directline-chat

An older, retired way of messaging a live chatbot, kept around for people who already hold the connection key and would rather not go looking for it again.

WHEN TO USE

SCOPE

USE FOR

Message a bot using a connection key somebody has already handed you.
Resume a conversation, which needs the same token it was opened with.

NOT FOR

Not the default entry point — redirect to chat-with-agent unless you already hold DirectLine credentials.

This is a saved copy of the skill's SKILL.md instructions. It may differ from the upstream file or the version you install.

In this document (6)

DirectLine Chat (Deprecated)

This skill has been merged into /copilot-studio:chat-with-agent, which now auto-detects the agent's authentication mode and uses DirectLine automatically for no-auth and manual-auth agents.

Use /copilot-studio:chat-with-agent instead. It handles both DirectLine and Copilot Studio SDK modes in a single skill.

If you are here because the caller explicitly provided a DirectLine secret or token endpoint URL, you may proceed with the instructions below. Otherwise, redirect to /copilot-studio:chat-with-agent.

Direct Usage (when caller provides explicit DirectLine credentials)

Token endpoint mode

node ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/directline-chat.bundle.js \
  --token-endpoint "<url>" "<utterance>"

DirectLine secret mode

node ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/directline-chat.bundle.js \
  --directline-secret "<secret>" "<utterance>"

Multi-turn

node ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/directline-chat.bundle.js \
  --token-endpoint "<url>" "<follow-up>" \
  --conversation-id <id> --directline-token "<token>"

Always pass --directline-token when resuming. DirectLine tokens are bound to the conversation. They expire after ~30 min.

Output format

Same as /copilot-studio:chat-with-agent Phase 1a — see that skill for full documentation of JSON output, sign-in flow, and error handling.

Account or credentials required

1 FOR YOU

01
Get a DirectLine secret or token endpoint
Obtain a Direct Line secret or token-endpoint URL for the target Copilot Studio agent (from the agent's Channels settings) — this deprecated skill only runs when the caller supplies one explicitly.

This skill ships inside the Copilot Studio YAML Toolkit plugin. Listed package contents include 4 agents and hooks. Installed components and skill versions may vary by AI tool.

Install the whole plugin

This route installs the Copilot Studio YAML Toolkit plugin package selected for your AI tool.

Add Microsoft's marketplace, then install the plugin

Type both lines inside a Claude Code session, not at your shell prompt. They add Microsoft's marketplace, which is this repository, and the copilot-studio plugin, with its Copilot Studio skills and four sub-agents.

Install checklist

Microsoft lists Node.js 18 or later, and VS Code with the Copilot Studio extension for cloning, pushing and pulling agents.

01

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/skills-for-copilot-studio

02

/plugin install copilot-studio@skills-for-copilot-studio

Installation and loading

Claude Code installs it once you pick an install option.

Good to know

A hook that runs whenever a session starts adds Microsoft's Copilot Studio instructions; one tells Claude to lean towards reading your requests as Copilot Studio requests unless there are clear signs otherwise.
The option that installs it for you in every project brings the hook's instructions into every project; to keep them to one Copilot Studio repository, pick the option for this repo only.
On first run, and after an update that changes its dependencies, the session-start hook runs npm install in the plugin's data folder; every session it also writes ~/.copilot-studio-cli/plugin-paths.json.

Add Microsoft's marketplace, then install the plugin

Type both lines in an interactive GitHub Copilot CLI session, not at your shell prompt. The first adds Microsoft's marketplace, which is this repository; the second installs the copilot-studio plugin.

Install checklist

Microsoft lists Node.js 18 or later, and VS Code with the Copilot Studio extension for cloning, pushing and pulling agents.

01

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/skills-for-copilot-studio

02

/plugin install copilot-studio@skills-for-copilot-studio

Good to know

The plugin also carries a hooks/hooks.json file with SessionStart hooks, a path GitHub's plugin reference lists as a hooks file for plugins in this format; read the file in the repository before you install.

Open plugin page ↗

Install without the plugin (incomplete)

What's missing

Installing just this skill adds only its own folder. Its instructions also call for other plugin components, such as shared scripts, reference files or other skills, which aren't included. Installing the whole plugin avoids this gap.

Run this outside your AI tool, using Node.js 22.20.0 or newer. Skills CLI 1.7.2 skips skill selection; prompts cancel installation without an interactive terminal. If choosing Project when asked about installation scope, open your project's folder before running this.

Install checklist

Check selected tools if a picker appears; Claude Code may be unchecked under Additional agents. ↑/↓ moves, Space toggles selections, Enter confirms.
Without a tool picker, check Installing to: for your intended tool. Stop if it names a different tool.
If asked, choose Symlink (Recommended) for shared files or Copy to all agents for separate copies; review the summary before confirming installation.
Install the find-skills skill? defaults to Yes, adding another skill for all projects. Choose No if you don't want that extra installation.

Skills CLI 1.7.2 sends install data to skills.sh by default, including the source, skill names, target tools and file details; GitHub sources are reported only when GitHub confirms the repository is public, while other remote sources can also be reported. Confirmed-public GitHub sources also trigger a security-audit request. Before installing, set the environment variable DO_NOT_TRACK=1 or DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 to disable both.

npx skills add microsoft/skills-for-copilot-studio --skill "directline-chat" --full-depth

After installing for Claude Code, open it in the installation project if you chose Project; Global makes the skill available across projects on this computer. Once Claude Code loads the skill, its description helps Claude decide when to use it.

If installation created a top-level skills folder that did not exist when your Claude Code session started, run /reload-skills in that session. Run it again after later changes in that folder.

View on GitHub

The repository is licensed under MIT — use, modification, and redistribution are allowed under that license’s terms.

View the repository’s license file on GitHub →

DirectLine Chat (Deprecated)

Direct Usage (when caller provides explicit DirectLine credentials)

Token endpoint mode

DirectLine secret mode

Multi-turn

Output format

Account or credentials required

Install the whole plugin

Add Microsoft's marketplace, then install the plugin

Add Microsoft's marketplace, then install the plugin

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