Case — Pick from Queue

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're ready to start working on a new case and want the assistant to grab the next one from the queue for you.

What it does

The assistant picks the next unassigned case from any queue you have access to, including public queues, private queues you're a member of, and your personal default queue. The case is claimed and assigned to you. The assistant tells you the case details and which queue it came from.

Try prompts like

• "Give me a case to start"
• "Pick a case from my queue"
• "Go next"
• "What should I work on next?"
• "Get me the next case"
• "Pick one from the queue"

What you see in chat

The assistant shows the case that was picked, including the case number, title, priority, and which queue it came from. This is a text response.

Helpful tips

• You don't need to specify which queue. The assistant checks all queues you have access to.
• If no unassigned cases are available, the assistant lets you know.
• After picking a case, you can ask for a summary to start triaging it.
• If you want to see your already-assigned cases instead, say "show my inbox" or "show my work items."

Tip

After picking a case, say "summarize this case" to get a quick overview before you start working on it.

What happens next

After picking a case, you can continue with prompts like:

• "Summarize this case"
• "What changed on this case since yesterday?"
• "What's the SLA status?"
• "Draft a reply to the customer"

Does this change data?

Yes. This changes data.

The case is claimed and assigned to you in Dynamics 365. The queue item is updated with your worker ID.

Prerequisites

This tool requires the following:

• At least one active queue with cases

Learn more in Create and manage queues for unified routing.

Tool summary

Property	Value
User-facing name	Case — Pick from Queue
Internal tool name	pick_case_from_queue
Purpose	Picks the next unassigned case from any queue the agent can access, including public queues, private queues the agent is a member of, and the agent's personal default queue

Tool behavior

Picks the next unassigned case from any queue the agent can access, including public queues, private queues the agent is a member of, and the agent's personal default queue. Claims the case by assigning the worker ID and ownership, and returns the case details along with the source queue name.

Annotations

Annotation	Value	Meaning
readOnlyHint	false	This tool modifies data (claims a case).
destructiveHint	false	The case is claimed, not deleted.
idempotentHint	false	Each call may pick a different case from the queue.
openWorldHint	Not set	Uses default (queries Dataverse).

Input concepts

This tool takes no input parameters.

Response and UI behavior

Response type

Text-only

Returns a text response with the claimed case details (case number, title, priority, source queue name). No interactive component is rendered.

Routing notes

Use pick_case_from_queue when:

• The user says "go next", "give me a case", "pick a case from my queue", "what should I work on next"
• The user wants to claim a new case from the queue without specifying a particular case

Don't use pick_case_from_queue when:

• Listing cases by criteria - route to list_cases
• Viewing already-assigned cases ("my cases", "my work items") - route to list_case_inbox_workitems
• Resolving a case AND picking the next - route to resolve_case_and_pick_next

Related tools

Tool	Relationship
resolve_case_and_pick_next	Resolves the current case and picks the next one in a single operation
list_case_inbox_workitems	Shows the agent's personal inbox of already-assigned cases
list_cases	Lists and filters cases by criteria
summarize_case	Opens the picked case with an AI summary for triage

Data mutation classification

Write / mutation.

Claims a queue item by assigning the worker ID and case ownership in Dataverse. The case moves from unassigned to assigned.