Skype

Before building anything in Bubble, determine which Skype scenario you are actually dealing with. This step can save hours of wasted setup. Ask these questions: 1. Is this for consumer Skype (personal accounts, free video calls)? If yes — this integration is no longer possible. Consumer Skype shut down May 5, 2025. There is no API, no active user accounts to message, and no programmatic integration path. The recommendation is to use Microsoft Teams (the official Microsoft successor) or another platform (Zoom, Google Meet, Webex) depending on the use-case. 2. Is this for 'Skype for Business Online' (the Microsoft 365 cloud version)? If yes — this also shut down, on July 31, 2021. Users were migrated to Microsoft Teams. The integration recommendation is Microsoft Teams via Graph API. 3. Is this for Skype for Business Server on-premises (a self-hosted enterprise deployment)? If yes — this is still operational and the Bot Framework path applies. This is rare: typically large enterprises in regulated industries (government, finance, healthcare) that have not migrated to Teams. Confirm with the client's IT team that they are running an on-premises Skype for Business Server before proceeding. 4. Is the use-case just 'open Skype on click' (a contact button)? If yes — use deep links (Step 2). No credentials or API needed. For the majority of Bubble builders, the answer is either 'use Teams instead' or 'use deep links for basic contact buttons'. Only proceed to the Bot Framework steps if you have confirmed an active Skype for Business Server deployment.

For click-to-call or click-to-chat functionality, the skype: URI scheme works on any device that has a Skype client installed — Skype for Business desktop client on Windows/Mac, or any remaining Skype desktop app installations on older systems. The URI format is: - Click-to-call: skype:username?call - Click-to-chat: skype:username?chat - Video call: skype:username?call&video=true Replace 'username' with the actual Skype username or Skype ID of the person you want to reach. In Bubble, implement this in two ways: Option A — Link element: Select a Link element on your page. In the Destination field, choose 'External URL'. Type the skype: URI directly: skype:support.agent?chat. Style it as a button using Bubble's visual editor. Option B — Workflow action: Add a button element. In its workflow, add the action 'Go to external website' (found under 'Navigation'). Set the URL to the skype: URI. If the URL should be dynamic (different agent per context), use a text expression that builds the URI: 'skype:' + Input username's value + '?chat'. Note: This opens the Skype application on the user's device. On mobile, it opens the Skype mobile app if installed. On desktop, it opens the Skype desktop app. If Skype is not installed, most browsers show a dialog asking if the user wants to look for an app to handle the link. There is no fallback within the browser — if you need a web-based alternative, display a regular contact form or redirect to Teams.

1{
2  "skype_uri_examples": {
3    "click_to_call": "skype:username?call",
4    "click_to_chat": "skype:username?chat",
5    "video_call": "skype:username?call&video=true",
6    "call_phone_number": "skype:+12125551234?call"
7  },
8  "bubble_implementation": {
9    "link_element_destination": "External URL",
10    "url_value": "skype:<username>?chat"
11  }
12}

This step applies only if you have confirmed an active Skype for Business Server on-premises deployment. If not, skip to Step 5 or use the Microsoft Teams integration instead. Open the Azure portal at portal.azure.com and navigate to 'Azure Active Directory' → 'App registrations' → 'New registration'. Name the application (e.g., 'Bubble Skype Bot'), select 'Accounts in this organizational directory only', and leave the Redirect URI blank for the client_credentials flow. Click Register. After registration, note the Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID from the app overview page. Navigate to 'Certificates & secrets' → 'New client secret'. Add a description, select an expiry, and click Add. Copy the secret Value immediately — it is shown only once. Now navigate to 'Azure Bot Services' in the Azure portal (search for 'Azure Bot' in the top search bar). Create a new Azure Bot: select your subscription, resource group, and enter a bot handle. For 'Microsoft App ID', use the app you just registered. Under 'Channels', add the 'Skype for Business' channel and configure it with your on-premises Skype for Business Server's connection details (provided by your organization's IT team). Note the Bot Framework endpoint assigned to your bot — this is the base URL for the Bot Connector API calls. The token endpoint for client_credentials flow is: https://login.microsoftonline.com/botframework.com/oauth2/v2.0/token This token endpoint is specific to Bot Framework service accounts — it differs from standard Azure AD tenant token endpoints.

In your Bubble app, open Plugins → API Connector. Click 'Add another API' and name it 'Bot Framework Auth'. Add a call named 'Get Bearer Token'. Method: POST, URL: https://login.microsoftonline.com/botframework.com/oauth2/v2.0/token. Use as: Action. Body parameters: - grant_type: client_credentials (static) - client_id: your Azure App client ID (static or dynamic) - client_secret: [client_secret] — dynamic, mark as Private - scope: https://api.botframework.com/.default (static) For Initialize: provide your real client_id and client_secret. A successful response returns access_token and expires_in (3600 seconds). Detect the access_token field. Add a second API group named 'Bot Connector'. Add a shared header: Authorization: Bearer [access_token] — mark as Private and Dynamic (the token value will be injected at runtime). Add a call named 'Send Message'. Method: POST. URL: https://smba.trafficmanager.net/apis/v3/conversations/[conversation_id]/activities. Use as: Action. Body: { 'type': 'message', 'text': '[message_text]' } The conversation_id is the critical piece: in Bot Framework, you can only send proactive messages to users who have previously interacted with the bot (initiated a conversation). The conversation_id is obtained from the bot receiving an initial message from the user. You cannot proactively message an arbitrary Skype for Business user without first having a conversation ID for them. For Initialize on Send Message: you need a real conversation_id from an actual bot interaction. This makes initialization dependent on having a working Skype for Business Server connection and a user who has messaged the bot. If you are in early setup, skip initialization and manually define the expected response fields.

1{
2  "token_call": {
3    "method": "POST",
4    "url": "https://login.microsoftonline.com/botframework.com/oauth2/v2.0/token",
5    "body": {
6      "grant_type": "client_credentials",
7      "client_id": "<azure_app_client_id>",
8      "client_secret": "<client_secret -- PRIVATE>",
9      "scope": "https://api.botframework.com/.default"
10    }
11  },
12  "send_message_call": {
13    "method": "POST",
14    "url": "https://smba.trafficmanager.net/apis/v3/conversations/[conversation_id]/activities",
15    "headers": {
16      "Authorization": "Bearer [access_token -- PRIVATE]"
17    },
18    "body": {
19      "type": "message",
20      "text": "[message_text -- dynamic]"
21    }
22  }
23}

Bot Framework Bearer tokens expire every 3,600 seconds. Without a refresh mechanism, your integration stops working after an hour. Build a scheduled Backend Workflow to refresh the token before expiry. First, enable Backend Workflows: Settings → API → enable 'This app exposes a Workflow API'. This requires Bubble Starter plan ($32/month) or higher. Create a Bubble data type named 'BotToken' with fields: access_token (text), expires_at (date). Create a Backend Workflow named 'refresh-bot-token'. Steps: 1. Search for BotToken records where expires_at is less than 'Current date/time + 10 minutes'. If found, skip the token fetch (token still valid for more than 10 minutes). If not found or expired, proceed. 2. Call the 'Get Bearer Token' API action. 3. Delete all existing BotToken records (there should only be one). 4. Create a new BotToken record: access_token = API result's access_token, expires_at = Current date/time + 3550 seconds. Schedule this workflow to run every 50 minutes using 'Schedule a recurring event'. When triggering the Send Message workflow, first fetch the BotToken record to get the current access_token, then pass it as the Authorization header parameter in the Send Message call. This keeps the token management entirely server-side. Note: if you also need conversation_ids stored (to know which users the bot can proactively message), create a separate data type 'BotConversation' with fields user_identifier (text) and conversation_id (text). These IDs are obtained when the bot receives its first message from each user in the Skype for Business client.

If you have reached this step and are feeling uncertain about the complexity of the Skype for Business Bot Framework path — or if the client's requirements can be met by Teams — this step covers the migration evaluation. Microsoft Teams uses the same Azure OAuth infrastructure as Bot Framework but with Graph API (https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0) for most operations. Teams has an actively maintained REST API, official Microsoft documentation, and a large developer community. The key capabilities that mirror typical Skype use-cases: - Sending messages to Teams channels: POST /teams/{teamId}/channels/{channelId}/messages - Creating Teams meetings: POST /me/onlineMeetings (returns joinUrl) - Bot messaging via Bot Framework: same architecture as above, but targeting a Teams channel instead of Skype for Business For the Bubble integration, Teams is more complex than Skype deep links but covers far more capability and is not deprecated. The auth model requires either a Bot token (similar to Webex's permanent Bot token, simpler) or Graph API OAuth (full user-level access, similar to GoToWebinar's flow). If the original requirement was 'show a contact button that opens Skype' — deep links in Step 2 address this. If the requirement was 'send automated messages to users on Skype' — Microsoft Teams is the correct target platform today. There is no consumer Skype to send messages to. For the Microsoft Teams integration details, see the related integration below. The setup there (Azure Bot registration, API Connector, channel configuration) is analogous to what you would build for Bot Framework but targets a live, fully-supported platform.