Microsoft Teams Store / AppSource Publication – Guidance Required

Question

Microsoft Teams Store / AppSource Publication – Guidance Required

Nehal Bhaskar Kolipaka 0

Current Architecture

I have a Microsoft Teams application that is currently working successfully within our organization and is deployed through the Teams Admin Center.

Current Setup

Microsoft Teams App

Personal Scope Bot

Search Message Extension (Compose Command)

Azure Bot Service

Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) App Registration

Certificate-based authentication (No Client Secret)

Single-Tenant App Registration

CloudAdapter with ConfigurationBotFrameworkAuthentication

Manifest Schema v1.17

ZIP package containing:

manifest.json

  Color Icon (192x192)
  
     Outline Icon (32x32)

Current Deployment Process

Create Teams App package.

Upload ZIP package to Teams Admin Center.

Tenant administrator approves the application.

App becomes available only within our organization.

The application is functioning correctly in production within our tenant.

Objective

I would like to publish this application to the Microsoft Teams Store / AppSource so that users from other organizations can discover, install, and use the application.

Questions

1. End-to-End Publishing Process

What is the recommended process for moving from a tenant-approved Teams application to a publicly available Teams Store/AppSource application?

Is the submission process completely separate from the Teams Admin Center deployment process, or does it build upon the existing deployment model?

2. Microsoft Partner Center Requirements

What Partner Center setup is required before submitting a Teams application for public publication?

Are there any mandatory publisher verification, domain verification, or organization verification requirements that should be completed before submission?

3. Multi-Tenant Authentication Requirements

My Microsoft Entra ID App Registration is currently configured as Single Tenant.

Is Multi-Tenant configuration mandatory for public Teams Store distribution?

What is the recommended approach for converting an existing Single-Tenant application to Multi-Tenant?

Are there any risks or considerations when making this change for an application that is already being used internally?

4. Azure Bot Service Requirements

Are there any additional Azure Bot Service configurations, validations, or requirements that must be completed before submitting a Teams application for public distribution?

Are there any hosting, security, or endpoint requirements that Microsoft validates during the review process?

5. Teams App Manifest Requirements

Apart from the standard manifest requirements used for tenant deployment, what additional manifest requirements apply for public Store publication?

Specifically:

Developer information

validDomains

webApplicationInfo

Privacy Policy URL

Terms of Use URL

Permissions declarations

6. Security, Privacy, and Compliance

What security and compliance checks are performed during the AppSource review process?

For a Teams Bot that interacts with a third-party service, what privacy and data-handling requirements should be addressed before submission?

Are there any specific GDPR or data protection requirements that Microsoft expects for publicly distributed Teams applications?

7. Certification and Testing

What functionality is typically tested by Microsoft reviewers?

Do reviewers test:

Bot commands

Message Extensions

Authentication flows

External API integrations

Should test accounts, sample data, or test environments be provided as part of the submission?

8. Common Rejection Reasons

For a Teams application consisting of:

Personal Scope Bot

Search Message Extension

Minimal permissions

What are the most common reasons applications are rejected during their first review?

9. Review Timelines and Updates

What is the typical review timeline for:

Initial submission

Re-submission after fixes

Once published, what is the recommended process for releasing updates and new versions of the application?

We have successfully created a Microsoft Partner Center account and can currently see options to publish the following types of applications:

MSIX or PWA App EXE or MSI App GDK Game MSIX or PWA Game

Based on these options, it appears that the portal is primarily focused on Windows applications and games.

Our application is a Microsoft Teams App consisting of:

Teams Bot Search Message Extension Azure Bot Service Microsoft Entra ID Authentication Teams App Manifest Package (ZIP)

Currently, we deploy the application internally by uploading the Teams App ZIP package (manifest.json, color icon, outline icon) through the Teams Admin Center.

Is there anything structurally incompatible with Microsoft Teams Store/AppSource publication, or is the transition primarily configuration and compliance related?

Any official documentation, checklists, best practices, or real-world recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

0 comments

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello @Nehal Bhaskar Kolipaka

I understand your concern. You already have a Microsoft Teams app that works well within your organization, and now you'd like to make it available publicly through the Teams Store/AppSource. The good news is that this is usually not about rebuilding the app from scratch. Instead, the focus is on meeting Microsoft's publishing requirements, such as Partner Center registration, authentication configuration, app manifest validation, compliance checks, and store submission policies.

As an Independent Advisor, I can’t directly assist with the publishing process, but I’m happy to help you understand the requirements, identify the necessary steps, and point you toward the relevant Microsoft documentation and resources.

I’ve grouped the main points and included the direct links so you can check the guidance yourself.

1/ Publishing, Partner Center, and Submission Preparation

The public publishing process is separate from deploying an app through Teams Admin Center.

According to the documentation, preparation for Teams Store publication includes validating the app package, completing Publisher Verification, preparing the store listing, and providing test accounts and testing instructions. The guidance also mentions that reviewers may need admin and non-admin test accounts, tenant configuration details, and test notes to validate the app successfully.

For your reference

Prepare your Teams Store submission

2/ Teams Store Validation, Manifest, Security, and Compliance

The validation guidance covers app package validation, marketplace requirements, user experience expectations, authentication scenarios, security considerations, privacy requirements, and certification criteria. It is also the best reference for understanding store-ready manifest requirements and common certification findings.

For your reference

Teams Store validation guidelines

3/ Review Process and Future Updates

The publishing guidance explains the submission workflow, validation review process, feedback cycle, and how updates are managed after an app is published. If changes are required during review, a validation report is provided and the updated package can be resubmitted.

For your reference

Publish your app to the Teams Store

4/ Multi-tenant Authentication

I could not find a statement in the Teams Store publishing documentation that explicitly says every published Teams app must use a multi-tenant Entra ID application.

However, if users from other organizations are expected to sign in to your service, I would recommend reviewing your authentication design and testing those cross-tenant scenarios before submission. Authentication is part of the validation process described in the publishing guidance.

For your reference

Prepare your Teams Store submission

I hope this helps point you to the most relevant documentation to support your process.

Wish you all the best!

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Alina Le 4,445 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-05T15:45:40.92+00:00

Hi

Just checking in to see how things are going with your issue.

If you encounter any difficulties during the process, you may submit a support request through the Microsoft Admin Center to receive direct guidance and recommendations from Microsoft Support.

Please follow my guidance below.

(If you are not the global admin, please kindly ask your IT Admin to do it for you)

Sign into the "Microsoft Admin Center"

After clicking on "Help & Support" button like this image, you can type "I need agent support via phone or email". After that, you can click on "Contact support"

Choose contact method: "Phone"

Fill all the information in this contact support details, please describe your situation carefully so they will have enough information to help you.

Finally, clicking on "Contact me"

Tips: You can switch off the Support Assistant as shown in the screenshot, then type a few short characters into the search box and select Get Help. After that, wait for the Contact Support button to appear and click it.

After completing them, you will receive an email appointment for a meeting to review this issue professionally together.

Stay safe and happy!