Microsoft Teams botbuilder How to create conversation in another channel - node.js

Question

(For reference I have admin_consent for the organization with a auth scope of offline_access User.ReadWrite.All Group.ReadWrite.All AppCatalog.ReadWrite.All for my token that I use to interact with the Teams instance.)
After installing the app via POST /teams/{id}/installedApps it sends an conversationUpdate event that I respond to and save the entire ConversationReference object. It has a lot of stuff I don't need but I'm not sure what is necessary. The immediate response goes to the General channel of the specified Team.
Now I want to use that ConversationReference to post proactive notification messages to a channel that the user has designated outside of Teams. So the user has not interacted with the bot in this channel, but I can list the channel and have its ID.
I can post the message into the General channel utilizing the entire ConversationReference I captured, or message the user directly in chat via ommiting the channel speicifc fields, but I can't seem to get the message sent to a specific channel if I specify it as the channelId
const msBotAdapter = new BotFrameworkAdapter({
appId: TEAMS_CLIENT_ID,
appPassword: TEAMS_CLIENT_SECRET,
});
//Paired down the saved reference to look like this
const conversationReference = {
"user" : {
"id" : "9:1rafmaopfopakdfafMzCYlCtg",
"aadObjectId" : "fffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffff"
},
"bot" : {
"id" : "8:sdfsfsdf-dddd-ddddd-aaaaa-vvvvvvv",
"name" : "Bot Name"
},
"conversation" : {
"isGroup" : true,
"conversationType" : "channel",
"tenantId" : "ffffffff-ssssss-ssssss-ss-ssssss"
},
"channelId" : "msteams",
"serviceUrl" : "https://smba.trafficmanager.net/amer/"
}
const heroCard = CardFactory.heroCard(label, text, undefined, undefined, {
subtitle: fromUser?.name ? `From: ${fromUser.name}` : undefined,
});
const channelId = {...retrieve channel Id}
const activity = {
recipient: {
id: channelId,
name: 'Test channel 2',
},
type: ActivityTypes.Message,
timestamp: new Date(),
localTimezone: 'America/New_York',
callerId: TEAMS_CLIENT_ID,
serviceUrl: conversationReference.serviceUrl!,
channelId,
from: conversationReference.bot as { id: string; name: string },
valueType: 'text',
attachments: [heroCard],
};
await msBotAdapter.createConversation(
conversationReference,
async turnContext => {
await turnContext.sendActivity(activity);
}
);

Answer 1

SUCCESS! Turns out directing the message to another channel requires manipulating the ConversationReference not (as I thought) specifying it in the Activity being sent. I'm showing this by removing the Activity I created in the original question and just sending plain text via await turnContext.sendActivity('Test Message');
const channelId = //retrieve desitnation channelId I use the graph api `/teams/${teamId}/channels`
const msBotAdapter = new BotFrameworkAdapter({
appId: TEAMS_CLIENT_ID,
appPassword: TEAMS_CLIENT_SECRET,
});
//Paired down the initial conversation reference to bare necessities, the important part is setting the `conversationReference.conversation.id` to the `channelId` that you wish the message to go to.
const conversationReference = {
"bot" : {
"id" : "8:sdfsfsdf-dddd-ddddd-aaaaa-vvvvvvv",
},
"conversation" : {
//This is where you dictate where the message goes
id: channelId
},
"serviceUrl" : "https://smba.trafficmanager.net/amer/"
}
await msBotAdapter.createConversation(
conversationReference,
async turnContext => {
await turnContext.sendActivity('Test Message');
}
);