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[This article is prerelease documentation and is subject to change.]
Knowledge sources ground your agent in real data, enabling it to answer questions using your organization's content rather than relying solely on its general training. In the new experience, you configure knowledge from the Build tab.
Note
This article reflects the new agent experience in Microsoft Copilot Studio, which is currently available as a production-ready preview. Learn about the two experiences in Classic vs. new agent experience.
- Production-ready previews are subject to supplemental terms of use.
- Some capabilities available in the classic experience aren't yet available in the new experience.
- Agents created in the new experience can't be converted to the classic experience.
What is knowledge?
Knowledge sources are the data your agent can access when answering user questions. Without knowledge, the agent relies only on its general training and instructions. With knowledge, the agent can reference specific documents, websites, organizational data, and structured databases.
The enhanced orchestration runtime automatically determines which knowledge sources to search based on the user's question.
Why add knowledge to your agent?
- Ground responses in specific, accurate information
- Keep answers current with your organization's latest content
- Scope the agent to answer only from approved sources
- Allow the agent to reference internal documents, policies, and procedures
How the agent uses knowledge
- When a user asks a question, the orchestration runtime evaluates whether knowledge sources are needed
- The agent searches relevant sources, retrieves content, and uses it to formulate a response
- Citations might be included to show where information came from
- The agent's instructions influence how it interprets and presents knowledge
Knowledge vs. Microsoft IQ
Knowledge sources and Microsoft IQ help your agent access different kinds of information.
- Knowledge sources (SharePoint, files, public websites, Azure AI Search, Dataverse, Dynamics 365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Azure SQL, and other connected sources) are content you explicitly add for your agent to reference.
- Microsoft IQ provides access to organizational data from Microsoft 365 apps, such as email, calendar, and Teams, that flows dynamically based on the user's context.
- Both can be used together to give your agent comprehensive access to information.