AlphaSense for PowerPoint - IT Admin Guide: Centralized Deployment

This guide covers deploying AlphaSense to your organization using Microsoft 365 Admin Center for the Office add-in, combined with AlphaSense App Manager for the local backend services.

• Architecture
• Deployment Steps
• How Detection Works
• What Users Will See
• Network Requirements
• Updating Components
• Rollback and Coexistence
• Troubleshooting

Architecture

Centralized deployment splits responsibilities between two systems:

Microsoft 365 Admin Center
|- Deploys the Office add-in manifest to assigned users
|- Office loads the AlphaSense taskpane from a hosted web origin
|- Persists across devices tied to the user's M365 account

AlphaSense App Manager (on each user's machine)
|- Python backend for AI processing and slide manipulation  (OS-assigned port)
|- Excel backend for spreadsheet operations                 (OS-assigned port)
|- Service discovery for the taskpane to find backends      (localhost:8100+)
|- Does NOT register the add-in with Office (defers to M365)

The add-in frontend is hosted at https://plugins.alpha-sense.org/ -- you do not need to host anything. The local App Manager provides compute-intensive AI services that cannot run in the cloud.

Why App Manager Is Still Needed

The AlphaSense add-in relies on local backend services for:

• Slide processing: Parsing and manipulating PowerPoint files using Aspose.Slides (requires local COM interop on Windows).
• Excel operations: Reading and writing Excel data via Aspose.Cells.
• AI processing: Running agent pipelines that coordinate between the LLM and Office documents.
• Document indexing: RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) over user documents like PDFs, Word files, and Excel sheets.

These services must run on the user's machine alongside Office.

Deployment Steps

Step 1: Deploy the Add-in via Microsoft 365 Admin Center

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
2. Navigate to Settings > Integrated apps (or Add-ins).
3. Click Upload custom apps. Set the App type to Office Add-in. You have two options:
   • Upload manifest file: Download the manifest XML from the link below and upload the file.
   • Provide link to manifest file: Paste the manifest URL directly and click Validate.

The manifest is available from the public stable channel:

Note: The Excel add-in is not yet generally available. Deploy only the PowerPoint manifest for now. The Excel manifest URL is listed here for reference and will be ready when the Excel add-in reaches general availability.

Alternatively, manifest files are included in the App Manager installation under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\AlphaSense App Manager\resources\Carousel Ppt Add-In\manifest-ppt.xml

• Assign users or groups who should have access to AlphaSense.
• Microsoft 365 will deploy the add-in to the assigned users. This may take up to 24 hours to propagate to all users, though it is typically faster.

Step 2: Distribute AlphaSense App Manager

Each user needs App Manager running locally. You have several distribution options:

Option A: Intune / SCCM Deployment (Recommended for Enterprises)

Package the installer for automated deployment:

• Install command: AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-latest.exe /S
• Uninstall command: "%LOCALAPPDATA%\\Programs\\AlphaSense App Manager\\Uninstall AlphaSense App Manager.exe" /S
• Detection rule: File exists at %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Programs\\AlphaSense App Manager\\AlphaSense App Manager.exe
• Install behavior: User context (no admin elevation required)
• Restart behavior: No restart required

Pre-configure the deployment mode so users are not prompted during silent install:

# Set as a user environment variable before running the installer
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("CAROUSEL_DEPLOYMENT_MODE", "m365_admin_center", "User")

# Then run silent install
& "AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-latest.exe" /S

Or set it as a system environment variable via GPO/Intune configuration profile.

Option B: Offline Installer for Restricted Networks

For environments without internet access or with restricted outbound connectivity:

Contact AlphaSense for the offline installer package (AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-{version}-offline.exe). It bundles all backend components. Deploy this via your software distribution tool.

The offline installer automatically:

• Downloads nothing at install time.
• Disables component self-updates.

Combine with the deployment mode environment variable for a fully managed installation.

Option C: User Self-Download

Direct users to download App Manager themselves:

https://plugins.alpha-sense.org/app-manager/channels/stable/AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-latest.exe

Users should select "Managed by IT through Microsoft 365 Admin Center" when prompted during installation.

Step 3: Configure Policies (Optional)

Control App Manager behavior across your organization using environment variables (settable via GPO, Intune configuration profiles, or login scripts):

Recommended policy for centralized deployment:

CAROUSEL_DEPLOYMENT_MODE = m365_admin_center
CAROUSEL_DISABLE_COMPONENT_UPDATES = true   (if you control component versions)
CAROUSEL_DISABLE_SHELL_UPDATES = true        (if you control App Manager versions)

When updates are disabled, the App Manager UI shows "Managed by your IT administrator" on the Updates page with the update button disabled.

How Detection Works

App Manager detects Microsoft 365 centralized deployment by scanning the local Office cache:

Primary signal -- boot.json files at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\AddinInfo\1\excatalog\{PowerPoint|Excel}\...\{addin-id}_*\boot.json

The file contains:

{
  "solid": "5b338bf0-484c-4a37-93a5-6f7169fba70b",
  "storeid": "EXCatalog",
  "appversion": "1.0.0.0"
}

App Manager matches on the add-in ID and EXCatalog store ID.

Secondary signal -- AppCommands files at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\AppCommands\12.0\...

Files containing the add-in ID, EXCatalog, and the host name (PowerPoint/Excel) are treated as evidence.

Detection Precedence

1. Configured deployment mode (env var or installer choice)
   - If set to "m365_admin_center": skip local registration regardless of detection
   - If set to "local": always use local registration, ignore M365 evidence

2. M365 evidence detection (when configured as "m365_admin_center")
   - Evidence found: status = "Managed by IT", add-in considered installed
   - No evidence found: status = "Waiting for IT", local registration blocked

3. Local WEF Developer registration (when configured as "local")
   - Registration found: status = "Installed"
   - No registration: status = "Not installed"

Important: Absence of M365 cache evidence does NOT mean M365 deployment failed. Office may not have synced yet. This is why the "Waiting for IT" state exists -- it tells users to be patient rather than suggesting the deployment is broken.

Stale Cache Handling

If a machine was previously M365-managed but is now configured for local mode, App Manager explicitly ignores any remaining M365 cache evidence and logs:

"Ignoring stale or out-of-band Microsoft 365 cache for [state] because deployment mode is local."

What Users Will See

App Manager UI

Office Taskpane

The taskpane experience is identical to the individual setup once the add-in is active:

• Loading: Shows "Initializing AlphaSense..." while backends start.
• Helper missing: If App Manager is not running, shows a page with "Download App Manager" and "Retry connection" buttons.
• Sign in: Standard AlphaSense login.
• Ready: Full chat interface with AI capabilities.

Launch Behavior

When a user clicks "Open PowerPoint" in App Manager with centralized deployment:

• App Manager starts the backend services but does not perform local sideloading.
• It opens PowerPoint directly (plain Office launch).
• The add-in loads because M365 deployed it, not because of local registration.

Network Requirements

Outbound HTTPS (Required)

Local Ports (Localhost Only)

App Manager discovery uses a predefined port range starting at 8100. The Python and Excel backends are assigned available ports by the OS at startup. All local services bind to 127.0.0.1 only. No inbound firewall rules are needed.

Updating Components

The add-in frontend is served from plugins.alpha-sense.org. Updates are deployed server-side -- users automatically get the latest version when they open the taskpane. No action needed from IT.

Manifest Updates

If the manifest changes (new permissions, updated URLs), re-upload the updated manifest to Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Users will pick up changes after Office syncs.

App Manager and Backend Updates

• If updates are not policy-disabled: App Manager checks for updates automatically and prompts users.
• If CAROUSEL_DISABLE_COMPONENT_UPDATES=true: You control when to deploy new App Manager versions via Intune/SCCM. Build and distribute the new offline installer.
• If CAROUSEL_DISABLE_SHELL_UPDATES=true: Same -- distribute new App Manager versions through your software management tool.

Rollback and Coexistence

Removing M365 Deployment

If you remove the add-in from Microsoft 365 Admin Center:

1. Office will stop showing AlphaSense after the next sync.
2. App Manager will transition from "Managed by IT" to "Waiting for IT" (since the M365 evidence is gone).
3. Users can switch to local registration by reinstalling App Manager with "Local registration" selected, or by setting CAROUSEL_DEPLOYMENT_MODE=local.

Mixed Environments

It is safe to have some users on individual (local) deployment and others on centralized (M365) deployment in the same organization. The deployment mode is per-machine and does not conflict.

However, avoid having both local WEF registration and M365 deployment active for the same add-in ID on the same machine. App Manager prevents this by skipping local registration when configured for M365 mode.

Troubleshooting

Add-in does not appear in Office after M365 deployment

• Allow up to 24 hours for initial propagation.
• Have the user close and reopen Office.
• Have the user sign out of their Microsoft account in PowerPoint and sign back in to force an add-in sync.
• Verify the user is assigned to the add-in in M365 Admin Center.
• Check that the user's Office is connected to the correct Microsoft 365 tenant.

App Manager shows "Waiting for IT" indefinitely

• Confirm the add-in is assigned in M365 Admin Center.
• Have the user open and close Office to trigger a sync.
• Check for the M365 cache evidence manually:

dir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\AddinInfo" /s /b | findstr "boot.json"

• If no evidence exists after 48 hours, consider using the local registration fallback.

Backends are not starting

• Open App Manager > Diagnostics and check Helper status.
• Click Restart Helpers.
• Check that the backends were able to bind to available ports (visible in Diagnostics).
• Review logs at %APPDATA%\\AlphaSense App Manager\\logs\\main.log.

Component state file location

%LOCALAPPDATA%\\CarouselAppManager\\components\\installed-components.json

This file contains the current deployment mode, installer mode, and installed component versions. It can be inspected for troubleshooting or modified by IT scripts if needed.