Actionable messages for connectors and email now in preview

We're excited to announce a preview of Actionable Messages which embed actions in both connectors and direct email messages and help users complete tasks without having to leave Outlook. For example, Connector users can merge a pull request in GitHub or change the due date for a card in Trello without switching to those services. In addition, we'll soon launch a preview of Connectors for the Inbox, bringing the same capabilities to users' personal inboxes. This preview will be available for the following Connectors with more services to be added soon: Asana, Bing News, Bitbucket, Twitter, Trello, Wunderlist and Yammer.

Developers create Connector messages today by posting a JSON payload to an Office 365 webhook address. This payload has been extended to create an Actionable Message experience. By annotating actions, the message can render buttons, a dropdown list, date picker or text input box, enabling developers to model a wide variety of scenarios requiring actions.

Actionable Messages as direct integration within email are available in preview for apps such as SAP Fieldglass, Microsoft Flow and TINYpulse. SAP Fieldglass notifies approvers when expense sheets are submitted. With actionable messages, users can approve or reject from within the context of their Outlook experience. By simplifying the process with the intuitive workflow, expense reports can be processed quicker.

Actionable Messages will be available in preview for Outlook on the web users with Office 365 mailboxes. Actionable Messages can help increase user engagement with your service and accelerate user productivity. If you would like to build a Connector for the inbox or use Actionable Messages, please complete this sign-up form for evaluation, as the developer platform is currently in limited preview.

For more Ignite Office Dev announcements, see the Ignite post on the Office Dev blog.