{"id":403,"date":"2020-04-20T22:57:48","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T05:57:48","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-08T10:28:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T17:28:16","slug":"make-your-power-virtual-agents-bot-start-the-conversation-using-a-custom-canvas","status":"publish","type":"copilot","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-copilot\/blog\/copilot-studio\/make-your-power-virtual-agents-bot-start-the-conversation-using-a-custom-canvas\/","title":{"rendered":"Make your Power Virtual Agents bot start the conversation using a custom canvas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the topmost asks from Power Virtual Agents customers is to make a bot start the conversation. Customers want their bot to greet their users before they ask any questions. For example, a bot begins a conversation by saying, “Hi, I’m Botty, a virtual agent”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog, you can learn how to do that using a custom canvas. First, you’ll learn how to deploy a custom canvas that includes arguments that trigger the greeting. By default, the custom canvas calls the default system greeting topic. You can, however, create a new topic to be used as the greeting, although you will need to divert the default system greeting topic to a new topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information<\/strong>:\u00a0Having the bot start the conversation will show up in your\u00a0analytics<\/a> and increase your session count. If the user of your bot doesn’t engage with the bot (for example, they load the page but don’t ask the bot anything), the session will be\u00a0marked as an unengaged session<\/a>. This might impact your analytics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also combine the customized greeting with\u00a0customization to the look and feel of the bot<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deploy a custom canvas for your bot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To make your bot start the conversation, you’ll need to deploy a custom canvas that includes arguments that cause the\u00a0default system greeting topic<\/a>\u00a0to be displayed when the bot loads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Create and publish a bot<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. In the navigation menu under\u00a0Settings<\/strong>, select\u00a0Channels<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Select\u00a0Mobile app<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Next to\u00a0Token Endpoint<\/strong>, select\u00a0Copy<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Copy-paste the HTML code below and save it as\u00a0index.html<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. In the index.html<\/em>\u00a0you created, enter your Token Endpoint<\/strong> at the line\u00a0var theURL = \"<BOT TOKEN ENDPOINT>\"<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Open\u00a0index.html<\/em> using a modern browser (for example, Edge) to open the bot in the custom canvas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Test the bot to ensure you are receiving responses from your bot and that it’s working correctly.\u00a0If you encounter problems, make sure you’ve published your bot, and that your Token Endpoint has been inserted in the correct place. It should be after the equals sign (=) at the line\u00a0var theURL<\/code>, and surrounded by double quotation marks (“).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Alternately,\u00a0you can copy and paste the code below into the\u00a0w3schools.com HTML try it editor<\/a> to see how it works (remember to add your Bot ID).<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n    Contoso Sample Web Chat<\/title> \n    <!-- This styling is for the canvas demonstration purposes. It is recommended \nthat style is moved to separate file for organization in larger projects -->\n    <style>\n        html, body {\n            height: 100%;\n        }\n        body {\n            margin: 0;\n        }\n        h1 {\n            font-size: 16px;\n            font-family: Segoe UI;\n            line-height: 20px;\n            color: whitesmoke;\n            display: table-cell;\n            padding: 13px 0px 0px 20px;\n        }\n        .heading {\n            background-color: black;\n            height: 50px;\n        }\n        .main {\n            margin: 18px;\n            border-radius: 4px;\n        }\n\n        div[role=\"form\"]{\n            background-color: black;\n        }        \n        #webchat {\n            position: fixed;\n            height: calc(100% - 50px);\n            width: 100%;\n            top: 50px;\n            overflow: hidden;\n        }\n      <\/style>\n<\/head>\n<body>\n    <div>\n        <div class=\"heading\">\n\n            <!-- Change the h1 text to change the bot name -->    \n            <h1>Contoso Bot Name<\/h1>\n\n        <\/div>\n        <div id=\"webchat\" role=\"main\"><\/div>\n    <\/div>    \n  <script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.botframework.com\/botframework-webchat\/latest\/webchat.js\"><\/script>\n  <script>\n        const styleOptions = {\n           \/\/ Add styleOptions to customize web chat canvas\n           hideUploadButton: true\n        };\n\n        \/\/ Add your BOT token endpoint below\n        var theURL = \"<BOT TOKEN ENDPOINT>\";\n\n        var environmentEndPoint = theURL.slice(0,theURL.indexOf('\/powervirtualagents'));\n        var apiVersion = theURL.slice(theURL.indexOf('api-version')).split('=')[1];\n        var regionalChannelSettingsURL = `${environmentEndPoint}\/powervirtualagents\/regionalchannelsettings?api-version=${apiVersion}`; \n\n        var directline;\n            fetch(regionalChannelSettingsURL)\n                .then((response) => {\n                    return response.json();\n                    })\n                .then((data) => {\n                    directline = data.channelUrlsById.directline;\n                    })\n                .catch(err => console.error(\"An error occurred: \" + err));\n\n      fetch(theURL)\n            .then(response => response.json())\n            .then(conversationInfo => {\n                window.WebChat.renderWebChat(\n                    {\n                        directLine: window.WebChat.createDirectLine({\n                            domain: `${directline}v3\/directline`,\n                            token: conversationInfo.token,\n                        }),\n                        styleOptions\n                    },\n                    document.getElementById('webchat')\n                );\n            })\n            .catch(err => console.error(\"An error occurred: \" + err));\n    <\/script>\n  <\/body>\n<\/html>\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"change-the-bot-s-default-greeting\">Change the bot’s default greeting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The code in the\u00a0<em>index.html<\/em>\u00a0file causes a topic to be called automatically when the bot is loaded. By default, it calls the system greeting topic. You can also create a new topic and divert the default system greeting topic to that new topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In both instances, you\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/authoring-create-edit-topics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">make changes to the topic you want to call as you would normally<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend you modify the system greeting topic so that you don’t have to edit the\u00a0<em>index.html<\/em>\u00a0code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"modify-a-system-topic-recommended\">Modify a\u00a0system topic (recommended)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Topics<\/strong> in the side navigation pane.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under <strong>System Topics<\/strong>, select the\u00a0<strong>Go to authoring canvas<\/strong>\u00a0icon on the\u00a0<strong>Greeting<\/strong>\u00a0topic row<strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Edit the text inside the <strong>Message<\/strong> boxes. You can also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/authoring-create-edit-topics#insert-nodes\">add or delete additional nodes.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Save<\/strong> when you’re finished editing the message.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/publication-fundamentals-publish-channels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Publish<\/strong>\u00a0your bot<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can now test your bot by going to the web page where you\u00a0deployed your bot’s custom canvas. You’ll see the bot start the conversation by automatically showing the greeting topic.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"create-a-new-user-topic\">Create a new user topic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Warning<\/strong>: Using a user topic\u00a0to start a conversation will increase your <em><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/analytics-billed-sessions#definition-of-a-billed-session\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">billed sessions<\/a><\/em>. A <em>billed session<\/em>\u00a0is an interaction between a customer and a bot and represents one unit of consumption.\u00a0The <em>billed session<\/em> begins when a user topic is triggered. More information:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?linkid=2085130\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Licensing guide.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Topics <\/strong>on the side navigation pane.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>New topic<\/strong>, and give it a name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Go to authoring canvas<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add the text inside the\u00a0<strong>Message<\/strong>\u00a0node.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Save<\/strong>\u00a0when you’ve finished editing the message.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Topics<\/strong>\u00a0again on the side navigation pane.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under\u00a0<strong>System Topics<\/strong>, select the\u00a0<strong>Go to authoring canvas<\/strong>\u00a0icon on the\u00a0<strong>Greeting<\/strong>\u00a0topic row.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/authoring-create-edit-topics#insert-nodes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Delete the message nodes<\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a0<strong>Greeting<\/strong>\u00a0topic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To automatically divert the bot to a user topic, select\u00a0<strong>+<\/strong>\u00a0to add a node, and then\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/authoring-create-edit-topics#go-to-another-topic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Go to another topic<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the flyout menu, select the user topic you created above.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Save<\/strong>\u00a0when you’ve finished editing the message.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/publication-fundamentals-publish-channels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Publish<\/strong>\u00a0your bot<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can now test your bot by going to the web page where you\u00a0deployed your bot’s custom canvas. You’ll see the bot start the conversation by automatically showing the new topic.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also find additional documentation <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-virtual-agents\/configure-bot-greeting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019d love to hear your feedback. Please visit our community forum at <a href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/PowerVirtualAgentsForum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/aka.ms\/PowerVirtualAgentsForum<\/a> and share your feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And submit your idea requests at <a href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/PowerVirtualAgentsIdeas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/aka.ms\/PowerVirtualAgentsIdeas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"disclaimer\">Disclaimer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You may install and use the sample code included in this documentation only for use with the Microsoft Power Virtual Agents service. The sample code is licensed \u201cas is\u201d and is excluded from any service level agreements or support services. You bear the risk of using it. Microsoft gives no express warranties, guarantees, or conditions and excludes all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Power Virtual Agents now enables you to make your bot start the conversation using a custom canvas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":699,"template":"","cs-content-type":[937,934,933],"cs-topic":[939,940,942],"coauthors":[681],"class_list":["post-403","copilot","type-copilot","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cs-content-type-feature-releases","cs-content-type-news","cs-content-type-tips-and-guides","cs-topic-agent-governance","cs-topic-agentic-ai","cs-topic-product-integrations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Make your Power Virtual Agents bot start the conversation using a custom canvas | Microsoft Copilot 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