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mallen81's avatar
mallen81
Copper Contributor
Aug 25, 2021

Teams Integration with Dynamics 365 for an Entity showing not connected.

I need to be able to programmatically add a tab to teams that uses the Dynamics 365 teams app for an entity and I need it to show as connected to dynamics.  Here is the requests I have built for both the Graph SDK and the CRM SDK side of things as well as some black magic I caught from fiddler that makes me sad.

 

First lets start with some things that are used anytime anyone wants to make a dynamics tab.  You need the teams app id for the Dynamics 365 Teams Integration App which happens to be the same on all tenants (yay) which is  cd2d8695-bdc9-4d8e-9620-cc963ed81f41

 

next you are going to need all kinds of Organization/Environment specific info

OrganizationUrl = https://orgXXXXXXXX.crm.dynamics.com

OrganizationId (Guid) from Power Platform Admin Center is easiest
Dynamics App Id (Guid) for the app your entity is from ie Sales Hub for an Opportunity Entity
The Entity Id (Guid) for the entity you wish to connect to
The Entity Type Code (int) from the Entity Metadata for ex Opportunity is 3 and Contact is 2

The above are all things you use the CRM API to go and get.  You also need the following from Graph SDK.

Team.Id (Guid) for the team you are adding a tab too
Team.InternalId (string looks like 19:32characters@thread.tacv2) "19:00000000111122223333444444444444@thread.tacv2" also for the team you are adding the tab too
Channel.Id (string looks like 19:32characters@thread.tacv2) for the channel you want to add the tab too
A Display Name for the tab of your choice.

A Fully Qualified Entity Name, not sure what the Dynamics devs call it but that is what it looks like, its format looks like this

 

 

 

OrganizationId.ToString() + "|" + DynamicsAppId.ToString() + "|" + EntityId.ToString() + "|" + EntityObjectTypeCode.ToString() + "|" + EntityDisplayName

 

 

 

 

Lastly you need a formatted content url to the dynamics entity you want to connect too I did it with this

 

 

 

string.Format("{0}main.aspx?appid={1}&pageType=entityrecord&etn=opportunity&id={2}", OrganizationUrl, DynamicsAppId.ToString(), EntityId.ToString())

 

 

 

 

Because this is a fair amount of data to manage I made a little class to hold it all

 

 

 

 

    public class TeamTabInfo
    {
        public string DisplayName { get; set; }

        public Guid EntityId { get; set; }

        public string OrganizationUrl { get; set; }

        public Guid OrganizationId { get; set; }

        public Guid DynamicsAppId { get; set; }

        public int EntityObjectTypeCode { get; set; }

        public string EntityWebsiteUrl { get; set; }

        public string FormattedEntityWebsiteUrl
        {
            get
            {
                return string.Format(EntityWebsiteUrl, OrganizationUrl, DynamicsAppId.ToString(), EntityId.ToString(), EntityObjectTypeCode.ToString());
            }
        }

        public string FormattedFQEN
        {
            get
            {
                return OrganizationId.ToString() + "|" + DynamicsAppId.ToString() + "|" + EntityId.ToString() + "|" + EntityObjectTypeCode.ToString() + "|" + DisplayName;
            }
        }

    }

 

 

 

 

Now that I have something to hold the info that makes up a tab I needed a function that would actually make the objects for Graph to use.

 

 

 

 

public static TeamsTab CreateTabRequest(TeamTabInfo tabInfo)
        {
            TeamsTabConfiguration ttc = new TeamsTabConfiguration();
            TeamsTab tt = new TeamsTab();

            ttc.EntityId = tabInfo.FormattedFQEN;
            ttc.WebsiteUrl = tabInfo.FormattedEntityWebsiteUrl;
            ttc.ContentUrl = $"https://msteamstabintegration.crm.dynamics.com/Home/Bootstrapper#pageType=dynamics-host&dynamicsUrl={ WebUtility.UrlEncode(tabInfo.FormattedEntityWebsiteUrl + "&navbar=off&flags=FCB.AllowLegacyDialogsInUci=false") }";
            ttc.RemoveUrl = "https://msteamstabintegration.crm.dynamics.com/Home/Bootstrapper#pageType=tab-remove";

            
            tt.Configuration = ttc;
            tt.DisplayName = tabInfo.DisplayName;
            tt.ODataBind = "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps/cd2d8695-bdc9-4d8e-9620-cc963ed81f41";
            return tt;
        }

 

 

 

TeamsTabConfiguration and TeamsTab come from the GraphSDK.  Now you see  those magic links in there?  They apparently hide the secret to success here but we will come back to that.

 

Here is the code I use to get the info from CRM and GraphSDK I need to be able to create the Tab objects.

 

 

 

GraphServiceClient gsc = await gf.GetClient(tenantUser, tenantPass);
            
            var myTeamsResult = await gsc.Me.JoinedTeams.Request().GetAsync();
            string contosoCoffeeTeamsId = myTeamsResult.Where(t => string.Compare(t.DisplayName, "My Team", true) == 0).FirstOrDefault()?.Id;

            var contosoCoffeeTeamResult = await gsc.Teams[contosoCoffeeTeamsId].Request().GetAsync();
            
            var channelsResult = await gsc.Teams[contosoCoffeeTeamsId].Channels.Request().GetAsync();

            string espressoId = channelsResult.Where(c => string.Compare(c.DisplayName, "Group 1", true) == 0).FirstOrDefault()?.Id;

            var installedAppsResult = await gsc.Teams[contosoCoffeeTeamsId].InstalledApps.Request().Expand("teamsAppDefinition").GetAsync();
            
            bool dynamicsAppInstalled = installedAppsResult.Where(i => i.TeamsAppDefinition.TeamsAppId == "cd2d8695-bdc9-4d8e-9620-cc963ed81f41").Any();

            if(!dynamicsAppInstalled)
            {
                var teamsAppInstallation = new TeamsAppInstallation
                {
                    AdditionalData = new Dictionary<string, object>()
                    {
                        //well known dynamics teams app id = cd2d8695-bdc9-4d8e-9620-cc963ed81f41
                        {"teamsApp@odata.bind", "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps/cd2d8695-bdc9-4d8e-9620-cc963ed81f41"}
                    }
                };

                await gsc.Teams[contosoCoffeeTeamsId].InstalledApps
                    .Request()
                    .AddAsync(teamsAppInstallation);
            }

            string orgUrl = await gf.GetOrganizationUrl(tenantName, tenantPass);

            CrmServiceClient csc = gf.ConnectCRMAdminLogin(tenantName, tenantPass, orgUrl);
            
            EntityMetadata opportunityEm = csc.GetEntityMetadata("opportunity", EntityFilters.Entity);
            
            QueryExpression queryPages = new QueryExpression("appmodule");
            queryPages.ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(new String[] { "appmoduleid", "name", "url", "description" });
            queryPages.Criteria.AddCondition("name", ConditionOperator.In, new string[] { "Sales Hub" }); 

            TeamTabInfo cafeAutoTab = new TeamTabInfo();
            cafeAutoTab.DisplayName = "Opportunity 1";
            cafeAutoTab.EntityWebsiteUrl = "{0}main.aspx?appid={1}&pageType=entityrecord&etn=opportunity&id={2}";
            cafeAutoTab.OrganizationId = csc.ConnectedOrgId;
            cafeAutoTab.OrganizationUrl = orgUrl;
            cafeAutoTab.EntityObjectTypeCode = opportunityEm.ObjectTypeCode.Value;

            cafeAutoTab.DynamicsAppId = queryResult.Entities.Where(w => w.Attributes.Values.Contains("Sales Hub")).FirstOrDefault().Id;

            queryPages = new QueryExpression("opportunity");
            queryPages.ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(new String[] { "opportunityid", "name", "description" });
            queryPages.Criteria.AddCondition("name", ConditionOperator.Equal, "Opportunity 1");

            queryResult = csc.RetrieveMultiple(queryPages);

            cafeAutoTab.EntityId = queryResult.Entities.FirstOrDefault().Id;


            var tabResult = await gsc.Teams[contosoCoffeeTeamsId].Channels[espressoId].Tabs.Request().AddAsync(GraphFunctions.CreateTabRequest(cafeAutoTab));

 

 

 

 

Assume GraphServiceClient gsc and CrmServiceClient csc are functional as I have other huge functions that do all the auth stuff and give me back a functional client.  The above code adds a tab to teams but apparently it is only half added, just the teams half.  There is a CRM half I learned and this involves an insertion into the logical dataverse entity table "msdyn_teamscollaboration"  and that ends up looking a bit like the following

 

 

 

 

 Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Entity teamsCollabToAdd = new Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk.Entity();
            teamsCollabToAdd.LogicalName = "msdyn_teamscollaboration";
            
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_teamid", contosoCoffeeTeamResult.InternalId);
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("regardingobjecttypename", "opportunity");
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_groupid", new Guid(contosoCoffeeTeamsId));
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_tenantid", csc.TenantId);
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_channelid", espressoId);
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("regardingobjectid", cafeAutoTab.EntityId);
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("statecode", "Active");
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_channelfolderrelativeurl", "/sites/My Team/Shared Documents/Group 1");
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_teamsiteurl", string.Format("https://{0}.sharepoint.com/sites/My%20Team", tenantName.ToLower()));

            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_channelname", "Group 1");
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_channeltype", "regular");
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_teamname", "My Team");
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("regardingobjecttypecode", cafeAutoTab.EntityObjectTypeCode);
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_appid", "cd2d8695-bdc9-4d8e-9620-cc963ed81f41");
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_pipedentityid", cafeAutoTab.FormattedFQEN);
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_weburl", cafeAutoTab.FormattedEntityWebsiteUrl);
            teamsCollabToAdd.Attributes.Add("msdyn_contenturl", $"https://msteamstabintegration.crm.dynamics.com/Home/Bootstrapper#pageType=dynamics-host&dynamicsUrl={WebUtility.UrlEncode(cafeAutoTab.FormattedEntityWebsiteUrl)}");

            CreateRequest cdsRequest = new CreateRequest();
            cdsRequest.Target = teamsCollabToAdd;

            CreateResponse cdsResponse = (CreateResponse)csc.Execute(cdsRequest);

 

 

 

 

Now this also successfully runs and I get a record added to the Dataverse.  Not only do I get a record, but if I remove this created tab and use the UI I get the exact same record added to the Dataverse if everyway except a new primary key.

Everything looks in place and it should be solid, but all is not well in the land of no documentation.  Remember that magic link I mentioned before?  Well it turns out that if you use my code you get a tab added that has an angry bit.

This record is not connected to Dynamics 365. Repin the tab and try again. And that learn more points to https://msteamstabintegration.crm.dynamics.com/Home/undefined which goes nowhere and looks suspiciously familiar to a magic link.  If you use the UI you get

This record is successfully connected to Dynamics 365. and that Learn More points to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2019594 which is at least a functional.

 

So I did what anyone else would do when you have functional UI and non functional API calls after making sure the backend data I had access too was identical.  I hit it with Fiddler.  A behold a call is made to the following API endpoint.

 

https://msteamstabintegration.crm.dynamics.com/api/TeamsTabService/PostPinTasks

 

This is a secure endpoint we don't have access too.  This appears the difference between using the UI and the 2 API calls to add the tab and the record to msdyn_teamscollaboration is the call to the above endpoint.

 

So after all the preparation and all the hunting this is the question for the MS group that owns

 

https://msteamstabintegration.crm.dynamics.com

 

WHAT DOES THAT ENDPOINT DO?  What are these "Post Pin Tasks"?


BTW pinning a view (savedquery entity) doesn't have this issue since it isn't kept in sync the same way, it is specific to Direct Entity Connections.

 

*************************************************************

UPDATE 05/24/2022

*************************************************************

I have an update and there is now an api endpoint that can be used to attach an entity record and get the connection symbol to show up correctly.

 

First you must follow the directions at Enable linking of Dynamics 365 records to Microsoft Teams channels | Microsoft Docs and consent to the permissions that are asked when the options are turned on.  Once that is setup you can then make a call that matches the following criteria.  

Syntax:

The programmatic support for the Collaborate functionality is implemented as a custom API in Dynamics.
POST <org-url>/api/data/v9.0/msdyn_associateRecordToChannel

 

Request Body

In the request body, supply a JSON representation of the following properties.

Property

Type

Description

msdyn_recordId

string

Unique identifier of the entity record or view

msdyn_entityLogicalName

string

Entity Logical Name of the record or view to be pinned

msdyn_teamId

string

Unique Identifier of the Team to which the channel belongs

msdyn_teamInternalId

string

Team Internal Id of the Team to which the channel belongs

msdyn_teamDisplayName

string

Display Name of the team to which the channel belongs

msdyn_channelId

string

Unique Identifier of the channel where record is to be pinned

msdyn_channelDisplayName

string

Display Name of the channel

msdyn_channelType

string

Type of the channel (standard or private)

msdyn_appModuleId

string

App Id of the Model-Driven App in Dynamics

msdyn_orgUrl

string

Dynamics Environment URL

msdyn_pageType

string

Specifies whether the record is a entity record or a view(entityrecord or entitylist)

 

1. Pin an entity record in a channel in Teams

Request

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/57fb72d0-d811-46f4-8947-305e6072eaa5/channels
Content-type: application/json

{
"msdyn_recordId": "f3372c45-1a83-ec11-8d20-00224805bb02",
"msdyn_entityLogicalName": "account",
"msdyn_teamId": "511298c7-f02d-43a7-94ec-cc8d3822fab6",
"msdyn_teamInternalId": "19:54d5461eadef4e1bbf1581a08bb31d1b@thread.skype",
"msdyn_teamDisplayName": "New Teamz456",
"msdyn_channelId": "19:54d5461eadef4e1bbf1581a08bb31d1b@thread.skype",
"msdyn_channelDisplayName":"General",
"msdyn_channelType": "standard",
"msdyn_appModuleId": "440eaf39-997e-ec11-8d20-000d3a3b2a9b",
"msdyn_orgUrl": https://tp2sg851meenaltestorg.crm10.dynamics.com,
"msdyn_pageType":"entityrecord"
}

 

Programmatic issues that are still present in the views of automation.

1. I don't know how to set the settings and consent to the permissions programmatically, I can set the settings in the Organization table in the dataverse but that does NOT consent to the permissions and so the api call does not work.

2. When using the UI there is an option to "Post" to the channel as an announcement.  This post has a special embedded link that links to the newly created tab.  The formatting appears to go through the Skype api even though it is in teams and I have not figured out how to replicate this announcement functionality at this time.

  • Umag98's avatar
    Umag98
    Brass Contributor
    Even I am facing similar issue.
    We have added the dynamics tab from the endpoint
    POST /teams/{team-id}/channels/{channel-id}/tabs
    add the record in msdyn_teamsCollaboration entity.
    but still we are geting the error
    "This record is not connected to Dynamics 365. Repin the tab and try again"
  • mallen81's avatar
    mallen81
    Copper Contributor

    As an update, I have not heard anything yet from internal contacts on how to resolve this issue.  If I do I will post an update.

  • Conax's avatar
    Conax
    Copper Contributor

    I am just testing adding the tab that connects to an account record using Power Automate's HTTP action. I have not yet done the part that adds record to the msdyn_teamscollaboration, but so far I can get the account show up in the tab, without the success nor failed connect message. If I add the tab using Teams UI then the "This record is successfully connected..." message does show up.

    • Umag98's avatar
      Umag98
      Brass Contributor
      when you added tab, did you give piped entity id or just the entity id for the add tab in channel endpoint, if we add piped entity id we will get that ,message
      • Conax's avatar
        Conax
        Copper Contributor
        yes I had used the piped entity.
  • mallen81's avatar
    mallen81
    Copper Contributor

    mallen81 I have an update and there is now an api endpoint that can be used to attach an entity record and get the connection symbol to show up correctly.

     

    First you must follow the directions at Enable linking of Dynamics 365 records to Microsoft Teams channels | Microsoft Docs and consent to the permissions that are asked when the options are turned on.  Once that is setup you can then make a call that matches the following criteria.  

    Syntax:

    The programmatic support for the Collaborate functionality is implemented as a custom API in Dynamics.
    POST <org-url>/api/data/v9.0/msdyn_associateRecordToChannel

     

    Request Body

    In the request body, supply a JSON representation of the following properties.

    Property

    Type

    Description

    msdyn_recordId

    string

    Unique identifier of the entity record or view

    msdyn_entityLogicalName

    string

    Entity Logical Name of the record or view to be pinned

    msdyn_teamId

    string

    Unique Identifier of the Team to which the channel belongs

    msdyn_teamInternalId

    string

    Team Internal Id of the Team to which the channel belongs

    msdyn_teamDisplayName

    string

    Display Name of the team to which the channel belongs

    msdyn_channelId

    string

    Unique Identifier of the channel where record is to be pinned

    msdyn_channelDisplayName

    string

    Display Name of the channel

    msdyn_channelType

    string

    Type of the channel (standard or private)

    msdyn_appModuleId

    string

    App Id of the Model-Driven App in Dynamics

    msdyn_orgUrl

    string

    Dynamics Environment URL

    msdyn_pageType

    string

    Specifies whether the record is a entity record or a view(entityrecord or entitylist)

     

    1. Pin an entity record in a channel in Teams

    Request

    POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/57fb72d0-d811-46f4-8947-305e6072eaa5/channels
    Content-type: application/json

    {
    "msdyn_recordId": "f3372c45-1a83-ec11-8d20-00224805bb02",
    "msdyn_entityLogicalName": "account",
    "msdyn_teamId": "511298c7-f02d-43a7-94ec-cc8d3822fab6",
    "msdyn_teamInternalId": "19:54d5461eadef4e1bbf1581a08bb31d1b@thread.skype",
    "msdyn_teamDisplayName": "New Teamz456",
    "msdyn_channelId": "19:54d5461eadef4e1bbf1581a08bb31d1b@thread.skype",
    "msdyn_channelDisplayName":"General",
    "msdyn_channelType": "standard",
    "msdyn_appModuleId": "440eaf39-997e-ec11-8d20-000d3a3b2a9b",
    "msdyn_orgUrl": https://tp2sg851meenaltestorg.crm10.dynamics.com,
    "msdyn_pageType":"entityrecord"
    }

     

    Programmatic issues that are still present in the views of automation.

    1. I don't know how to set the settings and consent to the permissions programmatically, I can set the settings in the Organization table in the dataverse but that does NOT consent to the permissions and so the api call does not work.

    2. When using the UI there is an option to "Post" to the channel as an announcement.  This post has a special embedded link that links to the newly created tab.  The formatting appears to go through the Skype api even though it is in teams and I have not figured out how to replicate this announcement functionality at this time.

    • p41nk1ll3r's avatar
      p41nk1ll3r
      Copper Contributor
      I am facing the same issue as well.

      I get the tab created and the entity displayed, but after following the directions at "Enable linking of Dynamics 365 records to Microsoft Teams channels | Microsoft Docs" and consenting to the permissions, the endpoint at <org-url>/api/data/v9.0/msdyn_associateRecordToChannel returns an error stating that "The entity with a name = 'msdyn_associateRecordToChannel' with namemapping = 'Logical' was not found in the MetadataCache. MetadataCacheDetails: ProviderType=Dynamic, StandardCache=True, IsLoadedInStagedContext = False, Timestamp=94241881, MinActiveRowVersion=94241881, MetadataInstanceId=5918160, LastUpdated=2023-01-15 12:59:56.060, OrgId=c65xxxxxx".

      Looking at the $metadata from the instance being called, there is no trace of that endpoint either.

      Anyone ideas on how to get this pinning issue to disappear?

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