Clarification Regarding Bot Name Display from manifest.json vs Azure Bot Profile

Question

Clarification Regarding Bot Name Display from manifest.json vs Azure Bot Profile

Shravan Das | CM.com 0

I had a question regarding the bot name customization behavior. In our manifest.json file, we have a name property that allows customers to customize the name of the bot/app. For example, one of our customers configured the name as "xyz"(lets suppose) in the manifest file.

However, during actual conversations with the bot, the name being displayed is "CM.com GenAI Engine" instead.
User's image

Upon checking in the Azure Portal under Bot Services → Bot Profile → Display Name, we noticed that "CM.com GenAI Engine" is configured there.
User's image

Could you please confirm whether this Display Name in the Azure Bot Profile is what ultimately determines the name shown during conversations, overriding the manifest.json name property?

"name": {
        "short": "xyz",
        "full": "xyz"     
},

We’d appreciate some clarification on this behavior.

Thank you!

1 answer

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Answer 1

Amira Bedhiafi 39,106 Volunteer Moderator

Hello Shravan !

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Learn Q&A.

The display name in the Azure Bot profile overrides the name defined in the manifest.json during bot conversations in most client channels especially Microsoft Teams.

The manifest.json file is mainly used when:

you're registering the bot as a Teams app
it defines how the bot appears in the Teams App Store (icon, name, description)
users see this name when they install or pin the app

However, once the bot is installed, the display name during conversations is not always taken from the manifest.

If you want customers to see their custom bot name during chats, you must dynamically set the display name per customer by deploying separate bot resources or using Teams App customization with per tenant manifests.

Don't forget that changing the display name in the Azure portal affects all users of that bot instance.

Shravan Das | CM.com 0 Reputation points

2025-10-15T09:53:03.2133333+00:00

Hello Amira,

thanks for the clarification, i have one small question if the bot name in Azure Bot profile is somehow null or empty it will take the bot name from manifest.json right? and thus in the channel or personal conversation the bot name will appear as defined in manifest.json?
Amira Bedhiafi 39,106 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-10-16T08:30:32.08+00:00

Hi again !

No if the display Name in the Azure Bot Profile is empty or null the bot does not fall back to manifest.json name property during conversations.

You need to either register separate bot resources with different display names or use Teams app manifest customization per tenant.
Shravan Das | CM.com 0 Reputation points

2025-10-16T10:50:49.4533333+00:00

Hi Amira can you explain more about the second option Teams app manifest customization per tenant and the related document about it?
this is not something related to manifest.json right? since as you said earlier name in manifest.json cannot display/override the name value of bot during conversation?
Manas Mohanty 11,690 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-17T10:52:11.15+00:00
Hi Shravan Das | CM.com

You’re correct that this is not about the manifest.json bot name override during conversation. The bot name shown in Teams chat is controlled by the Bot Framework and cannot be dynamically changed via manifest.json.

What does “Teams app manifest customization per tenant” mean?

This refers to the ability for Teams administrators to customize certain aspects of an app (including its display name, descriptions, and icons) at the tenant level using the App customization feature in Teams Admin Center.

When an app developer enables customization in the app manifest (by setting "supportsCustomizations": true), tenant admins can override:

App name

Short and long descriptions

App icons

These changes apply only to how the app appears in Teams for that tenant, not to the bot’s internal identity or conversation name.

Key Points

This customization is done by tenant admins, not developers.

It affects UI branding in Teams, not runtime bot name in chat messages.

The bot name during conversation is still determined by the Bot Framework registration and cannot be overridden by manifest or tenant customization.

Related Documentation

https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/deploy-and-publish/appsource/enable-app-customization

https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/microsoftteams/customize-apps
Shravan Das | CM.com 0 Reputation points

2025-10-20T12:01:01.6633333+00:00

so to conclude the Teams app manifest customization per tenant approach wont work for changing bot name during conversations :)
Manas Mohanty 11,690 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-21T11:36:24.7333333+00:00

Yes, not during runtime (during conversations), only impacts how the app appears in Teams app store.

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Clarification Regarding Bot Name Display from manifest.json vs Azure Bot Profile

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