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Get context for your tab

  • Article

Your tab requires contextual information to display relevant content:

  • Basic information about the user, team, or company.
  • Locale and theme information.
  • The page.id and page.subPageId that identify what is in this tab (known as entityId and subEntityId before TeamsJS v2.0.0).

User context

Context about the user, team, or company can be especially useful when:

  • You create or associate resources in your app with the specified user or team.
  • You initiate an authentication flow from Microsoft Entra ID or other identity provider, and you don't require the user to enter their username again.

For more information, see authenticate a user in your Microsoft Teams.

Important

Although this user information can help provide a smooth user experience, you must not use it as proof of identity. For example, an attacker can load your page in a browser and render harmful information or requests.

Access context information

You can access context information in two ways:

Get context by inserting URL placeholder values

Use placeholders in your configuration or content URLs. Microsoft Teams replaces the placeholders with the relevant values when determining the actual configuration or content URL. The available placeholders include all fields on the context object. Common placeholders include the following properties:

  • {page.id}: The developer-defined unique ID for the page defined when first configuring the page. (Known as {entityId} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).
  • {page.subPageId}: The developer-defined unique ID for the subpage this content points defined when generating a deep link for a specific item within the page. (Known as {subEntityId} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).
  • {user.loginHint}: A value suitable as a sign in hint for Microsoft Entra ID. This is usually the sign in name of the current user in their home tenant. (Known as {loginHint} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).
  • {user.userPrincipalName}: The User Principal Name of the current user in the current tenant. (Known as {userPrincipalName} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).
  • {user.id}: The Microsoft Entra object ID of the current user in the current tenant. (Known as {userObjectId} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).
  • {app.theme}: The current user interface (UI) theme such as default, dark, or contrast. (Known as {theme} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).
  • {team.groupId}: The ID of the Microsoft 365 group in which the tab resides. (Known as {groupId} before TeamsJS v2.0.0)
  • {user.tenant.id}: The Microsoft Entra tenant ID of the current user. (Known as {tid} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).
  • {app.locale}: The current locale of the user formatted as languageId-countryId, for example en-us. (Known as {locale} before TeamsJS v2.0.0).

Note

  • The previous {upn} placeholder is now deprecated. For backward compatibility, it's a synonym for {user.loginHint}.
  • Mobile (Android and iOS) versions of Microsoft Teams support only TeamsJS v1.x.x placeholders.

For example, in your app manifest if you set your tab configurationUrl attribute to "https://www.contoso.com/config?name={user.loginHint}&tenant={user.tenant.id}&group={team.groupId}&theme={app.theme}" and the signed-in user has the following attributes:

  • Their username is [email protected].
  • Their company tenant ID is e2653c-etc.
  • They're a member of the Microsoft 365 group with ID 00209384-etc.
  • The user has set their Teams theme to dark.

Teams calls the following URL when configuring the tab:

https://www.contoso.com/[email protected]&tenant=e2653c-etc&group=00209384-etc&theme=dark

Get context by using the Microsoft Teams JavaScript library

You can also retrieve the context information using the Microsoft Teams JavaScript client library.

The information can be retrieved by calling microsoftTeams.app.getContext().then((context) => {/*...*/});.

The following code provides an example of context variable:

{
 "app": {
   "host": {
     "clientType": "The type of host client. Possible values are android, ios, web, desktop, surfaceHub, teamsRoomsAndroid, teamsPhones, teamsDisplays rigel (deprecated, use teamsRoomsWindows instead)",
     "name": "",
     "ringId": "The current ring ID",
     "sessionId": "The unique ID for the current Teams session for use in correlating telemetry data"    },
   "iconPositionVertical": "",
   "locale": "The current locale of the user formatted as languageId-countryId (for example, en-us)",
   "osLocaleInfo": "",
   "parentMessageId": "The parent message ID from which this dialog is launched",
   "sessionId": "The unique ID for the current session used for correlating telemetry data",
   "theme": "The current UI theme: default | dark | contrast",
   "userClickTime": "",
   "userFileOpenPreference": ""  },
 "channel": {
   "defaultOneNoteSectionId": "The OneNote section ID that is linked to the channel",
   "displayName": "The name of the current channel",
   "id": "The channel ID in the format 19:[id]@thread.skype",
   "membershipType": "",
   "ownerGroupId": "",
   "ownerTenantId": "",
   "relativeUrl": "The relative path to the SharePoint folder associated with the channel"  },
 "chat": { "id": "The chat ID in the format 19:[id]@thread.skype" },
 "meeting": {
   "id": "The meeting ID used by tab when running in meeting context"  },
 "page": {
   "frameContext": "The context where tab URL is loaded (for example, content, task, setting, remove, sidePanel)",
   "id": "The developer-defined unique ID for the entity this content points to",
   "isFullScreen": "Indicates if the tab is in full-screen",
   "isMultiWindow": "The indication whether the tab is in a pop out window",
   "sourceOrigin": "",
   "subPageId": "The developer-defined unique ID for the sub-entity this content points to"  },
 "sharepoint": "The SharePoint context is available only when hosted in SharePoint",
 "sharepointSite": {
   "domain": "The domain of the root SharePoint site associated with the team",
   "path": "The relative path to the SharePoint site associated with the team",
   "url": "The root SharePoint site associated with the team"  },
 "team": {
   "displayName": "The name of the current team",
   "groupId": "Guid identifying the current Office 365 Group ID",
   "internalId": "The Microsoft Teams ID in the format 19:[id]@thread.skype",
   "isArchived": "Indicates if team is archived",
   "templateId": "",
   "type": "The type of team",
   "userRole": "The user's role in the team"  },
 "user": {
   "displayName": "",
   "id": "The Azure AD object id of the current user, in the current tenant",
   "isCallingAllowed": "Indicates if calling is allowed for the current logged in user",
   "isPSTNCallingAllowed": "Indicates if PSTN calling is allowed for the current logged in user",
   "licenseType": "The license type for the current user. Possible values are E1, E3, and E5 enterprise plans",
   "loginHint": "A value suitable as a login hint for Azure AD. This is usually the login name of the current user, in their home tenant",
   "tenant": {
     "id": "The Azure AD tenant ID of the current user",
     "teamsSku": "The license type for the current user tenant. Possible values are enterprise, free, edu, unknown"    },
   "userPrincipalName": "The principal name of the current user, in the current tenant"  }
}

TypeScript

import { app, Context } from "@microsoft/teams-js";

app.getContext().then((context: Context) => {
    /*...*/
});

Equivalent async/await pattern:

import { app, Context } from "@microsoft/teams-js";

async function example() {
  const context: Context = await app.getContext();
  /*...*/
}

JavaScript

import { app, Context } from "@microsoft/teams-js";

app.getContext().then((context) => {
    /*...*/
});

Equivalent async/await pattern:

import { app, Context } from "@microsoft/teams-js";

async function example() {
  const context = await app.getContext();
  /*...*/
}

The following table lists commonly used context properties of the context object:

TeamsJS v2 name TeamsJS v1 name
team.internalId teamId
team.displayName teamName
channel.id channelId
channel.displayName channelName
chat.id chatId
app.locale locale
page.id entityId
page.subPageId subEntityId
user.loginHint loginHint
user.userPrincipalName upn
user.id userObjectId
user.tenant.id tid
team.groupId groupId
app.theme theme
page.isFullScreen isFullScreen
team.type teamType
sharepointSite.teamSiteUrl teamSiteUrl
sharepointSite.teamSiteDomain teamSiteDomain
sharepointSite.teamSitePath teamSitePath
channel.relativeUrl channelRelativeUrl
app.host.sessionId sessionId
team.userRole userTeamRole
team.isArchived isTeamArchived
app.host.clientType hostClientType
page.frameContext frameContext
sharepoint sharepoint
user.tenant.teamsSku tenantSKU
user.licenseType userLicenseType
app.parentMessageId parentMessageId
app.host.ringId ringId
app.sessionId appSessionId
user.isCallingAllowed isCallingAllowed
user.isPSTNCallingAllowed isPSTNCallingAllowed
meeting.id meetingId
channel.defaultOneNoteSectionId defaultOneNoteSectionId
page.isMultiWindow isMultiWindow

For more information, see Updates to the Context interface and the Context interface API reference.

Retrieve context in private channels

Note

Private channels are in private developer preview only.

When your content page is loaded in a private channel, the data you receive from the getContext call is obfuscated to protect the privacy of the channel.

The following fields are changed when your content page is in a private channel:

  • team.groupId: Undefined for private channels
  • team.internalId: Set to the threadId of the private channel
  • team.displayName: Set to the name of the private channel
  • sharepointSite.url: Set to the URL of a distinct, unique SharePoint site for the private channel
  • sharepointSite.path: Set to the path of a distinct, unique SharePoint site for the private channel
  • sharepointSite.domain: Set to the domain of a distinct, unique SharePoint site domain for the private channel
  • channel.ownerGroupId: Set to the host team groupId of the private channel

If your page makes use of any of these values, the value of channel.membershipType field must be Private to determine if your page is loaded in a private channel and can respond appropriately.

Note

teamSiteUrl also works well for standard channels. If your page makes use of any of these values, the value of channelType field must be Shared to determine if your page is loaded in a shared channel and can respond appropriately.

Get context in shared channels

When the content UX is loaded in a shared channel, use the data received from getContext call for shared channel changes. If tab makes use of any of the following values, you must populate the channelType field to determine if the tab is loaded in a shared channel, and respond appropriately. For shared channels, the groupId value is null, since the host team's groupId doesn't accurately reflect the true membership of the shared channel. To address this, the hostTeamGroupID and hostTenantID properties are newly added and useful for making Microsoft Graph API calls to retrieve membership. hostTeam refers to the Team that created the shared channel. currentTeam refers to Team that the current user is accessing the shared channel from.

For more information about these concepts and shared channels, see shared channels.

Use the following getContext properties in shared channels:

Property Description
channelId The property is set to the shared channels thread ID.
channelType The property is set to sharedChannel for shared channels.
groupId The property is null for shared channels.
hostTenantId The property is newly added and describes the host's tenant ID, useful for comparing against the current user's tid tenant ID property.
hostTeamGroupId The property is newly added and describes the host team’s Microsoft Entra group ID, useful for making Microsoft Graph API calls to retrieve shared channel membership.
teamId The property is newly added and set to the thread ID of the current shared team.
teamName The property is set to current shared team's teamName.
teamType The property is set to current shared team's teamType.
teamSiteUrl The property describes the shared channel's channelSiteUrl.
teamSitePath The property describes the shared channel's channelSitePath.
teamSiteDomain The property describes the shared channel's channelSiteDomain.
tenantSKU The property describes the host team’s tenantSKU.
tid The property describes the current user’s tenant ID.
userObjectId The property describes current user’s ID.
userPrincipalName The property describes the current user’s UPN.

For more information on shared channels, see shared channels.

Handle theme change

Important

  • By default, the new Teams client supports light theme for apps in Teams meetings. When the app.theme property in getContext API returns the default value, Teams client is in light theme.
  • Earlier version of Teams clients only support Dark and Contrast theme for apps in Teams meetings.

You can register your app to be informed if the theme changes by calling microsoftTeams.app.registerOnThemeChangeHandler(function(theme) { /* ... */ }).

The theme argument in the function is a string with a value of default, dark, or contrast.

The following image shows the default theme option in the Teams:

Screenshot shows the default theme in Teams desktop client.

Code sample

Sample name Description JavaScript
Tab channel context This sample shows how to use the contents of tab context object in a private and shared channel. View

See also