How to Send a Welcome Message with Notification-Only Bots and Whether It Is Required

Question

How to Send a Welcome Message with Notification-Only Bots and Whether It Is Required

石川敦己 255

I have four questions regarding the publication of a Teams app that uses a Notification-Only Bot.

As part of the App validation process prior to submission, we encountered the following validation error related to the check item “Bot welcome message is received in personal scope”:

Bot must send a proactive welcome message in personal scope.

Since our Notification-Only Bot does not send a welcome message, this error is expected.

As background, our Notification-Only Bot is designed with a non-interactive architecture that minimizes costs, resources, and dependencies. Additionally, due to authentication and authorization constraints, it is not hosted on any server. Instead, it simply sends one-way requests using the Bot Framework REST API.

However, my understanding is that sending a welcome message requires an interactive architecture capable of sending a proactive message triggered by the app installation event.

My first question: Is this understanding correct?

Second, as mentioned above, adopting an interactive architecture would be inefficient due to our design goals (minimizing costs, resources, and dependencies) and authentication constraints. Is there any way to send a welcome message even with a non-interactive architecture?

Third, if the only way to send a welcome message is through an interactive architecture triggered by app installation, would it be possible to skip the “Bot welcome message is received in personal scope” validation and proceed with app submission?

Lastly, it seems somewhat inconsistent that a Notification-Only Bot is required to send a welcome message in the first place. Is this check item intentional, or could it be a potential bug in the App validation process?

That concludes my four questions.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance.

Nivedipa-MSFT 3,846 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-23T05:03:04.71+00:00

@石川敦己 - Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention. We will check and update you soon.
石川敦己 255 Reputation points

2025-10-24T01:55:44.87+00:00
Hello @Nivedipa-MSFT ,

Kudos-Ng mentioned in the reply below that even for a Notification-Only Bot, at least a minimal hosting environment is required.
May I confirm if you share the same view?

To be honest, I previously understood from several other discussions that an interactive architecture was not necessary for Notification-Only Bots, so I find this conclusion a bit disappointing.

https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/answers/questions/2148385/how-to-implement-a-notification-only-bot-in-micros

https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/answers/questions/2151045/can-an-app-be-published-to-the-teams-store-despite

I would appreciate it if this could serve as an opportunity to review the current policy—for example, allowing Notification-Only Bots that do not implement commands to also omit the welcome message requirement.

1 answer

Your answer

Nivedipa-MSFT 3,846 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-23T05:03:04.71+00:00

@石川敦己 - Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention. We will check and update you soon.
石川敦己 255 Reputation points

2025-10-24T01:55:44.87+00:00

Hello @Nivedipa-MSFT ,

Kudos-Ng mentioned in the reply below that even for a Notification-Only Bot, at least a minimal hosting environment is required.
May I confirm if you share the same view?

To be honest, I previously understood from several other discussions that an interactive architecture was not necessary for Notification-Only Bots, so I find this conclusion a bit disappointing.

https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/answers/questions/2148385/how-to-implement-a-notification-only-bot-in-micros

https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/answers/questions/2151045/can-an-app-be-published-to-the-teams-store-despite

I would appreciate it if this could serve as an opportunity to review the current policy—for example, allowing Notification-Only Bots that do not implement commands to also omit the welcome message requirement.

Answer 1

Kudos-Ng 7,850 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi 石川敦己,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on the issue you encountered during app validation and your description of a non-interactive bot architecture, I reviewed several official Microsoft articles and summarized key insights for your four questions:

Is your understanding correct that sending a welcome message requires an interactive architecture triggered by the app installation event?
Your interpretation is partially correct: sending a welcome message does require a proactive message, but this does not mean you need a fully interactive bot. According to https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/resources/bot-v3/bots-notification-only?tabs=true#best-practices-and-limitations,

The linked article on Proactive messaging states:

This confirms that welcome messages are valid for notification-only bots and can be implemented without building a full interactive chat architecture.
Is there any way to send a welcome message even with a non-interactive architecture?
Yes. You can implement a lightweight approach using proactive messaging via REST API. The proactive messaging guide above provides details on creating or using an existing conversation and sending a message without requiring two-way interaction. This allows you to maintain your design goals of minimizing cost and complexity.
Can you skip the “Bot welcome message is received in personal scope” validation and proceed with app submission?
No. According to Teams Store Validation Guidelines:

The “[Must fix]” designation means this requirement is mandatory for all bots in personal scope, including notification-only bots. If this condition is not met, your app will fail validation and cannot be published.
Is this requirement intentional or a potential issue in the validation process?
It is intentional. The guideline applies to all bots in personal scope to ensure a consistent user experience. Even for notification-only bots, a welcome message helps users understand why they are receiving notifications and what the bot does.

I hope the insights above are helpful!

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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石川敦己 255 Reputation points

2025-10-23T09:41:05.4366667+00:00

@Kudos-Ng Thank you for your reply.

To summarize your answer, you mentioned that sending a welcome message does not require an interactive architecture (server hosting) and can be achieved via the REST API.

However, the specific mechanism remains unclear. Without hosting a server, how can we detect the app installation event and determine the target recipient for the message? This point is the most critical.

I would greatly appreciate your clarification on this matter.
Kudos-Ng 7,850 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-23T11:58:21.8366667+00:00
Hi 石川敦己,

Thank you for your follow-up and for raising this critical point.

I’ve done further research and would like to share some additional insights:

You are correct that detecting the app installation event and identifying the target recipient cannot be achieved without an API endpoint. At minimum, you need a hosted endpoint to receive the event.

A practical option is to use Azure Functions – HTTP trigger (serverless) as a lightweight solution. This acts as a minimal endpoint to handle the event. You can check this article: https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/azure/azure-functions/how-to-create-function-vs-code?pivots=programming-language-csharp

You can write a short function to process the POST request sent to the messaging endpoint configured in your bot registration. The payload follows the JSON schema described here: https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/resources/bot-v3/bots-notifications#bot-added-for-personal-context-only

From that payload, capture key values such as serviceUrl, tenantId, and conversationId. These are required to send a proactive welcome message via the Bot Framework REST API.

Based on all official guidelines, this condition (welcome message in personal scope) cannot be skipped. Therefore, allocating minimal resources for this endpoint is necessary to meet the [Must fix] requirement.

I hope these additional insights help clarify your concern.
石川敦己 255 Reputation points

2025-10-24T01:14:58.19+00:00

@Kudos-Ng , thank you for your reply.
I understand now that at least a minimal hosting environment is required.
I appreciate your detailed explanation and clarification on this matter.
Kudos-Ng 7,850 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-24T09:58:55.9133333+00:00

Hi 石川敦己,

Thank you for your kindly response.

I truly appreciate that you’ve taken the time to understand the information I shared thoroughly. It means a lot.

As a Q&A forum moderator, I kindly ask if you feel the answer has addressed your concern please consider accepting my answer it as the confirmed information. Doing so helps the system recognize that the topic has been confirmed, and it provides a valuable reference for other users who may encounter similar questions in the future. It also contributes to building a stronger community.

Thank you again for your engagement and support!

Warm regards,

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How to Send a Welcome Message with Notification-Only Bots and Whether It Is Required

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