Note
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories.
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories.
The new agent experience in Microsoft Copilot Studio is a redesigned authoring and runtime environment for building AI agents. It introduces a natural-language-first approach to agent creation, a unified single-surface design, and an enhanced orchestration model that improves response quality and reasoning capability.
What is the new agent experience?
The new experience is built on an enhanced orchestration runtime that replaces the classic orchestration model used in Copilot Studio's existing (classic) agents. Instead of authoring explicit conversation topics, flows, and branching logic, you describe your agent in natural language and the system generates the underlying configuration.
The new experience is available alongside the classic experience. You choose which experience to use when you create a new agent. Agents created in the new experience can't be transferred to the classic experience, and agents created in the classic experience can't be transferred to the new experience.
For a detailed comparison of the two experiences, see Classic vs. new agent experience.
Try out the new experience
To try out the new experience, select Try it now on the classic experience homepage.
You can switch back at any time by selecting the New experience toggle.
Key concepts
The new experience organizes an agent around its core components, configured from the Build tab:
Instructions: Define the agent's identity, personality, tone, scope, and behavioral rules.
Knowledge: Connected data sources, organizational data through Microsoft IQ, and memory give the agent context for answering questions.
Tools and skills: Tools let the agent perform actions (calling APIs, running flows), while skills define reusable structured behaviors.
Model: Choose the AI model that powers the agent's reasoning.
Connected agents: Delegate specialized tasks to other agents.
Agent authoring surface
The new experience provides a tab-based surface for building and managing an agent:
| Tab | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Build | Configure the agent's identity, knowledge, tools, skills, and model |
| Preview | Test the agent interactively in a preview chat interface |
| Evaluate | Create and run test sets to measure agent quality |
| Monitor | Review recent tasks, files the agent accessed, and activity |
Agent lifecycle
Building an agent in the new experience follows this general flow:
- Create: Start from the Copilot Studio homepage and choose to create a new agent with the new experience.
- Build: Configure the instructions the agent follows, what it knows, and what it can do.
- Test: Use the Preview tab and Evaluate tab to validate the agent's behavior.
- Publish: Deploy the agent to your chosen channels.
- Monitor: Track the agent's tasks, activity, and performance after deployment.
Orchestration and reasoning
The new experience uses an improved orchestration runtime that supports deep reasoning capabilities and higher-quality responses compared to the classic experience—particularly over Microsoft 365 data. Unlike the classic experience, where orchestration behavior is configurable, the new experience uses this enhanced orchestration model for all agents.
For more information on how classic and new orchestration compare, see Classic vs. new agent experience.