> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.floral.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Use the assistants in Microsoft Teams

> Connect Microsoft Teams, add Flora, Poppy, or Penny as their own Teams apps, link your Teams account, understand private and team replies, and approve changes from Teams.

In Microsoft Teams, each assistant can have its own Teams app. Flora, Poppy, and Penny then appear as separate apps in your organization, each with its own name, icon, and chat. Every message runs as the person who sent it, with that person's Floral access. The same approval rules apply as in the Floral app.

## Connect Microsoft Teams for the organization

An organization administrator in Floral and a Microsoft 365 administrator connect Teams once. That can be the same person. Floral then makes a Teams app for each assistant you add and publishes it in your organization's Teams apps.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Channels settings">
    In Floral, open **Settings > Assistants > Channels**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the connection">
    Under **Microsoft Teams**, select **Connect Microsoft Teams**. A Microsoft 365 admin signs in and approves Floral once for your organization.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve Floral for the organization">
    Microsoft shows the permissions Floral asks for. Sign in with an account that can approve apps for your whole organization, such as a Global Administrator, and select **Accept**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in once more">
    Microsoft asks you to choose an account again. Choose the same admin account. Floral then shows **Microsoft Teams connected**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Floral uses this approval only to publish, update, and remove the assistant apps in your organization's Teams apps. Floral stores the sign-in encrypted and renews it automatically. One Microsoft 365 organization (tenant) connects to one Floral organization. Only Floral organization administrators can connect Teams, add or remove assistants, and disconnect Teams.

If someone else manages Microsoft 365 for you, share [For Microsoft 365 administrators](#for-microsoft-365-administrators) with them. It lists what Floral asks for and what each assistant app can do.

### When Teams needs reconnecting

If Microsoft no longer accepts the approval, **Channels** shows **Microsoft Teams needs reconnecting**. That happens, for example, when the admin who connected Teams leaves or loses their admin role. Assistants already in Teams keep working, but Floral can't add or remove assistants in Teams until someone reconnects. A Microsoft 365 admin selects **Reconnect Microsoft Teams** and approves again.

## Add an assistant to Teams

Under **Assistants in Microsoft Teams**, select **Add to Teams** next to the assistant. The status shows **Creating…** and **Publishing to Teams…** while Floral makes the app, then **Available in Teams**.

Each Teams app gets the assistant's name and icon. If your organization already has an assistant with that name from another Floral workspace, the new one gets the workspace name in parentheses, for example **Flora (Sales)**. A paused assistant can't be added. Resume it first.

If something goes wrong, the status shows **Failed:** followed by the reason. Select **Retry**. Floral continues where it stopped.

### Where members find it

In Teams, members open **Apps** and then **Built for your org**. They select the assistant and **Add**. The assistant's chat then opens.

To save members that step, turn on **Install for all linked members** under the assistant. Floral then adds the app in Teams for every member who has already linked a Teams account, and the status shows **Installed for linked members**. Members who haven't linked yet add it themselves.

### Add an assistant to a team or group chat

To use an assistant in a channel, add it to the team: in **Apps > Built for your org**, select the assistant and add it to a team. You can also add it to a group chat.

<Note>
  When someone adds an assistant to a team, a team owner must allow the app's permissions. Otherwise the assistant only sees messages that @mention it. Follow-ups without a mention then don't reach it.
</Note>

## Remove an assistant or disconnect Teams

* **Remove** next to an assistant removes its app from your organization's Teams apps. Members can no longer message that assistant in Teams.
* **Disconnect Microsoft Teams** removes every assistant's Teams app from your Microsoft tenant. Members' Teams links are kept, so they don't need to link again if you connect the same tenant later.

## For Microsoft 365 administrators

This section is for the person who manages Microsoft 365 and Teams for your organization.

### What Floral asks for

When you connect, Microsoft asks you to approve Floral's app for the whole organization. The approval lists only these permissions:

| Permission | What Floral does with it |
| - | - |
| Read and write to all app catalogs (`AppCatalog.ReadWrite.All`, on your behalf) | Publish, update, and remove the assistant apps in your organization's Teams apps. Floral changes no other apps. |
| Manage Teams apps for all users (`TeamsAppInstallation.ReadWriteForUser.All`) | Add an assistant app for members who linked their Teams account, only when **Install for all linked members** is on |
| Sign users in, and maintain access to data you have given it access to (`openid`, `offline_access`) | Know which organization and admin approved Floral, and renew the sign-in without asking again |

The admin who approves must be able to grant consent for the whole organization, for example a Global Administrator. Floral stores that admin's sign-in and uses it only for the assistant apps. It never reads mail, files, or messages with it.

Each assistant's bot is registered in Floral's own Microsoft tenant and hosted by Floral. Floral creates nothing in your Azure subscription or your directory except the app approval and the assistant apps in your organization's Teams apps.

Your Teams app permission policies must allow apps built for your organization. Otherwise members don't see the assistants under **Built for your org**.

Microsoft 365 Government clouds (GCC, GCC High, and DoD) and other national clouds aren't supported.

### What each assistant app can do

Each assistant app asks for these permissions in Teams:

| Teams permission | What the assistant can do |
| - | - |
| Chat with the assistant (personal scope) | Receive and answer messages in its own chat with a member |
| Teams and group chats (team and group chat scopes) | Receive messages that mention it in teams and group chats it's added to |
| `identity` | Know who wrote each message |
| `messageTeamMembers` | Send a member a message in their chat with the assistant, for example a private reply |
| `ChannelMessage.Read.Group` | Read messages in the channels of a team it's added to. A team owner allows this when adding the app. |
| `ChatMessage.Read.Chat` | Read messages in a group chat it's added to. This is allowed when someone adds the app to the chat. |

An assistant app has no access to files, no message extensions, and no meeting features. It can't add itself to a team or chat. Someone must add it.

Teams sends an app the messages in the teams and chats it's in. The assistant reacts only to:

* Messages in its own chat.
* Messages that mention it.
* Follow-ups in threads it already answers in. With **Private replies**, that's the asking person's own follow-ups. With **Team replies**, it's every linked member's.

It ignores every other message.

### Stop Floral from managing apps

An organization administrator first selects **Disconnect Microsoft Teams** in Floral. That removes every assistant app. Then remove Floral's app under **Enterprise applications** in the Microsoft Entra admin center.

If you remove Floral's app without disconnecting, assistants already in Teams keep working, but Floral can't publish, update, or remove their apps. To remove an assistant then, delete its app in the Teams admin center under **Teams apps > Manage apps**.

## Link your Teams account

<Steps>
  <Step title="Message an assistant in Teams">
    Open the assistant's chat, or mention it in a channel, for example **@Poppy**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open your personal link">
    The assistant replies with a sign-in link that only you can see. The link is for you alone and expires after 30 minutes. Don't forward it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in to Floral">
    Sign in and select **Connect**. There is no workspace to choose: each assistant works in the Floral workspace it was added from.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask again">
    Send your question again. From now on, the assistant knows who you are.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You link once per Microsoft 365 organization. The same link works for every assistant there. If you message an assistant that belongs to a Floral workspace you aren't a member of, it says so. Ask a workspace administrator to invite you.

Your linked Teams accounts are listed under **Settings > Assistants > Channels**. You can unlink yourself there. Workspace administrators can unlink any member. If your membership changes, the assistant asks you to link again.

## Chat with an assistant

Each assistant has its own chat in Teams. Message Penny to talk to Penny. You don't need to type her name. The chat is private. Only you see the conversation. The assistant can use your own accounts and the team accounts it is allowed to use. Each reply ends with a link to the saved conversation in Floral.

## Mentions in a channel

Add the assistant to the team first. Then mention it, for example **@Poppy**. The answer depends on the assistant's setting. An administrator chooses it for each assistant under **Settings > Assistants > Channels**, in the section **In channels**. The same setting applies in Slack and Teams. Chats with the assistant are always private.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Private replies">
    Only you see the answer. Others in the channel see your question, but not the reply.

    * The reply appears in the conversation, visible only to you.
    * If Teams can't show a reply only to you there, the assistant sends it to your chat with the assistant instead and posts **I sent you a private reply in our chat.** in the conversation. The reply itself never appears in the channel.
    * If the assistant isn't added for you yet, it posts **I couldn't reply to you privately here.** and asks you to add it from **Apps > Built for your org**. Add it, then message it in its chat.
    * The assistant uses your own accounts and the team accounts, as in its chat. It knows other people are in the channel and says so when content comes from your own accounts, such as your email.
    * Select **Share in thread** to post the reply for everyone in the thread. It appears as **Shared by** your name and the assistant's name. Read it for personal details first. Approval cards are never shared, and the conversation stays yours.
    * After you mention the assistant in a thread, your next messages in that thread reach it without a new mention. This needs the permissions a team owner allows when adding the app. Messages from colleagues in that thread are ignored. If they mention the assistant, they get their own private conversation.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Team replies">
    Everyone in the thread sees the answer. The assistant works for the team.

    * It uses only team accounts and the Floral data that everyone in the workspace can see. No one's own accounts, unapproved summaries, or personal calendar are used.
    * Every linked member in the thread continues the same conversation, without a new mention. The assistant sees who wrote each message.
    * For something that needs your own account, such as your email or calendar, ask in the assistant's chat.
    * Approval cards are visible in the thread and name the person who asked, for example **Only Maria can approve this.** Only that person's click counts.
    * If an administrator switches back to **Private replies**, existing team threads stop. The assistant says so in the thread. Mention it again for a private reply.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Group chats work like channels: mention the assistant, and the same setting decides who sees the answer.

<Warning>
  With Team replies, everyone in the Teams channel or group chat can read the answers. That can include people who aren't members of your Floral workspace, such as guests in Teams. Use Team replies only where everyone may see the workspace's shared Floral data and the team accounts' data.
</Warning>

## What each assistant can see

The rule: an assistant uses your own accounts, such as your email or calendar, only when you're the only one who sees the answer. Team accounts work everywhere, but only those an administrator allowed for that assistant.

| Where you ask | Your own accounts | Team accounts | Floral data | Who sees the answer |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| The assistant's chat | Yes | Yes | What you can see | Only you |
| Channel or group chat, Private replies | Yes | Yes | What you can see | Only you, until you share it |
| Channel or group chat, Team replies | No | Yes | What everyone in the workspace can see | Everyone in the thread |

For the Floral app and routines, see "Who sees the answer?" in [Use Floral's assistants](/product/assistant). For the difference between the two kinds of accounts, see [Your account and team accounts](/product/assistant-connections).

## Approve changes in Teams

When an assistant wants to change something, Teams shows an approval card with the action, the app, and the account it uses. The card says whether that is **Your account** or a **Team account**. When a team account uses one person's login, it also says **Acts as** and that person's name or email. The buttons are **Approve and run**, **Reject**, and **View in Floral**.

* Only the person who asked can approve. If someone else selects a button, nothing runs.
* A large change shows only **Review in Floral**. Approve it in the app, where you can see all of it.
* After you approve, Floral posts the result, and the assistant continues with the next step. The next change needs its own approval.
* If the result is uncertain, Floral says so. Check the connected app before you try again.

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can we rename an assistant in Teams?">
    No. The name in Teams comes from the assistant in Floral. Floral publishes a new version of the app when the name changes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can several Floral workspaces use the same Microsoft 365 organization?">
    Yes, when they belong to the same Floral organization. Each Floral workspace adds its own assistants. When a name already exists in Teams, the new assistant gets its Floral workspace's name in parentheses, for example **Flora (Sales)**. Each member links their Teams account once, and the link works for every assistant in that organization. An assistant answers only members of its own Floral workspace.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens when the admin who connected Teams leaves?">
    Microsoft stops accepting their approval, and **Channels** shows **Microsoft Teams needs reconnecting**. Assistants already in Teams keep working. Another Microsoft 365 admin selects **Reconnect Microsoft Teams** so that Floral can add and remove assistants again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens when someone leaves the Floral workspace?">
    The workspace's assistants stop working for them. When they message one, it says it works in a Floral workspace they aren't a member of. Nothing runs with their access. The app may stay in their Teams. If they're invited back, the assistant may ask them to link again. A workspace administrator can also unlink them under **Settings > Assistants > Channels**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Floral read all our Teams messages?">
    No. An assistant only receives messages from its own chats and from the teams and group chats someone added it to. It reacts only to the messages listed under [What each assistant app can do](#what-each-assistant-app-can-do) and ignores the rest.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens to conversations when an assistant is removed?">
    **Remove** deletes only the assistant's Teams app. The assistant stays in Floral, and its conversations stay saved there. Messages already in Teams stay in Teams. Removing the assistant from the workspace under **Settings > Assistants** also deletes its Teams app. If you add the assistant to Teams again, it gets a new Teams app. Members add it again from **Apps > Built for your org**, and teams add it again.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## When something goes wrong

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Microsoft Teams connection cancelled">
    The approval or the second sign-in was cancelled in Microsoft. Select **Connect Microsoft Teams** again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Sign in with an admin account from the tenant that approved Floral">
    The second sign-in used an account from another Microsoft 365 organization. Select **Connect Microsoft Teams** again and choose an admin account from the organization that approved Floral.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="This Microsoft tenant belongs to another organization">
    Your Microsoft 365 organization is already connected to another Floral organization, or your Floral organization already has another tenant connected. Disconnect it there first.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Not set up for this installation yet">
    Microsoft Teams isn't available in this Floral installation yet. Contact Floral to enable it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Members don't see the assistant under Built for your org">
    Check the status in **Channels**: it must show **Available in Teams**. Then check that your Teams app permission policies allow apps built for your organization. New apps can take a few minutes to appear in Teams.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Your Microsoft Teams account isn't connected to Floral yet">
    Message the assistant in its chat to get a personal link, then follow the steps under [Link your Teams account](#link-your-teams-account).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Your Floral connection belongs to a different organization">
    Your Teams account is linked to another Floral organization. Message the assistant again to get a new link.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The assistant works in a Floral workspace you're not a member of">
    The assistant belongs to another Floral workspace in your organization. Ask a workspace administrator to invite you.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The assistant is paused">
    An administrator paused the assistant in Floral. It answers again once they resume it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Assistants aren't available to you in this workspace">
    The workspace hasn't turned on assistants, or your access doesn't include them. Ask a workspace administrator.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Too many requests">
    Wait a minute and try again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Something went wrong">
    Open the link in the message to see the saved work in Floral. Check any saved actions before you ask again, so nothing is done twice.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The assistant doesn't answer follow-ups without a mention">
    A team owner hasn't allowed the app's permissions for that team. Mention the assistant in each message, or ask a team owner to remove the app from the team and add it again, allowing its permissions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The assistant doesn't answer at all">
    In a channel, an assistant only reacts to mentions and to your own follow-ups in a thread where you already talk to it. Check that it's added to the team, then mention it again. If you can't find a private reply, look in your chat with the assistant, or select **View in Floral** on an earlier reply.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

Requests must be shorter than 10,000 characters.

## What the assistants never do

* Change anything without your approval on the approval card.
* Accept "yes" typed in a message as an approval, or let someone other than the requester approve.
* Post your private reply in the channel unless you select **Share in thread**.
* Use your own accounts for someone else, or in Team replies.
* Give you more access in Floral than you already have.
* Work in another organization or workspace than the one the assistant belongs to.
* Send email from Gmail. Flora prepares drafts only.
* Repeat a change on their own when the result is uncertain.

Disconnecting Microsoft Teams, removing an assistant, or unlinking your account stops future access. It doesn't delete messages that Teams already stores.