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Export conversations from Microsoft Teams Channels

Author: Joseph Velliah

Problem Statement​

We utilize Teams during incidents and create channels for each. We would like to be able to export conversation history.

  • right now the only option we have is to go through Security & Compliance.
  • Teams usage is growing in every organization and it would soon become unreasonably to only have Administrators be the ones doing exports of channels for all the Teams.

Solution​

This script uses CLI for Microsoft 365 to export the conversations from Microsoft Teams Channels. You don't need to be a tenant admin to export conversations but you still can only export conversations of Teams of which you are member.

warning

Commands m365 teams message list and m365 teams message reply list are based on an API that is currently in preview and is subject to change once the API reached general availability.

function  Get-Teams {
  $teams = m365 teams team list -o json | ConvertFrom-Json -AsHashtable
  return $teams
}
function  Get-Channels {
  param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $teamId
  )
  $channels = m365 teams channel list --teamId $teamId -o json | ConvertFrom-Json -AsHashtable
  return $channels
}
function  Get-Messages {
  param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $teamId,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $channelId
  )
  $messages = m365 teams message list --teamId $teamId --channelId $channelId -o json | ConvertFrom-Json -AsHashtable
  return $messages
}
function  Get-MessageReplies {
  param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $teamId,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $channelId,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $messageId
  )

  $messageReplies = m365 teams message reply list --teamId $teamId --channelId $channelId --messageId $messageId -o json | ConvertFrom-Json -AsHashtable
  return $messageReplies
}

Try {
  $teamsCollection = [System.Collections.ArrayList]@()
  $teams = Get-Teams
  $progressCountTeam = 1;
  foreach ($team in $teams) {
    Write-Progress -Id 0 -Activity "Processing channels in Team : $($team.displayName)" -Status "Team $progressCountTeam of $($teams.length)" -PercentComplete (($progressCountTeam / $teams.length) * 100)
    $channelsCollection = [System.Collections.ArrayList]@()
    $channels = Get-Channels $team.id
    $progressCountChannel = 1;
    foreach ($channel in $channels) {
      Write-Progress -Id 1 -ParentId 0 -Activity "Processing messages in channel : $($channel.displayName)" -Status "Channel $progressCountChannel of $($channels.length)" -PercentComplete (($progressCountChannel / $channels.length) * 100)
      $messages = Get-Messages $team.id $channel.id
      $messagesCollection = [System.Collections.ArrayList]@()
      foreach ($message in $messages) {
        $messageReplies = Get-MessageReplies $team.id $channel.id $message.id
        $messageDetails = $message
        [void]$messageDetails.Add("replies", $messageReplies)
        [void]$messagesCollection.Add($messageDetails)
      }
      $channelDetails = $channel
      [void]$channelDetails.Add("messages", $messagesCollection)
      [void]$channelsCollection.Add($channelDetails)
      $progressCountChannel++
    }
    $teamDetails = $team
    [void]$teamDetails.Add("channels", $channelsCollection)
    [void]$teamsCollection.Add($teamDetails)
    $progressCountTeam++
  }
  Write-Progress -Id 0 -Activity " " -Status " " -Completed
  Write-Progress -Id 1 -Activity " " -Status " " -Completed
  $output = @{}
  [void]$output.Add("teams", $teamsCollection)
  $executionDir = $PSScriptRoot
  $outputFilePath = "$executionDir/$(get-date -f yyyyMMdd-HHmmss).json"
  # ConvertTo-Json cuts off data when exporting to JSON if it nests too deep. The default value of Depth parameter is 2. Set your -Depth parameter whatever depth you need to preserve your data.
  $output | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 100 | Out-File $outputFilePath 
  Write-Host "Open $outputFilePath file to review your output" -F Green 
}
Catch {
  $ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
  Write-Error $ErrorMessage
}
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