Activate Now Assist in Virtual Agent for Microsoft Teams

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated April 30, 2026
  • 1 minute to read
  • Add Now Assist in Virtual Agent to your Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Copilot bot.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin or virtual_agent_admin

    Create a self-configured bot for Microsoft Copilot. For more information, see Setting up the Self-configured bot for using Microsoft Copilot.
    Note:
    Ensure you've updated the version of your Microsoft Teams app in the Version field.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > Conversational Interfaces > Assistant Designer.
    2. Under Now Assist in Virtual Agent (default), select the Edit button.
    3. Under the Settings tab, select Display experiences, then select Channels.
    4. Choose the self-configured bot for the Teams channel experience you want to activate by selecting the Select row check box next to its name.
    5. Select Save and continue.
    6. Navigate to All > Conversational Interfaces > Channels and Integrations.
    7. Under Integrations, in the Microsoft Teams tile, select Manage.
    8. In the Self-configured tile, next to your bot's name, select the Manage bot icon (), and then select Manage bot from the drop-down menu.
    9. Select Edit configuration, and then select the check box next to Copilot.
      Note:
      The Copilot option will be a Message extension option instead if you haven't selected the matching bot in Step 4.
    10. Select Save.
      The bot is now active for Copilot, and the bot's Configuration tab opens.
    11. Select Download to save the manifest zip file.

    What to do next

    Upload the manifest to Microsoft Teams to make your bot experience available in the Microsoft global apps store, which will also activate the Custom Engine Agent (CEA) in Microsoft Copilot. For more information, see Upload the manifest package file to publish your bot.