MessageRef

MessageRef identifies a provider message:

interface MessageRef {
  id: string;
  [key: string]: unknown;
}

Use a ref with thread.update() or thread.delete():

const ref = await thread.post("Working…");
await thread.update(ref, "Done.");

Managed lifetime

A ref returned by thread.post() carries routing for the current managed delivery. Do not persist it and assume it can be edited in a later delivery.

For a later component callback, use ctx.message.ref. Intelligence stamps the source provider message onto that interaction delivery when available:

if (message.ref.id) {
  try {
    await thread.update(message.ref, "Updated");
  } catch {
    // Provider updates are best-effort.
  }
}

Teams Action.Submit can arrive without replyToId, producing an empty ref. Slack and Teams delete capabilities also differ; see Thread.