How to create and use no-code SharePoint Copilot Agents  – Vesa Nopanen – Future Work today

A few of us wait eagerly for brand spanking new options to look in our tech. Be it a cell phone, television or any of Microsoft 365 environments we use. The final one is getting new options at wonderful pace – sooner than ever. And we all know what’s getting essentially the most love at Microsoft in the mean time: Microsoft 365 Copilot, different Copilots and every part associated to Copilot. These SharePoint Copilot Brokers had been introduced at Construct 2024, and half a 12 months after that they began to look in tenants. These brokers might be attainable to be connected to Groups conversations, shared with hyperlinks and later used as brokers contained in the Copilot. Customers can have a dialog with AI about contents the agent has – for instance challenge administration manuals, challenge documentation, product data, worker handbook, it steering, and so forth. Mixed with straightforward methods to connect brokers to the dialog in chats and channels, this might be a pleasant step ahead bringing AI to the collaboration – to the true work.    

Let’s have a look how one can create and use them in motion!  

1. Create agents in multiple ways 
   1. From a document library 
   2. From a folder 
   3. From the site home 
2. Do I always need to create a site agent? 
3. Are there more places where to create these no-code SharePoint Copilot agents? 
4. Talking with agents (= using agents ) 
5. Sharing agents 
6. Editing agents 
7. Deleting agents 
8. Conclusion and what’s next 

Create brokers in a number of methods 

You don’t want any coding expertise to create these brokers (or bots, or Copilot extensions – as they had been referred to as earlier than) in SharePoint. You probably have create/modifying permissions on the positioning & doc library, simply choose the content material and click on Create Agent from a menu. There are a number of methods to do that: 

From a doc library 

That is one thing I can see getting used very often. We need to choose some recordsdata and folders and create a “data bot” our of this data. On this case I exploit demo supplies to create one immediately within the SharePoint doc library by deciding on content material after which clicking Create a Copilot agent. 

After this, the agent is prepared. Carried out. Identical to that. 

It routinely will get an appropriate title and brand (the positioning brand).  I can go on and check out or edit it. 

Tip: You may as well click on Create a Copilot agent with out deciding on any file or folder, while you’re at Doc library.

This fashion agent is utilizing routinely the present doc library because the content material supply.

Let’s proceed with modifying the Paperwork agent we created first.

Enhancing the agent opens a dialogue, the place I can edit title, icon, description and take a look at the agent.  

There may be additionally an upcoming choice to go to the following stage by including superior customizations in Copilot Studio – like making these linked to extra information sources and including conversational workflows. This function will not be out there but. 

There are additionally tabs for modifying Sources and Habits.  

In Sources it’s attainable to handle contents (including and eradicating contents) or including further SharePoint websites for agent’s data sources.  

Once you need to add new doc libraries, folders or recordsdata , it opens a dialogue for choosing content material: 

If there are extra Doc libraries within the website, it’s attainable to incorporate content material from any of them. In the mean time it’s attainable to pick out solely doc -type libraries, so website pages can’t be included within the agent’s data.    

It isn’t attainable to change to different websites so as to add content material. For that you should add hyperlinks to different SharePoint websites within the Sources tab.  

Within the remaining tab Habits it’s attainable to set agent’s welcome message, starter prompts and directions (=system immediate). Utilizing Copilot Studio, it’s attainable to take dialog flows to subsequent stage.  

Enhancing any of those will be examined instantly and saved when you’re prepared. 

The place is that this agent saved? In the identical library and folder the place you clicked Create a Copilot agent! 

The agent will be discovered as .copilot named file, that may be shared with others.  And when you click on on the agent, it should open it to the facet panel routinely.

From a folder 

One other case to create one, could be to navigate to a folder and choose key recordsdata from there (maybe solely related product data paperwork) when creating an agent.  

This isn’t any totally different from the earlier one. Why I added this to the article? So you may see it’s attainable to pick out Phrases, PowerPoints and Excels because the content material supply. 

And identical to earlier than, the .copilot file is saved within the folder the place you created the agent. 

I created a Loop element in crew channel and edited the Launch agent and added a Loop element to it because the supply. I used to be comfortable to see that each one paperwork I’ve in sources work. Phrase-documents ✅, PowerPoints ✅, Excel ✅ and Loop ✅ 

From the positioning dwelling 

Once you open the positioning dwelling web page, you can begin agent creation from there as properly. Simply click on the +New menu and choose Copilot agent.  

Now you could have an agent, that features the entire website.  

There’s a slight distinction when defining content material sources: 

You’ll be able to choose your entire website or change to the mode the place you add doc libraries, folders and recordsdata, like we did earlier than. When the entire website is chosen, agent makes use of additionally website pages within the content material supply. 

When making a Copilot agent from the positioning dwelling, the agent is saved in Website Belongings to Copilots-folder, as a substitute of a doc library.  

Do I all the time have to create a website agent? 

Easy reply: no. All websites may have a Copilot agent pre-created, and it might reply questions associated to contents of the positioning.  You will discover it by opening Copilot from the highest to the facet panel and your website Agent is there by default. From the identical location you may change to different website brokers.

Are there extra locations the place to create these no-code SharePoint Copilot brokers? 

Sure, there are! Once you open the Copilot to the positioning (on the prime of the web page) you may create one from Copilot as properly.  Within the earlier chapter ( Do I all the time have to create a website agent?  ) we simply opened the Copilot to the positioning. From that one open the Copilot agent dropdown, and select to create a brand new one. 

And it creates a brand new agent that comprises Paperwork library because the supply. 

This will get saved to the Doc library root, identical to our first take a look at agent.  

Speaking with brokers (= utilizing brokers ) 

How can we use these brokers? Click on Copilot brand at prime navigation to open the facet panel Copilot. From the drop down you may choose the agent you need to use.  

Different possibility is to only click on on the agent within the doc library, and it will likely be opened to the facet panel.

We are able to additionally delete the dialog historical past from the identical dropdown dialogue. When we’ve got chosen the agent, we simply ask questions or have dialog with it.  

Now we will additionally see the chat historical past within the dropdown.  

What I discovered fairly helpful, is that I see all chats within the historical past – regardless of which agent was used. Deciding on a chat from the historical past permits to proceed the dialog – and the best agent is routinely chosen alongside the chat.  

Sharing brokers 

It’s nice to have brokers on the positioning, however the true deal comes when it’s attainable to share brokers to others. That may be achieved two methods: 

Share from the doc library utilizing share-icon or any of different share-features we use with recordsdata usually.  

Or open the agent dropdown in Copilot and choose share from there. 

Enjoyable reality: you may’t share the pre-created website stage agent in any respect (there isn’t any … menu and thus no share ). In case you create your individual site-level agent, you may share that✅.  

After getting a hyperlink to the agent, you may share it in Groups messages or channels or different methods (like.. electronic mail). It’s attainable to open this hyperlink in an internet browser for a full web page view.  

And if I’ve sufficient permissions, it’s attainable to edit the agent even from this view. 

At this level brokers don’t work in Groups chats nor channels nor in Outlook. There are at the moment solely two methods to make use of SharePoint Copilot brokers: open the hyperlink to the browser or navigate to the positioning and use the agent there.  

Enjoyable reality: you may connect further recordsdata to the agent dialog, identical to you do when utilizing BizChat. It’s attainable to reference Recordsdata and Individuals.  

This opens much more use circumstances for brokers, as you may mix different recordsdata to the context – and even analyze/summarize Excel-files. I didn’t see any Loop-files within the recordsdata listing, so these appear to be restricted to Phrase, PowerPoint, Excel and a minimum of PDF. This opens the use case to match a vendor data to the baseline what agent contents retailer.  

Enhancing brokers 

Enhancing agent will not be achieved through the saved file, however via the positioning side-panel Copilot. Choose the agent from the drop-down and click on three dots (…) menu on the best. There may be Share and Edit. 

Enhancing doesn’t differ from modifying a newly created agent.  

Deleting brokers 

Deleting is one other straightforward job: simply delete the .copilot file! After a browser refresh or two it disappears routinely from the positioning Copilot brokers listing.  

Conclusion and what’s subsequent 

SharePoint Copilot Brokers are a improbable subsequent step on the Copilot journey. Bringing AI to SharePoint websites and having a dialog about website contents is approach higher than trying to find data: with this you may ask for the finalized / styled end result you could simply copy-paste to your wants. We are able to additionally share these brokers very simply to others. Identical to sharing recordsdata.  

Customers who use these brokers are required to have Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

SharePoint Copilot Brokers are nonetheless work-in-progress. Till we get AtMentions in Groups the use is proscribed to the positioning and opening the agent in net browser. This isn’t superb contemplating the Circulation of Work, however it’s a begin. It has by no means been simpler to create bo…brokers to Microsoft 365.  

What I used to be comfortable to see, is that how properly it reads Excel and Loop recordsdata. Pondering all paperwork we’ve got in our websites, this can be a welcome addition. I didn’t take a look at OneNote and PDFs, however I’m fairly certain these work as properly.

SharePoint Copilot Brokers might be extraordinarily helpful as easy AI buddies full of information, however when Superior modifying capabilities change into out there it opens way more new potentialities to increase capabilities and add course of flows. At present, that is the simplest strategy to create data brokers.  

As this can be very straightforward to create new brokers to match even smaller wants, we might be seeing AI alongside folks in chats, channels and emails within the close to future. Take into consideration asking about product data, upkeep plans, challenge plan, or tips throughout and in your dialog. The AI might be there. I can simply see that there might be brokers even masking a single assembly content material, making it sooner and simpler to get data from the content material supply. Within the stream of labor, with out switching to a different app.   

The Future is Stuffed with Brokers!