Draft Email

Note

This tool is available by default on the following MCP servers: Dynamics 365 Customer Service. 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 want to compose an email to a customer directly from chat. The assistant can use AI to generate the email body based on your intent, apply a template, or open a blank compose form.

What it does

The assistant opens an email compose form inside chat. When you describe what the email should be about (for example, "draft a closure email" or "write a follow-up"), the assistant uses AI to generate a relevant subject and body based on the case context and any matching templates. You can edit the content, change recipients, and send or save as a draft.

For replies and forwards, the assistant pre-fills recipients and threads the email into the existing conversation.

Try prompts like

• "Draft an email to the customer on this case"
• "Write a case closure email"
• "Reply to the last email on this case"
• "Draft an apology email"
• "Compose a follow-up email about next steps"
• "Forward the customer's email to my manager"
• "Write a thank you email to the customer"
• "Draft a resolution email"

What you see in chat

The assistant displays an email compose form as an app-in-chat component. The form shows the generated or pre-filled subject, body, and recipients. If AI generated the content, you'll see a template banner showing which template was used.

Helpful tips

• Describe your intent naturally - say "draft a closure email" or "write an apology" and the assistant generates appropriate content.
• For replies, the recipients auto-fill from the case customer. You don't need to specify them.
• The AI-generated content is a starting point. Always review and edit before sending.
• If you want to compose without AI, just say "draft a blank email" or "open the email form."
• Your email signature is automatically appended.

Tip

After the compose form appears, you can still ask the assistant for help. For example, "make it more formal" or "add a paragraph about the refund process."

What happens next

After the compose form appears, you can continue with prompts like:

• "Send it"
• "Save as draft"
• "Add Sarah to CC"
• "Make it shorter"
• "Change the subject to 'Case Resolution'"

Does this change data?

This step opens a compose form but does not send the email automatically.

The compose form may auto-save a draft to Dynamics 365 so it appears on the timeline. Sending the email or saving the final draft are actions you take from within the form. The assistant asks for confirmation before sending.

What you can do from the app-in-chat component

From the compose form in chat, you can:

• Edit the email subject and body
• Add or remove recipients (To, CC, BCC)
• Switch between recommended templates using the banner dropdown
• View knowledge article sources cited by the AI
• Save the email as a draft
• Send the email directly
• Open the full email form in Dynamics 365

Prerequisites

This tool requires the following:

• Copilot email features

Learn more in Manage Copilot features in Customer Service.

Tool summary

Property	Value
User-facing name	Draft Email
Internal tool name	draft_email
Purpose	Opens the email compose form with AI-generated content, a template-based body, or blank fields for the user to author a new email

Tool behavior

Opens the email compose form with AI-generated content, a template-based body, or blank fields for the user to author a new email. The primary flow passes the user's intent phrase as aiComposeKeywords, which triggers server-side template matching and AI-enhanced body generation in a single round-trip. The widget auto-saves the draft to Dataverse so it appears on the record's timeline immediately.

Annotations

Annotation	Value	Meaning
readOnlyHint	true	Microsoft 365 Copilot skips the confirmation prompt. The compose widget manages draft persistence internally.
destructiveHint	Not set	Not applicable (no destructive side effects).
idempotentHint	Not set	Not applicable (each call opens a new compose session).
openWorldHint	Not set	Uses default (queries Dataverse).

Input concepts

Record context

Input	Description	Required
entityId, entityType, incident	entityId (record GUID to associate the email with), entityType (entity logical name such as incident). For reply flows, entityId can be omitted when regardingActivityId is provided — the parent record is resolved server-side from the source email.	No

Reply context

Input	Description	Required
regardingActivityId, replyMode, reply, replyAll, forward	regardingActivityId (the source email's activityId for reply/forward flows), replyMode (reply, replyAll, or forward). Recipients auto-fill from the case customer in reply mode.	No

Recipients

Input	Description	Required
to, cc, bcc, id, logicalName, displayName	to, cc, bcc (arrays of entity references with id, logicalName, displayName). Pre-fill recipient fields.	No

Content pre-fill

Input	Description	Required
subject, body, <p>, <br>, <strong>, <em>, <ul>, <li>	subject (fallback subject when AI returns none), body (fallback HTML body — uses <p>, <br>, <strong>, <em>, <ul>, <li> — no markdown).	No

AI compose

Input	Description	Required
aiComposeKeywords	aiComposeKeywords (strongly preferred on every fresh call — the user's intent phrase verbatim, e.g. close standard, apology, next steps). Server matches templates by keyword and AI-enhances the body. If omitted, server derives a keyword from subject. If neither produces a keyword, AI compose is skipped.	No

Template context

Input	Description	Required
templateTitle, templates, generate_email_content, knowledgeSources	templateTitle (template name for the compose banner), templates (ranked list from generate_email_content for template-switching dropdown), knowledgeSources (knowledge articles cited by AI for a Sources panel).	No

Response and UI behavior

This tool renders an interactive email compose form.

This MCP tool is supported by an MCP app.

Response type

Interactive component (app-in-chat)

The compose form shows the AI-generated or template-based email body with subject, recipients, and a template banner. The user can edit content, switch templates, review knowledge sources, and send or save the draft.

Routing notes

Use draft_email for:

• Any "compose", "draft", "write an email" prompt
• Reply, reply-all, or forward flows from the timeline
• AI-composed emails where the user provides an intent phrase
• Template-based email composition

Don't use draft_email when:

• The user wants to send immediately without review — use send_email
• The user wants to resume editing an existing draft — use edit_email_draft
• The user wants to browse template options before composing — use recommend_email_templates then apply_email_template
• The user wants AI-generated content for a specific intent without opening compose — use generate_email_content

Related tools

Tool	Relationship
send_email	Sends an email immediately without opening compose
edit_email_draft	Opens an existing draft for continued editing
view_email	Displays a received or sent email read-only
generate_email_content	Generates AI email content for a specific intent
recommend_email_templates	Returns ranked template recommendations for a case
apply_email_template	Applies a specific template and opens compose
get_email_signature	Retrieves the user's email signature (auto-appended by compose)
list_emails	Searches emails by subject or sender

Data mutation classification

Read-only entry point with downstream mutation potential.

The tool itself is marked readOnlyHint: true — M365 Copilot does not prompt for confirmation. The compose widget auto-saves the draft to Dataverse, and the user can send from the widget, which triggers a write operation. The draft auto-save is a UX convenience initiated by the user's explicit compose request.