Copilot actions

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Copilot actions allow copilots to complete specific tasks for improved engagement. You can use actions in Microsoft Copilot Studio to extend a copilot and access other applications. Actions are also be used to extend Microsoft Copilot.

There are several types of action available in Microsoft Copilot Studio:

  • Prebuilt connector action
  • Custom connector action
  • Power Automate cloud flow
  • AI Builder prompt
  • Bot Framework skill

Actions are accessed from the Actions tab when editing a copilot in Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Screenshot of options for creating an action in Copilot Studio.

Important

You can't use conversational actions created in Copilot Studio as actions with custom copilots.

Each core action has additional information that describes its purpose, allowing the copilot to use generative AI to generate questions. These questions are required to fill the inputs needed to perform the action. Therefore, you don't need to manually author question nodes to gather all inputs needed, such as the inputs on a flow. Inputs are handled for you during runtime. Actions can also be called from a topic using the Call an action node.

Note

Power Automate cloud flow actions were covered in the previous unit.

For more information, see Copilot connectors and actions overview.

Prebuilt Connector actions

Connectors from Microsoft Power Platform are proxies or "wrappers" around APIs that allow Microsoft Copilot Studio, Microsoft Power Automate, Microsoft Power Apps, and Azure Logic Apps to talk to other apps and services. Connectors let you connect your accounts and use a set of prebuilt actions and triggers to build your apps and workflows.

With connectors, you can access various services (both within the Microsoft ecosystem and outside it) to perform a wide array of tasks automatically.

There are many connectors available, ranging from connections between and to Microsoft services like Office 365, SharePoint, and Dynamics 365, all the way to connections to non-Microsoft services like Twitter, Google services, Salesforce, and more.

There is a small subset of connectors available in Microsoft Copilot Studio:

  • Excel Online
  • Mail
  • MSN Weather
  • Desktop flows

Tip

To use other connectors, you need to create a new Power Automate cloud flow.

You'll also see custom connectors and Power Automate cloud flows in your environment listed when creating a new action.

Custom Connector actions

Custom connectors can be created in the Power Platform for applications and services that have a REST API. A custom connector is a wrapper for the API that allows a copilot to use the API to communicate with the service. The actions are defined by the API and the custom connector definition.