Assign entity

Applies to: Dynamics 365 Sales

Note

• The tools and examples in this documentation illustrate current capabilities. Tool names, descriptions, parameters, response formats, and available functionality can change over time.
• When you build agents, integrations, or orchestration logic, don't hard-code dependencies on specific tool names, parameter structures, tool metadata, or response schemas. Instead, design your solution to discover and use available tools at runtime.
• As the platform evolves, Microsoft might add, remove, rename, or modify tools and tool metadata. Designing against capabilities rather than specific tool identifiers helps maintain compatibility across service updates.

Use this capability when you need to assign a Dataverse record to another owner or route it to a queue. The tool supports generic records such as accounts, contacts, opportunities, leads, cases, and custom tables.

What it does

The assistant updates record ownership for user or team targets by using the Dataverse assign operation. For queue targets, it routes the record to a queue when the table supports queue routing.

Before it makes a change, the assistant checks the table's Dataverse metadata when that metadata is available. If the table is organization-owned (its records have no owner), or if you ask to route a record from a table that isn't enabled for queues, the assistant returns a clear explanation instead of attempting an operation that Dataverse would reject. If the metadata can't be read, Dataverse remains the source of truth and the operation proceeds to the platform check.

If the target name is ambiguous, the assistant returns matching candidates so you can choose the correct user, team, or queue before the record is changed.

Try prompts like

• Assign this opportunity to me.
• Route this lead to the enterprise sales queue.
• Assign this account to Jordan Reyes.
• Move this custom record to the renewal team.

What you'll see in chat

The assistant displays a text response confirming the assignment result, or asks you to choose from candidate targets when a display name matches more than one user, team, or queue. The assistant doesn't display an interactive app-in-chat component for this capability.

Helpful tips

• Use record-specific tools when they have extra business requirements. For example, use reassign_case for support cases that require a handover note.
• Use exact target names, email addresses, or GUIDs when possible to avoid ambiguous matches.
• Use targetId value me only when assigning to the current user and targetType is user.

What happens next

• Open the record.
• Show recent activity.
• Add a note about the handoff.

Does this change data?

Yes, this can change data.

Prerequisites

This tool requires permission to read and assign the requested Dataverse record and permission to assign to the requested target. Queue routing requires the table to support queues and the target queue to be accessible.

Tool summary

Property	Value
User-facing name	Assign entity
Internal tool name	assign_entity
Purpose	Assign a Dataverse record to a user or team, or route it to a queue.

Tool behavior

The tool changes a record's owner for user and team targets. For queue targets, it adds the record to the specified queue when Dataverse supports queue routing for that table. It doesn't create handover notes or perform domain-specific workflow steps.

Before it assigns or routes a record, the tool reads the table's OwnershipType and IsValidForQueue metadata from Dataverse. It returns a clear pre-flight message when an assignment can't succeed—for example, when the table is organization-owned and has no owner to change, or when the table isn't enabled for queues. If that metadata can't be read, the tool proceeds and lets Dataverse enforce the rule.

Annotations

Annotation	Value	Meaning
readOnlyHint	false	This tool modifies data.
destructiveHint	false	This tool doesn't perform destructive changes.
idempotentHint	false	Repeated calls are not guaranteed to be equivalent—queue routing adds a queue item each time.
openWorldHint	Not set	Uses default behavior.

Input concepts

Record and target

Input	Description	Required
entityLogicalName	Dataverse logical name for the record to assign, such as account, opportunity, lead, or incident.	Yes
recordId	Dataverse GUID for the record to assign.	Yes
targetType	Assignment target type: user, team, or queue.	Yes
targetId	Target user, team, or queue GUID; me for the current user; an email address where supported; or a display name.	Yes

Response and UI behavior

Response type

Text-only

No interactive component is rendered.

Routing notes

Use assign_entity when the user wants to:

• assign a generic Dataverse record to a user or team.
• route a supported record to a queue.
• change ownership for a record type that doesn't have a more specific assignment tool.

Don't use assign_entity when the user wants to:

• add a handover note while transferring a support case; use reassign_case.
• update a regular field value; use update_entity_record.
• create a task or timeline activity; use create_activity.

Related tools

Tool	Relationship
reassign_case	Use for support-case transfers that need a handover note.
update_entity_record	Use for field updates that are not owner or queue assignments.
get_entity_record	Use to inspect the record before or after assignment.

Data mutation classification

Write / mutation.

The tool changes Dataverse data when it successfully assigns ownership or routes a record to a queue. Repeating the same owner assignment (user or team) to the same target is idempotent, but repeating a queue route can add another queue item, so the tool is not marked idempotent overall.