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Microsoft Teams Integration
Microsoft Teams Integration

Do more with Stack Overflow for Teams with the Microsoft Teams integration.

Joel Bradley avatar
Written by Joel Bradley
Updated over 2 months ago

Applies to: All Stack Overflow for Teams

Overview

The Stack Overflow Microsoft Teams integration connects your Microsoft Teams chat application and your internal knowledge base. This allows you to stay up-to-date with notifications of new content, search for existing posts, even add a new question from within Microsoft Teams.

With the Microsoft Teams integration, you can:

  • Search through your Team's content to find answers to your most pressing questions.

  • Stay up-to-date on your Team's latest questions, answers, and Articles with automated notifications.

  • Post a question to your Stack Overflow for Teams site from within Microsoft Teams.

  • Share and preview content from your Stack Overflow for Teams site within Microsoft Teams.

  • Upvote questions, answers, and Articles from within Microsoft Teams.

Notifications in private and public teams and channels

Before you begin, it's important to understand that Microsoft Teams will generate notifications from Stack Overflow only to public teams, private teams and public channels. Due to a limitation that affects all bots, the Microsoft Teams integration will not generate notifications to private channels or private chats. If you see a lock icon next to the channel name, Microsoft Teams will not create notifications there.

The same limitations apply to the Microsoft Teams ask and search commands.

The Stack Overflow Microsoft Teams app

Once installed by a site administrator, the Stack Overflow app is the easiest way to explore the functions of the Microsoft Teams integration. You can interact with the Stack Overflow app in your personal app or in a channel with the following commands.

Chat commands

  • help Gives a list of chat commands.

  • login Links your Stack Overflow for Teams account with your Microsoft Teams account (required to use all app features).

  • logout Unlinks your Stack Overflow for teams account from your Microsoft Teams account.

  • ask Allows you to ask a question on your Stack Overflow for Teams site.

  • search Performs a search on your Stack Overflow for Teams site, displaying a list of posts that match the search term(s).

Unless you're in your personal app, Microsoft Teams needs to know when chat commands are meant for the Stack Overflow integration. To make this clear, prefix the chat command with the following based on your Stack Overflow for Teams plan. Find your plan.

Stack Overflow for Teams Enterprise
"@Stack Overflow Enterprise {command}"

Stack Overflow for Teams Free, Basic, and Business
"@Stack Overflow for Teams {command}"

Search your Stack Overflow for Teams content

There are several ways to search your Stack Overflow for Teams content from within Microsoft Teams.

Search with messaging extension
If a teammate asks a question within Microsoft Teams, you can search for answers from Stack Overflow for Teams using the messaging extension within the channel. To search with the messaging extension, click the three dots button on the question you'd like to search for. Select Search on Stack Overflow.

This will return results based on the selected question, and only you'll be able to see them. To share the search results with everyone in your Microsoft Teams channel, click Post in Channel.

Search with channel app
You can also search your Stack Overflow for Teams content with the channel app action. Type “@Stack Overflow for Teams search {term(s)}” (Free, Basic, Business) or “@Stack Overflow Enterprise search {term(s)}” (Enterprise) into a new message. Search results will display within the channel for quick access, and everyone in the channel will be able to see them.

Search while creating a post
Finally, you can search your Stack Overflow for Teams content as you create a new post in Microsoft Teams. After you click Start a Post, click + at the bottom of the editor window. In the list of apps that appears, click Stack Overflow for Teams.

Search your Stack Overflow content by typing in the field, then click on the desired search result. Microsoft Teams will add the selected question, answer, or Article to the body of your post.

Notifications

You can add Stack Overflow for Teams notifications to public and private Teams and public channels, or message the bot directly. These notifications allow you to keep up with questions, answers, Articles, and other activity in your Team.

Add notifications by going to the Stack Overflow personal app from the left navigation in Microsoft Teams. You can also add notifications from a channel to which you've added the Stack Overflow app.

NOTE: There are two Microsoft Teams apps: Stack Overflow for Teams for Free, Basic, and Business, and Stack Overflow Enterprise for Enterprise (after an administrator configures the MS Teams integration on your site). Make sure you're adding the correct app for your Stack Overflow for Teams plan. Find out what plan you're using.

Once in the Stack Overflow for Teams app, click Create a notification. Use the checkboxes to select the activities you want to be notified about. Indicate whether you want Stack Overflow to notify you with No filter (all activity), or to filter notifications by Tags or Communities. Click Create notification.

NOTE: You can add notifications only to public channels.

View posts

When you search or receive notifications, Microsoft Teams will display questions, answers, and Articles from Stack Overflow for Teams.

Microsoft Teams will display buttons at the bottom of the post summary, depending on the post type and status. These buttons include Upvote, View Question, and Suggest People to Answer. The Upvote button upvotes the question, answer, or Article, and changes the button to Upvoted. The View Question and Suggest People to Answer buttons open up the relevant Stack Overflow for Teams page in your browser.

Ask a question on Stack Overflow for Teams

With the messaging extension, you can convert a post in Microsoft Teams to a new question in Stack Overflow for Teams. To turn a Microsoft Teams post into a new question, click the three dots button and select Ask on Stack Overflow.

In the box that appears, enter a title and body for your question. Add at least one tag. If a user needs help filling out all of the details within the question, teammates can chime in directly in the post thread.

If you see a post in MS Teams that would be better answered in Stack Overflow for Teams, click the three dots button. Select Ask on Stack Overflow, then click Suggest question instead. This adds a comment and Ask from MS Teams button in the question transcript, suggesting that the original question asker pose their question on Stack Overflow for Teams.

Finally, you can ask questions from the Microsoft Teams channel app by typing “@Stack Overflow for Teams ask {your question}". Complete the Title, Body, and Tags fields to post your question to Stack Overflow for Teams.

Add the Stack Overflow for Teams app as a tab

You can add the Stack Overflow for Teams app as a tab in a channel for quick access to your knowledge base.

To add a tab to a channel, click + at the top of the screen. In the "Add a tab" dialog that appears, select the Stack Overflow for Teams app. Give the tab a name. Select from three options for the new tab:

  • Manage MS Teams notifications Configure the tab to receive notifications specifically for the channel.

  • Questions Display questions from Stack Overflow for Teams.

  • Articles Display Articles from Stack Overflow for Teams.

Click Save to add your tab.

NOTE: If you want to view additional content types, you can create multiple tabs in the channel.

Stack Overflow for Teams personal app

The Stack Overflow for Teams personal app gives you quick access to your Stack Overflow bookmarks, questions, and Articles. You can access the Stack Overflow for Teams personal app in the left-hand navigation of Microsoft Teams.

On the "Chat" tab, you can use app actions to interact with Stack Overflow for Teams. See the Chat commands list above for a full list of available commands. You can also enter "help" into the chat at any time to see the chat command list.

NOTE: Don't enter "@Stack Overflow…" into the chat before the command in your personal app.


Need help? Submit an issue or question through our support portal.

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