Working with a Team Channel Chat message reply

The Core SDK provides support for working with chat messages within a Teams Channel allowing you to post messages. It is possible using the PnP Core SDK to then reply on these messages.

Creating Context

In this article, you'll see a lot of context use: in this case this is a PnPContext which was obtained via the PnPContextFactory as explained in the overview article and show below:

using (var context = await pnpContextFactory.CreateAsync("SiteToWorkWith"))
{
    // See next chapter on how to use the PnPContext for working with Teams
}

Getting Chat Message replies

The following example will show you how to retrieve all the replies of a message within a channel chat:

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels);

// Get the channel               
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessage = channel.Messages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

// Load the replies
chatMessage = await chatMessage.GetAsync(o => o.Replies);

// Get the replies
var replies = chatMessage.Replies;

Adding Chat Message Replies

You can post replies to a message within a channel, the following code demonstrates how this can be done:

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels);

// Get the channel
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessages = channel.Messages;

// Get the chat message to add a reply to
var chatMessageToAddReply = chatMessages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

// Define the body of the reply
var body = "Hello, I'm posting a reply - PnP Rocks!";

// Perform the add operation
await chatMessageToAddReply.AddReplyAsync(body);

Add Chat Message Replies with HTML

You can add chat replies that contain a HTML body, the following code sample will demonstrate how to do this:

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels);

// Get the channel
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessages = channel.Messages;

// Get the chat message to add a reply to
var chatMessageToAddReply = chatMessages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

// Define the body of the reply
var body = $"<h1>Hello</h1><br />Example posting a HTML message - <strong>PnP Rocks!</strong>";

// Perform the add operation
await chatMessageToAddReply.AddReplyAsync(body, ChatMessageContentType.Html);
                

Adding Chat Messages with Attachments

Chat message replies can support file attachments.

The following code shows an example of how an attachment is done:

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels);

// Get the channel
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessages = channel.Messages;

// Get the chat message to add a reply to
var chatMessageToAddReply = chatMessages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

// Upload File to SharePoint Library
IFolder folder = await context.Web.Lists.GetByTitle("Documents").RootFolder.GetAsync();
IFile existingFile = await folder.Files.GetFirstOrDefaultAsync(o => o.Name == "test_added.docx");
if(existingFile == default)
{
    existingFile = await folder.Files.AddAsync("test_added.docx", System.IO.File.OpenRead($"<path-to-file>test.docx"));
}

// Prepare the attachment ID
var attachmentId = existingFile.ETag.AsGraphEtag(); ; // Needs to be the documents eTag - just the GUID part - use this extension method

var body = $"<h1>Hello</h1><br />Example posting a message with a file attachment - <attachment id=\"{attachmentId}\"></attachment>";

var fileUri = new Uri(existingFile.LinkingUrl);

await chatMessageToAddReply.AddReplyAsync(new ChatMessageOptions{
    Content = body,
    ContentType = ChatMessageContentType.Html,
    Attachments = {
        new ChatMessageAttachmentOptions
        {
            Id = attachmentId,
            ContentType = "reference",
            // Cannot have the extension with a query graph doesn't recognise and think its part of file extension - include in docs.
            ContentUrl = new Uri(fileUri.ToString().Replace(fileUri.Query, "")),
            Name = $"{existingFile.Name}",
            ThumbnailUrl = null,
            Content = null
        }
    }
});

Note

There two areas you should be aware about this feature related to how the Graph works:

• The Graph produces a eTag reference in the format "{GUID},ID" with quotes, however this has to be stripped down to just the GUID element, without the surrounding braces, comma, quotes and ID for this to be recognised. An extension method has been created to avoid having to write this adaption to the eTag.
• File used to upload, must not have a query string parameter, this will not be recognised and the Graph treats this as part of the extension and thus will fail if the Name extension is different.

Adding Chat Message reply with Cards

Adding a chat message reply can be done using a Card, see below adaptive card example:

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels);

// Get the channel
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessages = channel.Messages;

// Get the chat message to add a reply to
var chatMessageToAddReply = chatMessages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

// Attachment ID must be unique, but the same in both body and content properties
var attachmentId = "74d20c7f34aa4a7fb74e2b30004247c5";
var body = $"<attachment id=\"{attachmentId}\"></attachment>";

await chatMessageToAddReply.AddReplyAsync(new ChatMessageOptions
{
    Content = body,
    ContentType = ChatMessageContentType.Html,
    Attachments = {
        new ChatMessageAttachmentOptions
        {
            Id = attachmentId,
            ContentType = "application/vnd.microsoft.card.adaptive",
            // Adaptive Card
            Content = "{\"$schema\":\"http://adaptivecards.io/schemas/adaptive-card.json\",\"type\":\"AdaptiveCard\",\"version\":\"1.0\",\"body\":[{\"type\":\"Container\",\"items\":[{\"type\":\"TextBlock\",\"text\":\"Adaptive Card Unit Test\",\"weight\":\"bolder\",\"size\":\"medium\"},{\"type\":\"ColumnSet\",\"columns\":[{\"type\":\"Column\",\"width\":\"auto\",\"items\":[{\"type\":\"Image\",\"url\":\"https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3647943215/d7f12830b3c17a5a9e4afcc370e3a37e_400x400.jpeg\",\"size\":\"small\",\"style\":\"person\"}]},{\"type\":\"Column\",\"width\":\"stretch\",\"items\":[{\"type\":\"TextBlock\",\"text\":\"Matt Hidinger\",\"weight\":\"bolder\",\"wrap\":true},{\"type\":\"TextBlock\",\"spacing\":\"none\",\"text\":\"Created {{DATE(2017-02-14T06:08:39Z,SHORT)}}\",\"isSubtle\":true,\"wrap\":true}]}]}]},{\"type\":\"Container\",\"items\":[{\"type\":\"TextBlock\",\"text\":\"Now that we have defined the main rule sand features of the format ,we need to produce a schema and publish it to GitHub.The schema will be the starting point of our reference documentation.\",\"wrap\":true},{\"type\":\"FactSet\",\"facts\":[{\"title\":\"Board:\",\"value\":\"Adaptive Card\"},{\"title\":\"List:\",\"value\":\"Backlog\"},{\"title\":\"Assigned to:\",\"value\":\"Matt Hidinger\"},{\"title\":\"Duedate:\",\"value\":\"Not set\"}]}]}],\"actions\":[{\"type\":\"Action.ShowCard\",\"title\":\"Set due date\",\"card\":{\"type\":\"AdaptiveCard\",\"body\":[{\"type\":\"Input.Date\",\"id\":\"dueDate\"}],\"actions\":[{\"type\":\"Action.Submit\",\"title\":\"OK\"}]}},{\"type\":\"Action.ShowCard\",\"title\":\"Comment\",\"card\":{\"type\":\"AdaptiveCard\",\"body\":[{\"type\":\"Input.Text\",\"id\":\"comment\",\"isMultiline\":true,\"placeholder\":\"Enter your comment\"}],\"actions\":[{\"type\":\"Action.Submit\",\"title\":\"OK\"}]}}]}",
            ContentUrl = null,
            Name = null,
            ThumbnailUrl = null
        }
    }
});

Adding Chat Message reply with Inline Images

Chat message replies can also include inline images. The following example demonstrates this option:

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels);

// Get the channel
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessages = channel.Messages;

// Get the chat message to add a reply to
var chatMessageToAddReply = chatMessages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

var body = $"<div><div><h1>Hello</h1><p>Example posting a message with inline image</p><div><span><img height=\"392\" src=\"../hostedContents/1/$value\" width=\"300\" style=\"vertical-align:bottom; width:300px; height:392px\"></span></div></div></div>";
                                
await chatMessageToAddReply.AddReplyAsync(new ChatMessageOptions
{
    Content = body,
    ContentType = ChatMessageContentType.Html,
    HostedContents =
    {
        new ChatMessageHostedContentOptions
        {
            Id = "1",
            ContentBytes = "<base64-encoded bytes>",
            ContentType = "image/png"
        }
    }
});

Adding chat message reply with mentions

We can use mentions when creating a chat message reply. We can use the following options when mentioning:

• User
• Conversation (e.g. a team, a channel, ...)
• Team tag

In this example, a team message will be posted which will tag a channel and a user:

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels);

// Get the channel
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessages = channel.Messages;

// Get the chat message to add a reply to
var chatMessageToAddReply = chatMessages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

var body = $"Hello, PnP Rocks! <br/>This is a channel and user mention test <br/>Mention 1: <at id=\"0\">Channel</at><br/>Mention 2: <at id=\"1\">User</a>";

await chatMessageToAddReply.AddReplyAsync(new ChatMessageOptions
{
    Content = body,
    ContentType = ChatMessageContentType.Html,
    Mentions =
    {
        new ChatMessageMentionOptions
        {
            Id = 0,
            MentionText = "Channel",
            Mentioned = new TeamChatMessageMentionedIdentitySet
            {
                Conversation = new TeamConversationIdentity
                {
                    ConversationIdentityType = TeamConversationIdentityType.Channel,
                    Id = channel.Id
                }
            }
        },
        new ChatMessageMentionOptions
        {
            Id = 1,
            MentionText = "User",
            Mentioned = new TeamChatMessageMentionedIdentitySet
            {
                User = new Identity
                {
                    DisplayName = userToMention.Title,
                    Id = graphUser.Id,
                    UserIdentityType = TeamUserIdentityType.aadUser
                }
            }
        }
    }
});

In this example, a reply will be created which will tag an entire team and a team tag. For more information regarding the usage of team tags in the PnP Core SDK, please refer to Team tags

// Get the Team
var team = await context.Team.GetAsync(o => o.Channels, o => o.Tags);

// Get the channel
var channel = team.Channels.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault(i => i.DisplayName == "General");

channel = await channel.GetAsync(o => o.Messages);
var chatMessages = channel.Messages;

// Get the chat message to add a reply to
var chatMessageToAddReply = chatMessages.AsRequested().FirstOrDefault();

var body = $"Hello, PnP Rocks! <br/>This is a team and tag mention test <br/>Mention 1: <at id=\"0\">Team</at><br/>Mention 2: <at id=\"1\">Tag</at>";

await chatMessageToAddReply.AddReplyAsync(new ChatMessageOptions
{
    Content = body,
    ContentType = ChatMessageContentType.Html,
    Mentions =
    {
        new ChatMessageMentionOptions
        {
            Id = 0,
            MentionText = "Team",
            Mentioned = new TeamChatMessageMentionedIdentitySet
            {
                Conversation = new TeamConversationIdentity
                {
                    ConversationIdentityType = TeamConversationIdentityType.Team,
                    Id = team.Id.ToString()
                }
            }
        },
        new ChatMessageMentionOptions
        {
            Id = 1,
            MentionText = "Tag",
            Mentioned = new TeamChatMessageMentionedIdentitySet
            {
                Tag = new TeamTagIdentity
                {
                    DisplayName = team.Tag.First().DisplayName,
                    Id = team.Tags.First().Id,
                }
            }
        }
    }
});