- Visual Studio 2015 (Community version is ok) (could use Visual Studio Code on non-Windows systems – however, most these instructions are working from Visual Studio).
- A Microsoft Account to log into the Bot Framework developer portal, which you will use to register your Bot as well as to sign up for Cognitive Services subscriptions (if you have Hotmail, Live, Outlook.com, or an Xbox account then you already have a Microsoft Account).
- The Bot Framework Emulator.
- The Bot Framework Visual Studio Template (C#).
- (Optional) Github for Windows (comes with Git Shell) or git on other systems to download this repository.
- (Optional) An Azure account for an Azure-accessible REST endpoint (for registering your bot with the Bot Framework service)
- (Optional) Developer accounts on one or more communication services (such as Facebook) where your Bot will communicate (Skype is already set up for you).
- (Optional) An Azure App Insights account to capture telemetry on your bot.