Overview

Zapp.ie is an innovative solution that seamlessly integrates into Microsoft Teams and leverages Microsoft Copilot to create a dynamic, value-driven ecosystem of collaboration. Through a combination of AI automation and Bitcoin micro-transactions, Zapp.ie enables users, copilots (AI agents), and even customers to engage in meaningful interactions that drive success.

With Zapp.ie, users, copilots, and customers can:

• Send and receive Bitcoin-based rewards (Sats) as a token of appreciation for helping reach goals—whether from teammate to teammate, teammate to copilot, teammate to customer, or even copilot to copilot.
• Reinforce positive behaviors and effective workflows through microtransactions based on real value, enhancing both AI copilots’ learning and motivating teammates and customers to adopt the right ways of working.
• Enable both teammates and copilots to fund their own development by earning and utilizing rewards to further their personal and professional growth.

Zapp.ie transforms traditional incentives into a powerful, value-for-value system where AI copilots, human teammates, and customers work together, driving continuous improvement and engagement in a transparent, rewarding manner.

Design

The vision of the solution (many elements still in draft) can be seen here:

The designs can be previewed in Figma

Getting Started with Zapp.ie

Zapp.ie integrates directly with Microsoft Teams to enhance collaboration and recognition through Bitcoin micro-transactions and AI-powered automation. Here’s how you can get started and use Zapp.ie effectively with your team:

Prerequisite to starting development

• Node.js, supported versions: 18
• A Microsoft 365 tenant in which you have permission to upload Teams apps (where other developers have not been deploying the same bot with a matching ID). You may be able to get a free Microsoft 365 developer tenant by joining the Microsoft 365 developer program. However, it seems recently Microsoft have removed this offering other than to users who have a Visual Studio Enterprise subscription, (see Creating a Free Microsoft 365 Dev Tenant is Not Possible) and now advise creating a "single-license development tenant" (see steps in Wiki > Setup > Microsoft development tenant).
• Teams Toolkit Visual Studio Code Extension version 5.0.0 and higher or TeamsFx CLI. You should be prompted to install this when you open the solution in VS Code.
• LNbits version 0.12 or higher. NB For development you can use the developer instance specified in .env.dev, or create your own instance, as specified in Wiki > Setup > LNbits.

Note: If you are using node 20, you can add following snippet in package.json to remove the warning of incompatibility. (Related discussion: microsoft/botbuilder-js#4550)

"overrides": {
  "@azure/msal-node": "^2.6.0"
}

Running Zapp.ie bot

Run the app locally

• From VS Code:
  1. hit F5 to start debugging. Alternatively open the Run and Debug Activity Panel and select Debug in Teams (Edge) or Debug in Teams (Chrome).
• Or, from TeamsFx CLI:
  1. Install dev tunnel cli.
  2. Login with your M365 Account using the command devtunnel user login.
  3. Start your local tunnel service by running the command devtunnel host -p 3978 --protocol http --allow-anonymous.
  4. In the env/.env.local file, fill in the values for BOT_DOMAIN and BOT_ENDPOINT with your dev tunnel URL.

     BOT_DOMAIN=sample-id-3978.devtunnels.ms
     BOT_ENDPOINT=https://sample-id-3978.devtunnels.ms
     

  5. Run command: teamsapp provision --env local .
  6. Run command: teamsapp deploy --env local .
  7. Run command: teamsapp preview --env local .

Deploy the app to Azure

• From VS Code:
  1. Sign into Azure by clicking the Sign in to Azure under the ACCOUNTS section from sidebar.
  2. Click Provision from LIFECYCLE section or open the command palette and select: Teams: Provision.
  3. Click Deploy or open the command palette and select: Teams: Deploy.
• Or, from TeamsFx CLI:
  1. Run command: teamsapp auth login azure.
  2. Run command: teamsapp provision --env dev.
  3. Run command: teamsapp deploy --env dev.

Preview the app in Teams

• From VS Code:
  1. Open the Run and Debug Activity Panel. Select Launch Remote (Edge) or Launch Remote (Chrome) from the launch configuration drop-down.
• Or, from TeamsFx CLI:
  1. Run command: teamsapp preview --env dev.

Running Zapp.ie Web App (The Tabs in the bot)

1. Navigate to tabs folder using cd tabs
2. Install the packages using npm install
3. Run the application using npm start

Get in touch

Have fun, and tag us on Twitter / Nostr!