Adding cea-techPulse-csharp sample by AjayJ12-MSFT · Pull Request #125 · pnp/copilot-pro-dev-samples

AjayJ12-MSFT · 2026-04-02T10:07:14Z

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Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR introduces a new TechPulse (C#) sample that demonstrates a Microsoft 365 Agents SDK + Semantic Kernel agent that retrieves real-time tech news via a local MCP server (NewsAPI-backed), along with Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit project/configuration files to provision and run/debug it.

Changes:

Adds a C# agent app (bot) that uses Semantic Kernel function-calling to invoke tech-news tools.
Adds a C# MCP server (stdio) that implements NewsAPI-backed tools (latest news, search, trending, company news).
Adds Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit provisioning/deployment assets (manifest, YAML, bicep, env templates) plus sample metadata/docs.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 34 out of 37 changed files in this pull request and generated 23 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/README.md	Sample documentation and quickstart instructions.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/assets/sample.json	Sample catalog metadata (name/urls/dates/thumbnails).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/m365agents.yml	Cloud provision + deploy workflow for the agent app.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/m365agents.local.yml	Local provision workflow (Entra app, bot reg, config generation).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/M365Agent.atkproj	Agents Toolkit project definition.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/M365Agent.atkproj.user	Local VS debug profile selection (user-specific).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/launchSettings.json	Launch profiles for Agents Toolkit (Playground/Teams/Copilot).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/appPackage/manifest.json	Teams app manifest defining the custom engine agent bot.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/appPackage/color.png	Teams app icon (color).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/appPackage/outline.png	Teams app icon (outline).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/env/.env.local	Local env placeholders generated/used by provisioning.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/env/.env.local.user	Local secret placeholders for dev-time secrets.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/env/.env.dev	Dev environment placeholders for Azure provisioning/deploy.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/env/.env.dev.user	Dev secret placeholders.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/infra/azure.bicep	Azure infra to host the bot (App Service, MSI, bot registration).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/infra/azure.parameters.json	ARM parameters (resource base, SKU, OpenAI key, display name).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/infra/botRegistration/azurebot.bicep	Module to create an Azure Bot Service registration.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/infra/botRegistration/readme.md	Notes for bot registration module usage.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp.csproj	Main bot web app project (deps + publish behavior).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp.csproj.user	Local VS debug profile selection (user-specific).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/Program.cs	ASP.NET Core host setup + agent/bot registration + SK setup.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/Config.cs	Configuration option models for OpenAI + NewsAPI.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/AspNetExtensions.cs	JWT bearer token validation/auth helper for bot endpoints.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/Bot/TechNewsBot.cs	Bot/agent logic: chat loop + SK tool calling + streaming response.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/Bot/Plugins/TechNewsPlugin.cs	SK plugin exposing tech-news functions (MCP-backed).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/Services/TechNewsMcpService.cs	MCP client that spawns/connects to the MCP server via stdio.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/McpServer/TechNewsMcpServer.csproj	MCP server project definition (ModelContextProtocol server).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/McpServer/TechNewsMcpServer.csproj.user	Local VS debug profile selection (user-specific).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/McpServer/Program.cs	MCP server host bootstrap with stdio transport + tool discovery.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/McpServer/TechNewsTools.cs	MCP tools implementation calling NewsAPI and formatting results.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/appsettings.json	Base configuration (agent options, auth, AI keys placeholders).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/appsettings.Development.json	Dev overrides generated by local provision workflow.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/appsettings.Playground.json	Playground overrides (bot connection + AI keys placeholders).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp/Properties/launchSettings.json	ASP.NET Core launch profiles (Playground vs Development).
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp.slnx	Solution definition including bot + MCP server + toolkit project.
samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/cea-techPulse-csharp.slnLaunch.user	Multi-project launch configuration (user-specific).

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/M365Agent/env/.env.dev.user:5

This dev env template is missing a SECRET_NEWS_API_KEY entry, but the sample requires a NewsAPI key for tech news. Add it here (and wire it through provisioning/app settings) so dev deployments don’t fail at runtime when calling the news tools.

# This file includes environment variables that will not be committed to git by default. You can set these environment variables in your CI/CD system for your project.

# Secrets. Keys prefixed with `SECRET_` will be masked in Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit logs.
SECRET_OPENAI_API_KEY=

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:26Z

+
+TechPulse is an intelligent tech news companion that delivers the latest technology news, trends, and insights from trusted sources in the industry. Built with Microsoft 365 Agents SDK and Semantic Kernel, this agent provides real-time access to tech news across multiple categories including AI/ML, startups, cybersecurity, mobile technology, and gaming. The agent understands natural language queries and can search for specific topics, provide trending tech news, and deliver company-specific updates from major tech players like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and more.
+
+![Tech Pulse News](../assets/techPulse.gif)


The image reference points to ../assets/techPulse.gif, but this README lives in samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/ and the GIF is in samples/cea-techPulse-csharp/assets/techPulse.gif. As written, the image link is broken; update it to a path relative to this README (e.g., ./assets/techPulse.gif).

Suggested change

![Tech Pulse News](../assets/techPulse.gif)

![Tech Pulse News](./assets/techPulse.gif)

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:27Z

+We do not support samples, but this community is always willing to help, and we want to improve these samples. We use GitHub to track issues, which makes it easy for community members to volunteer their time and help resolve issues.
+
+You can try looking at [issues related to this sample](https://github.com/pnp/copilot-pro-dev-samples/issues?q=label%3A%22sample%3A%20cea-techpulse-csharp%22) to see if anybody else is having the same issues.
+


The issue-label and visitor-stats links use cea-techpulse-csharp (lowercase p) but the actual sample folder is cea-techPulse-csharp. These URLs will 404 on GitHub/raw paths unless the casing matches; update the links to the correct folder casing (or rename the folder to match the canonical sample id).

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:27Z

+      "name": "pnp-copilot-pro-dev-cea-techpulse-csharp",
+      "source": "pnp",
+      "title": "TechPulse - Custom Engine Agent for Real-Time Technology News (C#)",
+      "shortDescription": "An intelligent tech news companion powered by Microsoft 365 Agents SDK and Semantic Kernel",
+      "url": "https://github.com/pnp/copilot-pro-dev-samples/tree/main/samples/cea-techpulse-csharp",
+      "downloadUrl": "https://pnp.github.io/download-partial/?url=https://github.com/pnp/copilot-pro-dev-samples/tree/main/samples/cea-techpulse-csharp",
+      "longDescription": [


The url, downloadUrl, and thumbnail url all point at samples/cea-techpulse-csharp, but the folder committed is samples/cea-techPulse-csharp (different casing). This will break links (GitHub paths are case-sensitive); align the paths (or rename the folder) to a single canonical sample id.

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:27Z

+      },
+      "hotReloadProfile": "aspnetcore"
+    },
+  }
+}


Trailing comma after the last profile makes this launchSettings.json invalid JSON. Some tooling is strict about JSON here; remove the trailing comma to avoid launch/profile loading failures.

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:32Z

+  <!-- Exclude local settings from publish -->
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <Content Remove="appsettings.Development.json" />
+    <Content Include="appsettings.Development.json">
+      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
+      <CopyToPublishDirectory>None</CopyToPublishDirectory>
+    </Content>
+    <Content Remove="appsettings.Playground.json" />
+    <Content Include="appsettings.Playground.json">
+      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
+      <CopyToPublishDirectory>None</CopyToPublishDirectory>
+    </Content>
+  </ItemGroup>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <None Include="appsettings.Development.json" />
+  </ItemGroup>


appsettings.Development.json is included both as Content and again as None. This duplication can cause MSBuild warnings/errors about duplicate items. Keep a single item entry (typically the Content entry with the desired copy settings) and remove the redundant include.

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:32Z

+      args: publish --configuration Release --runtime win-x86 --self-contained
+        cea-techPulse-csharp.csproj


In YAML, splitting args: across multiple indented lines relies on YAML scalar continuation rules and can be easy to break. To avoid parsing differences across tools, consider using a single-line string or an explicit folded scalar (>), ensuring the final command is exactly publish ... --self-contained cea-techPulse-csharp.csproj.

Suggested change

args: publish --configuration Release --runtime win-x86 --self-contained

cea-techPulse-csharp.csproj

args: publish --configuration Release --runtime win-x86 --self-contained cea-techPulse-csharp.csproj

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:32Z

+### Debug agent in Microsoft 365 Agents Playground
+1. Ensure your API keys are filled in `appsettings.Playground.json`:
+    ```json
+    "OpenAI": {
+      "ApiKey": "<your-openai-api-key>"
+    },
+    "NewsApi": {
+      "ApiKey": "<your-newsapi-key>"
+    }
+    ```
+2. Set `Startup Item` as `Microsoft 365 Agents Playground (browser)`.
+3. Press F5, or select the Debug > Start Debugging menu in Visual Studio.
+4. In Microsoft 365 Agents Playground from the launched browser, try asking:
+   * "Latest AI news"
+   * "What's trending in tech?"
+   * "News about Microsoft"
+   * "Search for cybersecurity updates"
+
+### Debug agent in Teams Web Client
+1. Ensure your API keys are filled in `env/.env.local.user`:
+    ```
+    SECRET_OPENAI_API_KEY="<your-openai-api-key>"
+    SECRET_NEWS_API_KEY="<your-newsapi-key>"
+    ```
+2. In the debug dropdown menu, select Dev Tunnels > Create A Tunnel (set authentication type to Public) or select an existing public dev tunnel.


The paths in Quick Start don’t match the repo layout: the secrets file is under M365Agent/env/.env.local.user (not env/.env.local.user), and appsettings.Playground.json lives under cea-techPulse-csharp/appsettings.Playground.json. As written, new users will edit the wrong files; update these paths to be relative to the sample root.

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:32Z

+    public class ConfigOptions
+    {
+        public OpenAIConfigOptions OpenAI { get; set; }
+        public NewsApiConfigOptions NewsApi { get; set; }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Options for OpenAI
+    /// </summary>
+    public class OpenAIConfigOptions
+    {
+        public string ApiKey { get; set; }
+        public string DefaultModel = "gpt-4o";
+    }


These options types use non-nullable reference properties without initialization (OpenAI, NewsApi, ApiKey), which can produce nullability warnings and runtime NREs when config is missing. Also DefaultModel is a field, so configuration binding won’t populate it. Prefer required/init properties (or nullable properties) and make DefaultModel a property with a default value so binding/validation behaves predictably.

Copilot · 2026-04-13T10:38:33Z

+    "parameters": {
+      "resourceBaseName": {
+        "value": "bot${{RESOURCE_SUFFIX}}"
+      },
+      "openAIApiKey": {
+        "value": "${{SECRET_OPENAI_API_KEY}}"
+      },
+      "webAppSKU": {
+        "value": "B1"
+      },
+      "botDisplayName": {
+        "value": "cea-techPulse-csharp"
+      }
+    }


azure.bicep doesn’t currently parameterize/set the NewsAPI key; correspondingly this parameters file has no newsApiKey value. Add a secure newsApiKey parameter here and pass it through to the web app’s settings (or Key Vault) so deployments have the required configuration.

garrytrinder · 2026-04-13T10:51:03Z

@AjayJ12-MSFT thanks for your contribution, can you take a look at the review comments and mark the PR as ready for review when you resolved them, thanks.

Adding cea-techPulse-csharp sample

67f273f

garrytrinder requested a review from Copilot April 13, 2026 10:30

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of garrytrinder April 13, 2026 10:31 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 13, 2026

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garrytrinder marked this pull request as draft April 13, 2026 10:51

Fixing PR comments

5647fd8

AjayJ12-MSFT marked this pull request as ready for review April 14, 2026 11:10


		TechPulse is an intelligent tech news companion that delivers the latest technology news, trends, and insights from trusted sources in the industry. Built with Microsoft 365 Agents SDK and Semantic Kernel, this agent provides real-time access to tech news across multiple categories including AI/ML, startups, cybersecurity, mobile technology, and gaming. The agent understands natural language queries and can search for specific topics, provide trending tech news, and deliver company-specific updates from major tech players like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and more.

		![Tech Pulse News](../assets/techPulse.gif)

	![Tech Pulse News](../assets/techPulse.gif)
	![Tech Pulse News](./assets/techPulse.gif)

		We do not support samples, but this community is always willing to help, and we want to improve these samples. We use GitHub to track issues, which makes it easy for community members to volunteer their time and help resolve issues.

		You can try looking at [issues related to this sample](https://github.com/pnp/copilot-pro-dev-samples/issues?q=label%3A%22sample%3A%20cea-techpulse-csharp%22) to see if anybody else is having the same issues.

		args: publish --configuration Release --runtime win-x86 --self-contained
		cea-techPulse-csharp.csproj

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