M365 Declarative agent issue - Hyperlink markdown displays as plain text for specific field.

[hk4git]

We have Hyperlinks for various configured entities forming proper hyperlinks (e.g., [ENTITY] (LINK)). This functionality works well for most of the ENTITY/FIELD except for "PorjectId".

For the "ProjectId" entity, M365 fails to render the hyperlink correctly and displays only the link (e.g., (LINK)), as shown below. Interestingly, the M365 agent displays the link correctly in the debug information of the plugin, but it somehow fails to render the hyperlink properly for the "ProjectId" column/field specifically.

Here Project Name filed is showing proper hyperlink but Project Id filed is showing raw hyperlink inseatd it should also display proper hyperlink since markdown text for both is same.

Sample json response data: update with sample test data.

{"markDownResult":"**Top 3 Active Projects**\n\n- **Project ID**: [12345](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=12345)\n - **Project Name**: [MFE-](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=12345)\n - **State**: Active\n\n- **Project ID**: [56789](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=56789)\n - **Project Name**: [FY20-MCS](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=56789)\n - **State**: Active\n\n- **Project ID**: [28914](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=28914)\n - **Project Name**: [FY20_SVS](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=28914)\n - **State**: Active"}

We tried numerous iterations with various instructions; however, the M365 Agent is still unable to render hyperlinks correctly in the 'Project Id' field/column.

Below one of the sample instructions, tried (Included instruction only with respect to hyperlink rendering - for brevity) :

• Ensure that all hyperlinks present in the plugin response—regardless of their location (including within fields, columns, IDs, or any other part of the data)—are preserved exactly as provided and rendered as user-friendly, clickable links in the output. Never display hyperlinks in raw or unformatted form.
• Always format ProjectId links using Markdown, displaying the ProjectId as the link text and the corresponding URL as the target. For example: 12345.

[m365-agent-toolkit-assistant]

👋 Hi @hk4git,

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🤖 AI-Generated Preliminary Analysis:

Issue Summary: Hyperlink Markdown displays as plain text for "ProjectId" field

Problem Description:

• Markdown links are not rendering hyperlinks properly in the "ProjectId" field within the M365 Declarative agent.
• The agent displays raw links (e.g., (LINK)) instead of formatted hyperlinks [title](link) for "ProjectId".
• Example JSON data used in attempts does not seem to solve the issue.

Technical Details:

• The issue is specific to the "ProjectId" column/field, while other fields render hyperlinks correctly.

Requested Context:

1. Development Environment: Specify if you are using VS Code, Visual Studio, or CLI.
2. Teams Toolkit Version: Check and share the version you are using.
3. Reproduction Steps: Provide detailed steps to reproduce the issue.
4. Error Logs: Share any error logs or console outputs, if available.

Possible Workarounds:

1. Verify Markdown Syntax: Ensure that both the Project Name and Project Id markdown syntax are correctly specified and consistent.
2. Check for Formatting Conflicts: Confirms there are no conflicts in the markdown formatting or any additional characters causing the issue.
3. Use Text Block Elements: Use TextBlock elements to render the hyperlinks if using Adaptive Cards within the agent.

Reference Issues:

• Similar markdown rendering issues in Microsoft Teams or other elements suggesting limitations in rendering specific markdown links.

Next Steps:

1. Provide the requested context to further diagnose the issue.
2. Review the workaround steps to verify if any resolve the rendering problem.
3. Report the issue through Microsoft Support if the problem persists.

Additional Resources:

• Markdown in Adaptive Cards
• Known Markdown Parsing Issues in Teams

✨We'd love your feedback! Please take a moment to fill out our survey.

---

Note: This is an automated first response generated by AI. A human team member will review your issue and provide a more detailed response soon. We appreciate your patience!

[keshavk-msft]

Thank you for raising your issue. We will check this and will get back to you shortly.

[keshavk-msft]

Hi @hk4git,
Thanks for sharing the issue. The Markdown format looks correct, and it's clear that hyperlinks render properly for Project Name but not for Project ID, even though both use the same syntax.

To help troubleshoot, could you confirm:

• Have all relevant knowledge sources been configured?
• Is web search enabled, and does it affect output?
• Are there any field-specific rules or formatting overrides for ProjectId?
• Is this behavior consistent across all M365 surfaces (e.g., Teams, Outlook)?
• Are you using Adaptive Cards or any custom rendering layer?

Possible causes:

• M365 might treat numeric-only links (like [12345](url)) differently.
• Internal filtering may handle "ID" fields with special logic.
• A rendering bug or post-processing step may strip the Markdown.

[SLdragon]

Hi, @hk4git , how to render response content is automatically controlled by copilot itself, and we can only use instruction to make it work and it is not very stable.

From your scenario, seems it is better to use adaptive card to render your result, and adaptive card is natively support markdown.

Below is an example adaptive card for your data:

{
    "type": "AdaptiveCard",
    "$schema": "https://adaptivecards.io/schemas/adaptive-card.json",
    "version": "1.5",
    "body": [
        {
            "type": "TextBlock",
            "text": "**Top 3 Active Projects**\n\n- **Project ID**: [12345](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=12345)\n  - **Project Name**: [MFE-](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=12345)\n  - **State**: Active\n\n- **Project ID**: [56789](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=56789)\n  - **Project Name**: [FY20-MCS](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=56789)\n  - **State**: Active\n\n- **Project ID**: [28914](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=28914)\n  - **Project Name**: [FY20_SVS](https://test.com/ProjectDetail?ProjectId=28914)\n  - **State**: Active",
            "wrap": true
        }
    ]
}

If you're using TTK, you can refer it from ai-plugin.json file as below:

    "functions": [
        {
            "name": "yourAPI",
            "description": "Returns markdown.",
            "capabilities": {
                "response_semantics": {
                    "data_path": "$",
                    "static_template": {
                        "file": "./adaptiveCards/your_card.json"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    ],

Based on your response, adaptive card your_card.json should be as below:

{
    "type": "AdaptiveCard",
    "$schema": "https://adaptivecards.io/schemas/adaptive-card.json",
    "version": "1.5",
    "body": [
        {
            "type": "TextBlock",
            "text": "${markDownResult}",
            "wrap": true
        }
    ]
}

[hk4git]

Thank you for your suggestion for using adaptive card as solution which might work as you have shown if we have only markdown responses.
But we have responses in different formats & types like -

• simple markdown (as mentioned in question here)
• tabular data
• chart data

& currently we have instructed M365 declarative agent to show response based on types (e.g. if response type is chart then use CodeInterpreter capabilities to render chart etc., It also loads tabular data properly from markdown) formats so that it can render based on response types/format which renders well, but for rendering hyperlinks for ‘ProjectId’ in markdown response format is failing to render properly.

Now, with adaptive card would it be able to support these different types of format rendering including tabular/chart?
Or would it support conditional usage of adaptive card based on response type? E.g. if response type is xyz then use adaptive card else render without adaptive card automatically etc.

[SLdragon]

Here is the adaptive card designer with all available elements for reference:
https://adaptivecards.microsoft.com/designer

would it support conditional usage of adaptive card based on response type

This is not supported in current Declarative agent

AFIK, Adaptive Cards support tables and charts. You may need to adjust your response JSON structure to ensure it renders correctly in Adaptive Cards.

[hk4git]

Thank you. It appears there is support for different response types in rendering Adaptive cards. Before I explore further, please clarify the following, is it possible to achieve this without using an Adaptive Card? -

• Image rendering/display support: Can the M365 Declarative agent display an image directly from an API response? Specifically, if we include an image, will the M365 Declarative agent render it correctly?
• Generating chart/graph support: Can the M365 Declarative agent create charts or graphs from API response data? For example, if we provide data in a specific format, will the M365 Declarative agent generate a chart or graph, possibly using CodeInterpreter capabilities?

[SLdragon]

It can show images and simple tables, however, for complicated chart, it is not supported directly without adaptive cards

[hk4git]

Hi @SLdragon, I am trying out for Adaptive card for response rendering, but M365 declarative agent is showing both normal text and Adaptive card as part of response (PFB screenshot),

Can we not just process to have only Adaptive card as response (without text before card) ?
Also based on different responseTypes can we render different Adaptive Cards ? Is there any option to show conditional Adaptive Cards. E.g. If reponse type is chart then show chart-adaptive-card, if response type is markdown then show markdown-adaptive-card etc.

I aware that there is option to conditionally show fields within Adaptive card, E.g. "text": "Name: ${if(name, name, 'N/A')}" And
Dynamic response templates but for which API must reponse data items in the response indicate which template to use along with templates.

Beacuse sometimes it shows image bases64 as response, PFB screenshots:

It sometimes show as : Displaying a raw base64 image as a response, alongside an Adaptive Card, does not appear appropriate for this context.

[SLdragon]

Can we not just process to have only Adaptive card as response (without text before card) ?

There is no configuration to only show adaptive card in declarative agent currently

I aware that there is option to conditionally show fields within Adaptive card, E.g. "text": "Name: ${if(name, name, 'N/A')}" And
Dynamic response templates but for which API must reponse data items in the response indicate which template to use along with templates.

Yes, you're right, adaptive card has ability to show items dynamically, however, you show add property in response to control it

It sometimes show as : Displaying a raw base64 image as a response, alongside an Adaptive Card, does not appear appropriate for this context.

This is rendering issue, likely related to the backend response message format, I will talk with you and add you to a channel for this issue