#M365Copilot Declarative Agent orchestrator silently stops after 3rd different API action call

Question

Environment

• Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit (VSCode)
• Declarative Agent with API Plugin (OAuth authentication)
• Multiple different API actions defined in OpenAPI spec

Issue Summary

When a Declarative Agent calls 3 different API actions in a single user turn, the Copilot orchestrator silently stops processing after receiving the 3rd API response.

Detailed Behavior

What happens:

1. 1st and 2nd API calls → Success, responses processed correctly
2. 3rd API call → Success, API returns valid response (confirmed in backend logs)
3. Orchestrator does NOT process the 3rd response
4. No error message, just returns to user input state
5. The agent was supposed to display a URL from the 3rd API response, but it terminates abruptly without showing it
6. When refreshing the chat, "No content returned" is displayed at the end

Key observations:

• Same action 3+ times: Works fine (no issue)
• 3 different actions in 1 turn: Always fails after 3rd response
• Retry after failure: Sometimes works when user says "try again with the same steps"
• Split across 2 turns: Works fine (1st API in turn 1, then 2nd & 3rd APIs in turn 2)
• Time to failure: Only about 15 seconds from chat start to stop
• Response size: API responses are small, not a context size issue
• Authentication: All APIs use OAuth, fully authenticated and permissions granted before execution

Expected Behavior

Orchestrator should process all 3 API responses and display the final result including the URL from the 3rd API.

Actual Behavior

Orchestrator silently terminates after receiving the 3rd different API response. No error, no message - just stops.

Questions

1. Is there a limit on the number of different API actions that can be called in a single turn?
2. Is this a known orchestrator issue?
3. Any workarounds besides splitting calls across multiple turns?

Thank you for any guidance.

Answer 1

Hi DOI ,

The orchestrator stopping after the 3rd different API action is likely a current limitation or edge-case in Declarative Agents. There is no officially documented limit, but multiple different API responses in one turn may not be fully supported.

Workarounds:

Split API calls across multiple turns – calling 1–2 APIs per turn works reliably.

Retry within the same turn – prompting “try again with the same steps” can sometimes succeed.

Verify API responses – ensure responses are small, valid, and well-formed.

Report to Microsoft – provide details and tag #extensibility for investigation.

Summary: For now, splitting API calls across turns is the safest approach. Microsoft may address this in a future release.

Documentation:

1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/fundamentals-get-started
2. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/power-platform/copilot-studio/welcome-copilot-studio

Thank you.

Karan Shewale.

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Answer 2

1. There is no specific mention of a limit on the number of different API actions that can be called in a single turn within the provided context. However, the behavior you are experiencing may indicate a limitation or issue with the orchestrator's handling of multiple different API responses in one turn.
2. The issue you described does not appear to be explicitly documented as a known issue in the context provided. It may be beneficial to report this behavior as feedback to Microsoft using the thumbs up or thumbs down button, including the #extensibility tag in your report, as it could be a potential bug or limitation.
3. As a workaround, you have already identified that splitting the API calls across multiple turns resolves the issue. This approach may be the most reliable method until further clarification or fixes are provided by Microsoft regarding the orchestrator's handling of multiple different API actions in a single turn.