Build your first agent in Copilot Studio

Two-voice bite. HOST and GUEST. Objective: describe the four moves to build and publish an agent.

HostWelcome back to LearningBites. Last time we used Microsoft 365 Copilot. Today we build something ourselves — an agent — in Copilot Studio. First, plainly: what is Copilot Studio?

GuestIt's a platform for building your own AI agents. The key part: it's no-code. You describe what you want the agent to do, in plain language, and it helps build it. You don't need developers.

HostAnd what's an "agent", exactly?

GuestA focused assistant for one job. Answering HR questions. Helping people learn a product. Three inputs make it up: instructions — how it behaves; knowledge — what it can reference; and tools — actions it can take, which are optional.

HostSo if I sat down to build one, where do I start?

GuestFour moves. Describe, add knowledge, test, publish. Move one: describe it. You type a short description — up to about a thousand characters. Something like "Help users learn how to create agents with Copilot Studio." Copilot Studio then drafts a name, a description, and instructions for you.

HostIt writes the starting point itself?

GuestIt does. And it suggests knowledge sources and tools. You can accept them, change them, or ignore them. Then move two: you add knowledge — a source the agent can draw on. A public website, a SharePoint site, an uploaded file, and more.

HostAny tip on that bit?

GuestGive each source a clear, unique name and a good description. The description helps the agent work out when to use that source. Vague description, vaguer answers.

HostMove three?

GuestTest it. There's a test chat right there while you build. Ask it a question. Change the instructions — say, make the tone friendlier — and ask again. You watch the answer change. That loop is how the agent gets good. Test, change, test again.

HostAnd move four — getting it out to people.

GuestPublish. You hit Publish, confirm, and then you add channels — Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, SharePoint, a website. One rule to hold onto: you publish first, then add channels. And every time you change the agent, publish again, or people get the old version.

HostTwo quick gotchas before we close?

GuestOne: a trial licence lets you build and test, but not publish. Two: new agents use Microsoft sign-in by default. There's a "no authentication" option, but that lets anyone with the link chat to it — so use that carefully.

HostSo the one thing to remember?

GuestDescribe your agent, give it a knowledge source, test it in the chat panel, then publish — and publish again whenever you change it.

HostThat's the pair done — using Copilot, and building with Copilot Studio. Thanks for listening.