Apache Answers - Microsoft Teams Power Automate Integration

A bidirectional integration tool that synchronizes posts between Apache Answers and Microsoft Teams channels using Power Automate.

Overview

This tool enables seamless communication between Apache Answers and Microsoft Teams by:

• Answers → Teams: When someone creates a post in Apache Answers, it automatically posts to a designated Teams channel
• Teams → Answers: When someone adds an emoji reaction to a message in Teams, it creates a corresponding question in Apache Answers

Features

• Bidirectional synchronization between Apache Answers and Microsoft Teams
• Real-time post notifications
• Emoji reaction-based question creation
• Automated content formatting
• Error handling and logging
• Configurable channel and forum mappings

Prerequisites

• Apache Answers instance with API access
• Microsoft Teams with Power Automate access
• Azure AD app registration for authentication
• Power Automate premium license (for custom connectors)

Next Steps

1. Set up authentication and API access
2. Create Power Automate flows for bidirectional sync
3. Implement webhook endpoints for real-time updates
4. Configure channel and forum mappings
5. Test integration with sample posts
6. Deploy and monitor the integration

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• Apache Answers instance with API access
• (Optional) API key for authentication

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd apache-answers-bot

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Configure environment variables:

   cp env.example .env

   Edit the .env file with your configuration:

   # Apache Answers Configuration
   ANSWERS_BASE_URL=https://your-answers-instance.com
   ANSWERS_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_access_token_here
   ANSWERS_EMAIL=your_email@example.com
   ANSWERS_PASSWORD=your_password
   
   # Monitoring Configuration
   CHECK_INTERVAL_MS=30000
   LOG_LEVEL=info
   
   # Teams Configuration
   TEAMS_DEFAULT_WEBHOOK_URL=your_default_teams_webhook_url
   TEAMS_CHANNELS=[{"tags":["javascript","typescript"],"webhookUrl":"your_js_teams_webhook","channelName":"JavaScript"},{"tags":["python","django"],"webhookUrl":"your_python_teams_webhook","channelName":"Python"}]

Getting Your Access Token

Apache Answers uses access tokens instead of API keys. To get your access token:

1. Set up your credentials in the .env file:

   ANSWERS_BASE_URL=https://your-answers-instance.com
   ANSWERS_EMAIL=your_email@example.com
   ANSWERS_PASSWORD=your_password

2. Get your access token:

   npm run get-token

3. Copy the token to your .env file:

   ANSWERS_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_access_token_here

Alternative method (manual):

1. Go to your Apache Answers instance
2. Open the Swagger UI: https://your-instance.com/swagger/index.html
3. Use the /answer/api/v1/user/login/email endpoint
4. Provide your email and password
5. Copy the access_token from the response

Running the Application

Development mode (with auto-reload):

npm run dev

Production mode:

npm run build
npm start

Watch mode (for development):

npm run watch

What It Does

The integration will:

• Monitor Apache Answers: Check for new posts every 30 seconds (configurable)
• Route to Teams: Automatically send new posts to appropriate Teams channels based on tags
• Rich Messages: Create beautiful Adaptive Cards in Teams with:
  • Post title and description
  • Author information
  • Creation timestamp
  • Tags and metadata
  • Direct link to the Apache Answers post

Configuration Options

Environment Variable	Description	Default
ANSWERS_BASE_URL	Your Apache Answers instance URL	https://meta.answer.dev
ANSWERS_ACCESS_TOKEN	Access token for authentication (get with npm run get-token)	-
ANSWERS_EMAIL	Email for authentication (required to get token)	-
ANSWERS_PASSWORD	Password for authentication (required to get token)	-
CHECK_INTERVAL_MS	How often to check for new posts (milliseconds)	30000
LOG_LEVEL	Logging level (debug, info, warn, error)	info
TEAMS_DEFAULT_WEBHOOK_URL	Default Teams webhook URL (fallback for posts without matching tags)	-
TEAMS_CHANNELS	JSON array of channel mappings with tags and webhook URLs	[]

Teams Integration

The integration supports automatic posting to Microsoft Teams channels based on post tags:

Default Channel

Set TEAMS_DEFAULT_WEBHOOK_URL to post all new questions to a default Teams channel.

Tag-Based Channels

Use TEAMS_CHANNELS to route posts to specific channels based on their tags:

[
  {
    "tags": ["javascript", "typescript"],
    "webhookUrl": "https://your-js-teams-webhook-url",
    "channelName": "JavaScript"
  },
  {
    "tags": ["python", "django"],
    "webhookUrl": "https://your-python-teams-webhook-url",
    "channelName": "Python"
  },
  {
    "tags": ["general", "help"],
    "webhookUrl": "https://your-general-teams-webhook-url",
    "channelName": "General"
  }
]

How It Works

1. New post detected in Apache Answers
2. Tags analyzed to find matching channels
3. Posts sent to all matching Teams channels
4. Fallback to default channel if no matches found
5. Rich cards displayed in Teams with post details

Logs

The application creates log files in the logs/ directory:

• combined.log - All log messages
• error.log - Error messages only

Console output includes colored, formatted logs for easy monitoring.

Production Deployment

For production deployment on Ubuntu as a systemd service, see the deployment directory.

Quick Deployment

# On your Ubuntu server
cd /opt/apache-answers-bot/deployment
sudo ./install-systemd.sh

This will:

• Create a dedicated apache-answers-bot system user
• Install the service as apache-answers-bot
• Set up FHS-compliant logging in /var/log/apache-answers-bot/
• Configure automatic log rotation
• Enable the service to start on boot

For detailed instructions, troubleshooting, and configuration options, see:

• Deployment Guide - Complete installation guide
• Quick Reference - Common commands
• Logging Setup - Log configuration details

Contributing

This project is in early development. Please check back for contribution guidelines.

License

License information to be added.