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Custom Microsoft Copilot on Teams Crashing with File Uploads, GIFs, and Emojis

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Posted on by DF-21101516-0

Hello,

I’ve set up a custom Microsoft Copilot on a Teams channel, and I’m facing the following issue: Whenever someone uploads a document (e.g., PDF or Word file), sends a GIF, or even uses emojis in a message, the following error message is produced:

Sorry, something unexpected happened. We’re looking into it. Error code: SystemError. Conversation ID: a:1_LhDyUqU9KLZ92bea54o-32YS0392XQNl6GtUgsvyupvnb5H8QWLMhwTJSGZ0wXuqFk2nqKSFgM42ctAMbP2mzlKnTSr56kSgEgs3SfHUQvx5QozC9SX9HmWunHr8jQ9. Time (UTC): 10/21/2024 3:10:51 PM.

For any further messages (not including attachments/GIFs/emojis), the same error message is produced, and is only fixed by removing from the Teams channel and re-publishing. The issue will return whenever another document/GID/emoji is sent.

Here’s a breakdown of the issue:

Normal messages are processed correctly and everything works as expected.
Document uploads (like PDFs, Word files, etc.) seem to trigger the crash.
GIFs and emojis also seem to cause the system to break.

I believe I need to create a custom topic or perhaps some fall-back logic to handle non-text inputs (like attachments or media files), but I’m not sure exactly how to configure this in Copilot Studio.

Has anyone else encountered this issue or found a way to handle non-text inputs effectively within Copilot Studio? Specifically:

How can I prevent the system from breaking when someone uploads files or sends GIFs or emojis?
Is there a way to filter out or manage these inputs gracefully without crashing the system?

Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Copilot Error exa...

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Vinoth Selvam 1,590 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi DF-21101516-0,

Yes you can create a custom topic in Copilot Studio that identifies non-text inputs and responds appropriately. This fallback logic helps prevent crashes by catching non-supported inputs before they cause issues. Use conditions to differentiate between text-based inputs and non-text inputs.

For example, if the user sends an attachment or media, you can configure a response like "File uploads are currently not supported."

Use the Power Automate flow to detect non-text input such as file attachments, images, or emojis. I have not tried this, but technically the below should be possible.

Set a trigger for the flow to respond whenever a message is received in the chat. You can use the Microsoft Teams connector with the trigger “When a new message is posted in a channel” or “When a new message is posted to a chat”.

The Microsoft Teams connector allows access to the message body and metadata (like attachment types). You can use the “Attachments” field or message body content to detect these.

Use expressions to check if the content type includes known types such as - .pdf, .docx, .jpeg for files. GIFs can be detected if the message contains media attachments or certain keywords like "gif".

Something like this -> contains(triggerOutputs()?['body/Attachments'], 'gif')

Send a message back to the user saying something like: "The system does not support file uploads or GIFs."

Thanks.

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LP-22111634-0 7 on at

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Hi DF-21101516-0, did you ever find a solution to this? I'm running into the same problem. This error would make a custom Copilot unusable in Teams, as one person could disable it until the whole app is manually disconnected and republished. A simple "Thanks 😊" is enough to put the bot into this error loop.

I have tried to create a topic that catches a user message with an Emoji/GIF/file attachment like @Vinoth suggested:

This catches the user message and then displays the "Sorry" message. But still, every user input after that triggers the SystemError and I need to disconnect and reconnect the bot to teams to fix it.

I have tried every variation and combination of ending the topic/conversation and clearing variables after catching the message, but still the problem persists.

Strangely, when you pass the conversation to the "End Conversation" topic, the user can still navigate through the menu, rate the chat and select if the question has been answered. But when another input is made after that, the SystemError will be displayed again.

My last idea would be to somehow delete the Activity.Attachments table before continuing with the topic, but I couldn't find a way to edit the variable.

Does someone know how to fix/prevent this?

Edit: After disabling "orchestration" the error does not occur anymore. So it definitely has something to do with it. Unfortunately, I cannot disable it for my Copilot, as many of its topics use the dynamic filling of input variables. There don't seem to be any further settings for the orchestration feature, so for the time being a functioning workaround would be nice.

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Artur Stepniak 1,539 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hello,

worth to note that generative orchestration is a preview feature, so certain activities may not be available or won't function properly. I've reproduced your error and it seems that the cause is as you've described. For now I'd stick to the classic approach to building chatbots, until it becomes stable or perform a workaround with "Generative answers" and connector actions.

In case of any other questions, let me know. If the answer helped you, mark it, so that others can benefit from it.

Best regards,

Artur Stepniak

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LP-22111634-0 7 on at

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As of today, this bug seems to be fixed. The error does not occur anymore for me.

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Vinoth Selvam 1,590 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Yes, it looks like the issue is already fixed automatically.

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