Portrait in Microsoft Teams

The Portrait app for Microsoft Teams lets a linked Portrait user send Easel requests from a chat or channel mention. Responses can use supported sources available to that account and include citations where source and licence permit.

Each Teams conversation maps to a Portrait research session. Each person connects their own Portrait account, whose usage limits and data entitlements apply.

Install the app

Portrait is not listed in the public Teams store. Contact the team and we will send you the Portrait app package — a single .zip file.

Organization-managed installation. Ask your Teams administrator to upload the package and make Portrait available to the intended users.

1. In the Teams admin center, open Teams apps → Manage apps.
2. Select Upload new app or Actions → Upload new app, depending on the admin center layout, and upload the .zip package supplied by Portrait.
3. Check that Portrait is allowed and available to the intended users or groups. Uploading the package alone does not establish that a particular person can use it. See Microsoft's app availability controls.
4. In Teams, open Apps, find Portrait under Built for your org, and add it for personal use. Microsoft notes that a new organization-wide upload can take a few hours to appear. See Microsoft's custom app installation guidance.

Personal pilot, when policy permits. In Teams desktop or web, open Apps → Manage your apps → Upload an app → Upload a custom app and select the package. If upload is unavailable, use the administrator-managed path above. These controls are governed by your organization; installing a different Teams client does not override its policy. See Microsoft's custom app upload instructions.

For channel use, also add Portrait to the intended team through the app's Add to a team option. A personal installation does not add it to a team. Portrait supports one-to-one chats and standard team channels; private channels, shared channels, and group chats are not supported.

Connect your Portrait account

1. Open a one-to-one chat with Portrait and send Hello.
2. Select Connect Portrait in its reply.
3. Check that the connection page identifies your Teams user and organization. Select Continue to Portrait sign-in.
4. Sign in with the Portrait account you want to use for research. This is a separate sign-in from Teams; the Portrait and Microsoft accounts do not need to use the same email address.
5. Wait for the browser page to say Connected, then return to Teams and send your question again. The original message does not automatically run after linking. Portrait also attempts to send a confirmation in Teams; that message can fail independently of the connection.

Use your own connection link. A forwarded link connects the Teams identity shown on the page to the Portrait account you sign in with. If the identity is not yours, close the page and request a link from your own chat.

If the link expires, send another message to get a fresh one. If your connection is revoked, the next message prompts you to reconnect. To change the connected Portrait account, send sign out in your one-to-one chat, message Portrait again, and sign in with the intended account.

Ask in a chat

Send your question. Teams shows progress while Portrait works and then the resulting answer. Some one-to-one chats show the answer as it is written; channel answers appear after processing.

Follow-up questions in the same chat use that session's retained context. Send reset (or new) to end it and start fresh.

Send help any time for instructions and example questions. Two more commands round out the set:

• feedback followed by a note — "feedback the segment tables are great" — sends it straight to the Portrait team. Portrait echoes the note back so you can see what was recorded. Sending feedback on its own just asks for the note.
• sign out disconnects your Portrait account from Teams and attempts to close sessions started through this integration. Session closure can fail while disconnection succeeds. If work was active, check its state in Portrait; the sign-out confirmation does not establish that it stopped or that a reconnect will have fresh context. Message Portrait again whenever you want to come back. This command works in a chat only — in a channel Portrait points you to a direct message, because a Teams bot cannot reply to one person privately in a channel.

A leading slash is fine on any of them: /help behaves the same as help. The commands are listed in the app's command menu too, which your administrator refreshes by installing a newer version of the app.

Ask in a channel

Use a standard channel in a team where Portrait has been added. If your first mention asks you to connect, open the DM from Portrait. If that DM does not arrive, add Portrait for personal use and open a one-to-one chat to connect there.

In a channel you must @mention Portrait — "@Portrait How do consensus revenue estimates for AMD compare to guidance from the latest earnings call?" Portrait replies in a thread, and a reply in that thread without a mention does not start a turn.

The answer is posted in the channel thread and is visible under that channel's access rules. Use a one-to-one chat for work that should not be shared, and do not request account-entitled output in a channel whose participants should not receive it.

Include the required context in the message that mentions Portrait. A request such as "@Portrait summarize the above" does not provide enough context; paste the question and the material it depends on into the mention.

Mentions in the same thread still continue the same session. Portrait can use prior questions and responses retained in that session, so you can follow up with "and how does that compare to last quarter?" when the needed context remains available. It cannot see messages that were never addressed to it; include material facts when scope must be unambiguous.

The first person who starts a Portrait research session in a thread owns that session. This can be someone other than the person who posted the channel's original message. Once the session is bound, another person's research mention does not run; Portrait asks them to start their own thread or message it directly. Follow-up research uses the owner's connected Portrait account and retained session context. Use help or feedback only for their documented support actions.

Good to know

• Tables arrive as code blocks and headings as bold text. Teams cannot render markdown tables in a bot message, so tables are sent as preformatted text to keep the columns aligned. Wide tables read better in the Portrait app. Available source links open either the Portrait item or the originating website; display, linking, and access remain subject to the source and licence.
• Portrait cannot read files you share in Teams. Upload the file in My Library instead and Portrait can work from it there.
• Supported charts can arrive as images. Portrait posts up to 10 PNG charts after the answer, subject to a 1 MB per-chart and 4 MB combined limit. If Teams or the client declines an inline image, the answer keeps its Portrait link.
• A conversation can be open in one place at a time. If Portrait says the conversation is open in the Portrait app — or that you have active sessions on another surface — close one there and ask again.
• Removing the app removes that Teams integration; it is not confirmation that an Easel turn already running has been cancelled. Check the conversation in Portrait if work must stop, and verify its state before sending the request again. Reinstall and reconnect to use the integration again.

Verify the connection

1. Send a simple research question in a one-to-one chat, such as Summarize Apple's latest earnings release and include sources. This runs research and uses your Portrait allowance; help only checks that the app can reply.
2. Confirm that the answer arrives and open an available source link to check access to the expected material.
3. If you need channel access, send a new @Portrait question in a standard channel after adding Portrait to the team. This checks the team installation separately from your personal chat.

If Teams does not respond

Installation and sign-in

What you see	What to do
Upload a custom app is absent	Ask a Teams administrator to upload the Portrait package. Personal upload depends on organization policy.
Portrait is missing, blocked, or offers Request instead of Add	Confirm the Teams organization you are using. Ask the administrator to check the app's availability for your user or group, not just whether the package was uploaded. Allow time for a recent change to appear.
Teams rejects the .zip package	Give the exact error to your administrator and request a current package from Portrait. Do not unzip or modify the supplied package before uploading it.
A channel says a connection DM was sent, but none arrives	Add Portrait for personal use and send Hello in a one-to-one chat to get your connection link.
Link expired or Linking not completed	Send another message to Portrait and use the new link. Do not reuse a colleague's link or an old sign-in tab.
The browser says Connected, but Teams shows no confirmation	Send a question in your one-to-one chat. Delivery of the confirmation can fail even when linking succeeds.
Portrait prompts for reconnection or uses the wrong account	Connect through the fresh prompt. To switch accounts, send sign out in your one-to-one chat first, then reconnect with the intended Portrait account.

Questions and answers

• No reply in a channel: use a standard channel, confirm Portrait is added to its team, and select the actual @Portrait mention. Repeat the mention on follow-ups. Private channels, shared channels, and group chats are not supported.
• A thread belongs to another user: start a separate thread or a one-to-one chat. Each research thread uses the account of the person who started its Portrait conversation.
• Account not enabled: ask your Portrait administrator or Portrait support to check full Easel access. Teams app approval does not grant Portrait product access.
• Conversation open elsewhere or active sessions on other surfaces: close the relevant conversation in Portrait, Slack, or another Teams thread and retry. See Usage and limits for usage and concurrent-work limits.
• Temporarily unavailable, too many requests, or an answer took too long: wait before retrying. If progress or a partial answer appeared, check the work in Portrait first to avoid submitting it twice.
• Missing context or sources: include the material facts in the mention. Teams attachments and surrounding channel messages are not read. Check source access in Portrait and add your own files through My Library for use there.

If the problem continues, contact the team with your organization, whether the issue affects a one-to-one chat or a standard channel, the exact error, and the approximate time and time zone. For installation issues, include the app package version if known. Share a redacted screenshot if useful; do not forward connection links or credentials.