Introduction

As ChatGPT is currently everywhere, I wanted to test it out and see how it works. I also wanted to see if it can be used to write tutorials. So I decided to write this tutorial using ChatGPT. I will explain how I did it and what I think about it.

So what I basically wanted to see is if it can write me a tutorial which lists all the steps I need to do to create a Teams bot. I also wanted to see if it can write the code for me. So I decided to use Yo Teams as a starting point. Yo Teams is a Yeoman generator for creating Microsoft Teams apps. It can be used to create a new Teams app project with all the necessary files and configurations. It can also be used to create a new bot project with all the necessary files and configurations. So I thought it would be a good starting point for my tutorial.

The input

The instruction I gave to ChatGPT was the following: write a step by step tutorial on building a chatbot using yo teams

And this was the outcome:

The result

1. Install Node.js and npm on your computer if you don’t have them already. Yo Teams is built on top of Yeoman, a scaffolding tool for web development projects that runs on Node.js.

2. Install Yo Teams globally by running the following command in your terminal:

npm install -g yo @microsoft/generator-teams

This will install Yo Teams and its dependencies on your system.

3. Create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in your terminal.

4. Run the Yo Teams generator by typing the following command:

yo teams

This will launch the Yo Teams wizard, which will guide you through the process of creating a new Teams project.

5. Select the “Bot” option from the wizard menu. This will create a new bot project template with all the necessary files and configurations.

6. Follow the prompts to enter your bot’s display name, description, and other details.

7. Choose the language you want to use for your bot. Yo Teams supports several popular programming languages, including TypeScript, JavaScript, and C#.

8. Choose the messaging extension option if you want to create a bot that can be used as a messaging extension within Teams. This allows users to interact with your bot in the context of a chat conversation.

9. Choose the authentication option that best suits your needs. Yo Teams supports several authentication providers, including Azure Active Directory and Bot Framework Authentication.

10. Once you have completed the prompts, Yo Teams will generate a new bot project for you with all the necessary files and configurations.

11. Open the project in your preferred code editor and navigate to the “bot.ts” file. This is where you will write the code for your bot.

12. Write your bot’s logic using the Bot Framework SDK. The Bot Framework SDK provides a set of libraries and tools for building bots that can interact with users through text messages, voice commands, and other channels.

13. Test your bot locally by running the following command in your terminal:

npm start

This will start your bot on your local machine, allowing you to test its functionality in a Teams conversation.

14. Once you are satisfied with your bot’s functionality, deploy it to the Teams platform using the following command:

npm run build

This will build your bot project and create a package that can be uploaded to the Teams App Store.

15. Upload your bot package to the Teams App Store and make it available to your users. That’s it! With these steps, you should now have a fully functional chatbot that can interact with users in Teams.

The conclusion

As you can see it got me a pretty solid tutorial even on the first attempt for a tool which is not that famous as others might be. The only real error I could detect was line number 8 where it should speak about the bot part as we are building a bot and not a messaging extension. But I think it is a pretty good result for a first attempt. I think it can be used to write tutorials and it can be used to write code. I think it is a good tool to have in your toolbox. I will definitely use it in the future.