Application permissions

​RSC vs Graph API

​Graph-enabled media + history

​Channel/group file recovery (graphMediaFallback)

Current Teams RSC permissions (manifest)

Example Teams manifest (redacted)

Manifest caveats (must-have fields)

Updating an existing app

Capabilities: RSC only vs Graph

With Teams RSC only (app installed, no Graph API permissions)

With Teams RSC + Microsoft Graph Application permissions

RSC vs Graph API

Graph-enabled media + history

Channel/group file recovery (`graphMediaFallback`)