io.github.Maxim-Mazurok/teams-api

Official

by Maxim-Mazurok · TypeScript

Microsoft Teams API

AI-native Microsoft Teams integration — read chats, send messages, search people

Read chats, send messages, and search people in Microsoft Teams.

README.md28 KBView on GitHub

teams-api

AI-native Microsoft Teams integration — read conversations, send messages, and manage members via the Teams Chat Service REST API.

Designed for autonomous AI agents that need to interact with Teams: read messages, reply to people, monitor conversations, and participate in team workflows.

NOTE

This project was AI-generated using Claude Opus 4.6 with human guidance and review.

Getting Started

teams-api can be used in three ways:

MCP server for editors and AI tools — the recommended path for most users.
CLI for direct terminal use.
Programmatic Node.js library — advanced, documented near the end.

Prerequisites

Node.js (v18 or later) — required for npx, which all MCP and CLI commands use.

Install in your editor

The quickest way to get started is to click one of the install badges above, or follow the instructions for your editor below.

Editor-specific instructions

<details> <summary>VS Code / VS Code Insiders</summary>

Option 1 — One-click install:

Option 2 — CLI:

macOS / Linux:

bash

# VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"teams","command":"npx","args":["-y","-p","teams-api@latest","teams-api-mcp"],"env":{"TEAMS_LOGIN":"true"}}'

# VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --add-mcp '{"name":"teams","command":"npx","args":["-y","-p","teams-api@latest","teams-api-mcp"],"env":{"TEAMS_LOGIN":"true"}}'

Windows (PowerShell):

powershell

# VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"teams","command":"npx","args":["-y","-p","teams-api@latest","teams-api-mcp"],"env":{"TEAMS_LOGIN":"true"}}'

# VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --add-mcp '{"name":"teams","command":"npx","args":["-y","-p","teams-api@latest","teams-api-mcp"],"env":{"TEAMS_LOGIN":"true"}}'

Windows (CMD):

cmd

rem VS Code
code --add-mcp "{\"name\":\"teams\",\"command\":\"npx\",\"args\":[\"-y\",\"-p\",\"teams-api@latest\",\"teams-api-mcp\"],\"env\":{\"TEAMS_LOGIN\":\"true\"}}"

rem VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --add-mcp "{\"name\":\"teams\",\"command\":\"npx\",\"args\":[\"-y\",\"-p\",\"teams-api@latest\",\"teams-api-mcp\"],\"env\":{\"TEAMS_LOGIN\":\"true\"}}"

Option 3 — Manual config:

Add to your VS Code MCP config (.vscode/mcp.json or User Settings):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teams": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "-p", "teams-api@latest", "teams-api-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_LOGIN": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

</details> <details> <summary>Cursor</summary>

Or add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teams": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "-p", "teams-api@latest", "teams-api-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_LOGIN": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

</details> <details> <summary>Claude Desktop</summary>

Add to claude_desktop_config.json (how to find it):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teams": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "-p", "teams-api@latest", "teams-api-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_LOGIN": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

</details> <details> <summary>Claude Code</summary>

bash

claude mcp add teams -- npx -y -p teams-api@latest teams-api-mcp

Then set the environment variable TEAMS_LOGIN=true in your shell before starting Claude Code. The server will ask for your email interactively on first use.

</details> <details> <summary>Windsurf</summary>

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teams": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "-p", "teams-api@latest", "teams-api-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_LOGIN": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

</details>

TIP

On macOS with a FIDO2 passkey, replace TEAMS_LOGIN with TEAMS_AUTO for fully unattended auth. See Authentication for details.

CLI

You can also use the CLI directly without installing anything:

bash

npx -y -p teams-api@latest teams-api auth --login
npx -y -p teams-api@latest teams-api list-conversations --login --limit 20

If you use the CLI often, a global install is optional:

bash

npm install -g teams-api
teams-api auth --login

Advanced Topics

Manual token usage, debug-session auth, and programmatic Node.js usage are covered later in this README.

Platform support

Feature	macOS	Windows / Linux
Interactive login	Full support	Full support
Auto-login (FIDO2)	Full support	Not supported
Debug session	Full support	Full support
Direct token	Full support	Full support
Token caching	macOS Keychain	Windows DPAPI / Linux secret-tool
CLI & MCP server	Full support	Full support
Programmatic API	Full support	Full support

NOTE

Windows Defender false positive: Older versions of this package used inline PowerShell to call the Windows DPAPI — a pattern that Windows Defender flags as ransomware-like behavior. This has been replaced with native Windows Credential Manager storage via keytar. If you hit issues on an older version, upgrade and re-run teams-api auth --login. See SECURITY.md for details.

Authentication

Most users do not need to manage tokens manually.

If you use interactive login, auto-login, or a Chrome debug session, teams-api captures the full token bundle automatically from Teams web traffic. That includes the base skypeToken plus the extra bearer tokens used for profile resolution and reliable people/chat/channel search.

Those flows also detect the Teams chat region automatically from the intercepted request URLs, so most users do not need to set --region or TEAMS_REGION.

On macOS, prefer auto-login when you have a platform authenticator / FIDO2 passkey set up. On other platforms, use interactive login.

Direct token usage is the advanced/manual path.

Method	Description	Automation	Platform
Auto-login	Playwright launches system Chrome and captures the full token bundle	Fully unattended	macOS
Interactive login	Opens a browser window and captures skype, middle-tier, and Substrate tokens	One-time manual	All
Debug session	Connects to a running Chrome instance and captures the full token bundle	Semi-manual	All
Direct token	Provide a previously captured token or token bundle explicitly	Manual	All

Requires macOS with a platform authenticator (e.g. Intune Company Portal) and a FIDO2 passkey enrolled. Fully unattended — no browser window appears.

The easiest cross-platform option. A browser window opens, you log in with any method your organization supports (password, MFA, passkey, etc.), and the token is captured automatically:

bash

teams-api auth --login

Optionally pre-fill your email:

bash

teams-api auth --login --email you@example.com

NOTE

Interactive login prefers an installed browser (Edge or Chrome) when available, and falls back to Playwright's bundled Chromium.

Advanced / manual methods

Debug session — start Chrome with --remote-debugging-port=9222, navigate to Teams and log in, then run:

bash

teams-api auth --debug-port 9222

Direct token — advanced/manual only. Extract x-skypetoken from browser DevTools (Network tab) and pass it directly:

bash

teams-api list-conversations --token "<paste-token-here>" --region emea

If you want reliable people/chat/channel lookup and profile resolution on the direct-token path, also pass the extra bearer tokens captured from Teams requests:

bash

teams-api find-people \
  --token "<paste-skype-token-here>" \
  --bearer-token "<paste-api-spaces-skype-bearer-token-here>" \
  --substrate-token "<paste-substrate-bearer-token-here>" \
  --region emea \
  --query "Jane Doe"

TIP

Skip this section if you are using --login, --auto, TEAMS_LOGIN, or TEAMS_AUTO. Those modes capture the full token bundle automatically.

TIP

Direct-token mode still needs an explicit region. See API regions below.

CLI

Preferred without install:

bash

npx -y -p teams-api@latest teams-api <command> [options]

Optional global install for frequent use:

bash

npm install -g teams-api
teams-api <command> [options]

The examples below use teams-api for readability. If you are not installing globally, replace it with npx -y -p teams-api@latest teams-api.

Auth flags (available on all commands)

Flag	Description
`--login`	Interactive browser login (all platforms)
`--auto`	Auto-acquire token via FIDO2 passkey (macOS)
`--email <email>`	Corporate email (required with `--auto`, optional otherwise)
`--token <token>`	Use an existing skype token (advanced/manual)
`--bearer-token <token>`	Optional middle-tier bearer token (advanced/manual)
`--substrate-token <token>`	Optional Substrate bearer token (advanced/manual)
`--debug-port <port>`	Chrome debug port (default: 9222)
`--region <region>`	API region override. Auto-detected for login/debug auth; required with `--token`
`--format <format>`	Output format: concise, detailed
`--output <file>`	Export output to file (default format: concise)

Examples

bash

# Acquire a token (interactive — all platforms)
teams-api auth --login

# Acquire a token (auto — macOS with FIDO2)
teams-api auth --auto --email you@example.com

# List conversations
teams-api list-conversations --login --limit 20 --format detailed

# Find a conversation by topic
teams-api find-conversation --auto --email you@example.com --query "Design Review"

# Find a 1:1 chat by person name
teams-api find-one-on-one --auto --email you@example.com --person-name "Jane Doe"

# Read messages (by topic name, person name, or direct ID)
teams-api get-messages --auto --email you@example.com --chat "Design Review"
teams-api get-messages --auto --email you@example.com --to "Jane Doe" --max-pages 5
teams-api get-messages --auto --email you@example.com --conversation-id "19:abc@thread.v2" --format detailed

# Newest-first order (API returns newest-first; default is oldest-first/chronological)
teams-api get-messages --auto --email you@example.com --chat "General" --order newest-first

# Send a message
teams-api send-message --auto --email you@example.com --to "Jane Doe" --content "Hello!"
teams-api send-message --auto --email you@example.com --chat "Design Review" --content "Status update"

# List members
teams-api get-members --auto --email you@example.com --chat "Design Review"

# Get current user info
teams-api whoami --auto --email you@example.com

# Export messages to a file (default format: concise)
teams-api get-messages --auto --email you@example.com --chat "General" --output exports/general.md

# Export as JSON to a file
teams-api get-messages --auto --email you@example.com --chat "General" --format detailed --output exports/general.json

MCP server

The MCP server exposes Teams operations as tools for AI agents via stdio transport. See Getting Started for editor-specific setup.

Advanced: direct token configuration

Use this only if you already have tokens from another flow or need to avoid browser-based auth entirely:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teams": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "-p", "teams-api@latest", "teams-api-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_TOKEN": "<paste-skype-token-here>",
        "TEAMS_BEARER_TOKEN": "<optional-api-spaces-skype-bearer-token>",
        "TEAMS_SUBSTRATE_TOKEN": "<optional-substrate-bearer-token>",
        "TEAMS_REGION": "emea"
      }
    }
  }
}

TIP

If you do use direct tokens, teams-api auth --login prints the full token object as JSON. For basic chat operations, skypeToken is enough. For reliable people/chat/channel search and profile resolution, also pass bearerToken and substrateToken.

Environment variables

Variable	Description
`TEAMS_TOKEN`	Pre-existing skype token
`TEAMS_BEARER_TOKEN`	Optional middle-tier bearer token
`TEAMS_SUBSTRATE_TOKEN`	Optional Substrate bearer token
`TEAMS_REGION`	API region override. Required with `TEAMS_TOKEN`; optional otherwise
`TEAMS_EMAIL`	Corporate email. Optional — the server prompts the AI agent if needed
`TEAMS_AUTO`	Set to `true` to enable auto-login (macOS + FIDO2)
`TEAMS_LOGIN`	Set to `true` to enable interactive browser login
`TEAMS_DEBUG_PORT`	Chrome debug port (default: 9222)
`TEAMS_EDIT_REPLY_GUARD`	Edit reply guard: `allow` (default), `warn`, or `block`. See below
`TEAMS_AGENT_MARKER`	Agent marker prefix for sent/edited messages (e.g. `Ⓜ`). See below
`TEAMS_DELETE_MODE`	Delete mode: `hard` (default), `soft`, or `block`. See below
`TEAMS_DELETE_TOMBSTONE`	Custom tombstone text for soft-delete mode. See below
`TEAMS_AUDIT_LOG`	Audit logging: `off` (default), `stderr`, or `file:<path>`. See below
`TEAMS_PROTECTED_CONVERSATIONS`	Comma-separated glob patterns of conversations where edit/delete is blocked. See below

Agent marker

When an AI agent sends or edits messages on behalf of a user, it can be hard to tell which messages were composed by the agent and which by the human. The TEAMS_AGENT_MARKER environment variable (or --agent-marker CLI flag / agentMarker MCP parameter) automatically prepends a configurable string to message content:

jsonc

{
  "env": {
    "TEAMS_AGENT_MARKER": "Ⓜ", // or "🤖", "[Bot]", etc.
  },
}

When set, every send-message and edit-message call prepends the marker followed by a space to the content. For example, with TEAMS_AGENT_MARKER=Ⓜ, sending "Hello world" produces "Ⓜ Hello world".

The per-call parameter takes precedence over the environment variable. Pass an empty string to disable the marker for a specific call.

Edit reply guard

When editing a message that already has replies, the original context can be lost — replies may no longer make sense. The TEAMS_EDIT_REPLY_GUARD environment variable (or --reply-guard CLI flag / replyGuard MCP parameter) controls this:

Value	Behavior
`allow`	Edit proceeds normally (default, backward-compatible)
`warn`	Edit proceeds but an annotation is appended: "⚠️ This message was edited after…"
`block`	Edit is refused with an error listing the reply count

The per-call parameter takes precedence over the environment variable.

Delete mode (soft-delete)

Hard-deleting messages removes content permanently, which can be problematic for auditability and conversation flow in group chats. The TEAMS_DELETE_MODE environment variable (or --delete-mode CLI flag / deleteMode MCP parameter) controls how message deletion is handled:

Value	Behavior
`hard`	Permanently delete the message (default, current behavior)
`soft`	Replace message content with a tombstone marker instead of deleting
`block`	Refuse deletion entirely with an error

When using soft mode, the message content is replaced with ~~This message was removed by an agent~~ by default. Customize the tombstone text with TEAMS_DELETE_TOMBSTONE (or --delete-tombstone / deleteTombstone):

jsonc

{
  "env": {
    "TEAMS_DELETE_MODE": "soft",
    "TEAMS_DELETE_TOMBSTONE": "🗑️ [removed by automation]",
  },
}

The per-call parameters take precedence over environment variables.

Audit logging

State-modifying actions (edit and delete) can emit structured audit events for compliance and traceability. The TEAMS_AUDIT_LOG environment variable controls where events are written:

Value	Behavior
`off`	No audit logging (default)
`stderr`	Write JSON Lines to stderr
`file:<path>`	Append JSON Lines to the specified file (created on demand)

jsonc

{
  "env": {
    "TEAMS_AUDIT_LOG": "file:/var/log/teams-audit.jsonl",
  },
}

Each event is a single JSON line with the following fields:

Field	Description
`timestamp`	ISO 8601 timestamp
`action`	`"edit"`, `"delete"`, or `"soft-delete"`
`conversationId`	Conversation thread ID
`conversationLabel`	Human-readable conversation label (topic or 1:1 partner name)
`messageId`	Target message ID
`content`	New content for edits, tombstone text for soft-delete, `null` for hard delete

Audit logging is designed to be silent — errors in the audit pipeline never affect tool execution.

Protected conversations

Some conversations contain sensitive or compliance-relevant information where accidental edits or deletions could be harmful. The TEAMS_PROTECTED_CONVERSATIONS environment variable (or --protected-conversations CLI flag / protectedConversations MCP parameter) blocks edit and delete actions in matching conversations:

jsonc

{
  "env": {
    "TEAMS_PROTECTED_CONVERSATIONS": "Incident *,*compliance*,Architecture Decisions",
  },
}

Patterns are comma-separated and support * as a wildcard (matches any characters). Matching is case-insensitive. When a conversation's name matches any pattern, both edit-message and delete-message throw an error before making any changes — the message is left untouched.

The per-call parameter takes precedence over the environment variable, so individual tool invocations can override the configured patterns when needed.

Available tools

All MCP tools accept an optional format parameter (concise or detailed). Default format is concise.

Tool	Description
`teams_list_conversations`	List available conversations
`teams_find_conversation`	Find a conversation by topic or member name
`teams_find_one_on_one`	Find a 1:1 chat with a person
`teams_find_people`	Search the organization directory
`teams_find_chats`	Search chats by name or member
`teams_get_messages`	Get messages from a conversation
`teams_send_message`	Send a message to a conversation
`teams_get_members`	List members of a conversation
`teams_get_transcript`	Get a meeting transcript from a recorded conversation
`teams_download_file`	Download message files and inline images
`teams_describe_image`	Describe an inline Teams image with a vision model
`teams_whoami`	Get the authenticated user's display name

Workflow guidance, tips, and important notes are served automatically via the MCP server's instructions field — no separate skill file needed. For the same content on the CLI, run teams-api guide.

Image descriptions

teams_describe_image reuses the existing Teams AMS image download support and sends the image bytes to an OpenAI-compatible vision endpoint. Configure it with TEAMS_IMAGE_DESCRIPTION_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY. Optional overrides: TEAMS_IMAGE_DESCRIPTION_MODEL and TEAMS_IMAGE_DESCRIPTION_BASE_URL.

Examples:

bash

teams-api describe-image --chat "Project Chat" --message-id 1773736076914 --image-index 0
teams-api describe-image --ams-object-id 0-eaua-d2-877b82634f4e978692f2243d445a6650

API regions

The Teams Chat Service URL varies by region. Login-based and debug-session auth detect it automatically. You only need to set --region or TEAMS_REGION when you are supplying tokens directly or want to force an override:

Region	Base URL
`apac`	`https://apac.ng.msg.teams.microsoft.com/v1`
`emea`	`https://emea.ng.msg.teams.microsoft.com/v1`
`amer`	`https://amer.ng.msg.teams.microsoft.com/v1`

Known limitations

Token lifetime is ~24 hours. After expiry, you must re-acquire.
The Teams Chat Service REST API is undocumented and may change without notice.
Auto-login requires macOS, system Chrome, a platform authenticator, and a FIDO2 passkey. On other platforms, use interactive login (--login) instead.
The members API returns empty display names for 1:1 chat participants. Use findOneOnOneConversation() to resolve names from message history.
Reaction actor identities come from the emotions field in message payloads. Parsing handles both JSON-string and array formats.

Programmatic API

This is the advanced integration path. Most users should start with MCP or CLI instead.

Install the package in your project:

bash

npm install teams-api

Example:

typescript

import { TeamsClient } from "teams-api";

// Interactive login — opens a browser, you log in manually (all platforms)
const client = await TeamsClient.fromInteractiveLogin();

// Or auto-login via platform authenticator (macOS + FIDO2 passkey)
const autoClient = await TeamsClient.fromAutoLogin({
  email: "you@example.com",
});

// Advanced/manual: create a client from previously captured tokens
const manualClient = TeamsClient.fromToken("skype-token-here", "emea");

const conversations = await client.listConversations();
const messages = await client.getMessages(conversations[0].id, {
  maxPages: 5,
  onProgress: (count) => console.log(`Fetched ${count} messages`),
});

await client.sendMessage(conversations[0].id, "Hello from the API!");

const oneOnOne = await client.findOneOnOneConversation("Jane Doe");
const members = await client.getMembers(conversations[0].id);

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, architecture, and implementation notes.

License

MIT

Install

Configuration

Environment variables

TEAMS_EMAIL

Corporate email address for Teams authentication

TEAMS_AUTO

Set to "true" to use auto-login (macOS + FIDO2)

TEAMS_LOGIN

Set to "true" to use interactive browser login (all platforms)

TEAMS_TOKENsecret

Pre-existing Skype token for direct authentication

TEAMS_REGION

API region (required with TEAMS_TOKEN, auto-detected otherwise)

TEAMS_BEARER_TOKENsecret

Middle-tier bearer token for profile resolution

TEAMS_SUBSTRATE_TOKENsecret

Substrate bearer token for people/chat search

TEAMS_DEBUG

Set to "true" to use Chrome debug session for token capture

TEAMS_TELEMETRY

Set to "true" to enable full debug telemetry logging (contributor use; logs all inputs and outputs locally)

TEAMS_TELEMETRY_PATH

Override the telemetry output file path (default: platform-appropriate ~/Library/... or ~/.local/share/...)

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "teams-api": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "teams-api@1.5.0",
        "teams-api-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TEAMS_EMAIL": "<YOUR_TEAMS_EMAIL>",
        "TEAMS_AUTO": "<YOUR_TEAMS_AUTO>",
        "TEAMS_LOGIN": "<YOUR_TEAMS_LOGIN>",
        "TEAMS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TEAMS_TOKEN>",
        "TEAMS_REGION": "<YOUR_TEAMS_REGION>",
        "TEAMS_BEARER_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TEAMS_BEARER_TOKEN>",
        "TEAMS_SUBSTRATE_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TEAMS_SUBSTRATE_TOKEN>",
        "TEAMS_DEBUG": "<YOUR_TEAMS_DEBUG>",
        "TEAMS_TELEMETRY": "<YOUR_TEAMS_TELEMETRY>",
        "TEAMS_TELEMETRY_PATH": "<YOUR_TEAMS_TELEMETRY_PATH>"
      }
    }
  }
}

teams-api

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Install in your editor

Editor-specific instructions

CLI

Advanced Topics

Platform support

Authentication

Auto-login (macOS only)

Interactive login (recommended for Windows / Linux)

Advanced / manual methods

CLI

Auth flags (available on all commands)

Examples

MCP server

Advanced: direct token configuration

Environment variables

Agent marker

Edit reply guard

Delete mode (soft-delete)

Audit logging

Protected conversations

Available tools

Image descriptions

API regions

Known limitations

Programmatic API

Contributing

License

Install

Configuration