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Microsoft Office add-ins

The Myra Office add-ins bring the gateway document AI into Microsoft Office as task panes. In Word, a user rewrites, fixes grammar, summarises, translates, drafts, and asks questions about the open document. In Excel, a user summarises, cleans data, writes a formula, and asks questions about the sheet. In Outlook, a user summarises a message and drafts or rewrites a reply. Every action runs on the model of the tenant through the gateway, and Microsoft single sign-on authenticates the user on each call.

This chapter is for the administrator who deploys the add-ins to users. Each add-in is a standard Office add-in described by a manifest file. Installation makes that manifest available to Office, and Office then loads the task pane from the Myra host.

The add-ins support the following capabilities and limitations:

Capability Limitation
Word, Excel, and Outlook task panes on Office on the web, Windows, and Mac Office 2016 and 2019 are not supported.
Microsoft single sign-on on every request, with no separate password A one-time tenant admin consent is required before first use.
Document AI served by the designated model of the tenant The workspace of the user must be enabled for the direct document-AI lane.

💡 Note: The add-ins load the task pane and call the gateway over HTTPS from the Myra host (https://<GATEWAY_HOST>/). The Office client of each user reaches that host, and the host serves the add-in security headers configured by Myra. On the hosted service the host is ai.myra.eu.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following conditions are met:

  • You hold the SharePoint Administrator role for the App Catalog procedure, or you reach the Integrated apps page in the Microsoft 365 admin center for the recommended procedure.
  • You hold the Global Administrator or Application Administrator role for the single sign-on consent procedure.
  • You have the add-in manifest file for each add-in you deploy. Myra provisions one manifest each for Word, Excel, and Outlook, carrying the Myra host and the Microsoft Entra application.
  • The Office client of each user reaches the Myra host over HTTPS.

💡 Note: Microsoft recommends the Microsoft 365 admin center (Integrated apps) for every Office add-in. The SharePoint App Catalog serves the Word and Excel add-ins only, not the Outlook add-in.

Office single sign-on calls the gateway with a token minted by a Microsoft Entra application. A tenant admin consents to the application once, so users are not prompted on every action.

Proceed as follows to grant single sign-on consent:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center at https://entra.microsoft.com.
  2. Open App registrations.
  3. Select the Myra add-in application.
  4. Open the API permissions page.
  5. Click on the Grant admin consent button.
  6. A confirmation prompt opens.
  7. Click on the Yes button.

-> The permissions list shows the Granted status for the tenant.

Deploying with the Microsoft 365 admin center

The Microsoft 365 admin center deploys any of the three add-ins to selected users or to the whole organisation.

Proceed as follows to deploy an add-in with the Microsoft 365 admin center:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
  2. Open Settings → Integrated apps.
  3. Click on the Upload custom apps button.
  4. The Upload custom apps panel opens.
  5. Select the Provide link to manifest file option.
  6. Enter the add-in manifest URL in the Link text field.
  7. The validated add-in details appear.
  8. Select the users who receive the add-in.
  9. Click on the Next button.
  10. Click on the Accept permissions button.
  11. Click on the Finish deployment button.

-> The add-in appears on the Office ribbon for the selected users. The first rollout takes up to 24 hours. Repeat this procedure for each add-in.

💡 Note: If required, select the Upload manifest file option in step 4 and select the manifest file instead of entering a link.

Deploying with the SharePoint App Catalog

The SharePoint App Catalog serves the Word and Excel add-ins to the whole organisation through the Apps for Office library.

Proceed as follows to deploy a Word or Excel add-in with the SharePoint App Catalog:

  1. Sign in to the SharePoint admin center at https://<TENANT>-admin.sharepoint.com.
  2. Open More features.
  3. Under Apps, click on the Open button.
  4. The Apps page opens.
  5. Open the App Catalog site.
  6. Open the Apps for Office library.
  7. Click on the Upload button.
  8. Select the add-in manifest file.
  9. Click on the OK button.

-> The add-in appears in the Apps for Office library with the enabled status. Repeat this procedure for the Word and Excel add-ins.

💡 Note: If no App Catalog site exists, open the App Catalog tile on the Apps page, select Create a new app catalog site, and complete the form before step 5.

Proceed as follows to add the deployed add-in in Word or Excel:

  1. Open Word or Excel with a work account.
  2. Open Insert → Add-ins.
  3. Open the My Add-ins tab.
  4. Open the Admin Managed tab.
  5. Select the Myra document AI add-in.

-> The Myra document AI task pane opens.

⚠️ Caution: The Outlook add-in does not deploy through the SharePoint App Catalog. Deploy the Outlook add-in with the Microsoft 365 admin center instead.

Sideloading an add-in

A sideload installs an add-in for your own account only, without an organisation-wide deployment. Use a sideload to test an add-in.

Proceed as follows to sideload an add-in in Word or Excel on the web:

  1. Open Word or Excel on the web.
  2. Open Insert → Add-ins.
  3. Click on the Upload My Add-in button.
  4. Click on the Browse button.
  5. Select the add-in manifest file.
  6. Click on the Upload button.

-> The task pane opens for the current session.

💡 Note: To sideload the Outlook add-in, open Settings → Add-ins → My add-ins → Custom add-ins in Outlook on the web, select Add a custom add-in, select Add from file, and select the manifest file.

Verifying the installation

Proceed as follows to verify the installation:

  1. Open the add-in task pane.
  2. Select text in the document.
  3. Click on the Summarize button.

-> The add-in returns a result from the model of the tenant.

If a sign-in or consent error appears, grant single sign-on consent as described above. If a 403 not provisioned for document AI error appears, the workspace of the user is not enabled for the direct document-AI lane — see Direct document AI.

The following chapters cover the surfaces referenced here: