Microsoft Copilot Studio overview
Microsoft Copilot Studio is a graphical, low-code tool for both creating a custom Copilot—including building automation with Power Automate—and extending a Copilot for Microsoft 365 with your own enterprise data and scenarios.
One of the standout features of Copilot Studio is its ability to connect to other data sources using either prebuilt or custom plugins. This flexibility enables users to create and orchestrate sophisticated logic, ensuring that their copilot experiences are both powerful and intuitive.
The platform's low-code experience puts the power of AI at the user's fingertips, making it accessible even to people without extensive technical backgrounds.
What is a copilot?
A copilot is an AI-powered conversational interface based on large language models (LLMs) and other sources of knowledge. It's a powerful AI companion that can handle a range of requests, from providing simple responses to common questions to resolving issues requiring complex conversations.
Copilots can engage with customers and employees in multiple languages across websites, mobile apps, Facebook, Microsoft Teams, or any channel supported by the Azure Bot Service.
You can easily create copilots in Copilot Studio without the need for data scientists or developers. Some of the ways you might use copilots include:
- Sales help and support issues.
- Opening hours and store information.
- Employee health and vacation benefits.
- Public health tracking information.
- Common employee questions for businesses.
Access Copilot Studio
Copilot Studio is available as both a standalone web app, and as a discrete app within Teams. Most of the functionality between the two is the same. However, there might be different reasons to choose one version or the other based on the ways you want to use Copilot Studio.
| Copilot Studio version | Use cases | More information |
|---|---|---|
| Web app at https://copilotstudio.microsoft.com | - An IT admin who wants to create copilots for customers. - You're familiar with copilot services and want to trial or test Copilot Studio. - A copilot user who wants to explore advanced copilot concepts, such as entities and variables, and create complex copilots. |
Explore the Copilot Studio demo |
| Teams app | - An employee or member of an organization who wants to use copilots to answer common employee questions. - You want to use advanced concepts, such as entities and variables, and have an internally available copilot in Teams. - You want to create and distribute a copilot in the shortest time possible. |
Open or add the Microsoft Copilot Studio app in Teams |
Plan your copilot
Consider the following when planning your copilot.
Extend Copilot for Microsoft 365 with a declarative copilot
Consider extending Copilot for Microsoft 365 with a declarative copilot if:
- You want to craft your own copilot by declaring instructions, actions, and knowledge to customize Copilot for Microsoft 365, for specific tasks and domain knowledge.
- You wish to utilize the existing Copilot orchestrator.
- You want a standalone custom version of the Copilot for Microsoft 365 chat experience.
Create a custom copilot
Copilot Studio makes creating copilots easy. You only have to describe the copilot you want in plain language to create it. Tell Copilot Studio what specific instructions, triggers, knowledge sources, and actions you want for your copilot. Then test your copilot before you deploy. Publish your copilot when you're ready across multiple channels.
Consider creating a custom copilot if:
You want a copilot that can integrate company data and documents, retrieve real-time data from external APIs, and be embedded in company applications.
You require a customized end-to-end solution for your web or mobile app or automation workflow that meets specific business needs and allows for complete control over product branding.
You want to surface your custom copilot to other copilots as their supported copilot extension.
You’re a proficient developer and looking to create a fully customized end-to-end solution for your web or mobile app to cater to your business needs, and want:
- Full control on product branding
- Choice of language models and orchestration
Or, if you're building products like:
- A customer service chatbot for your e-commerce site
- A virtual assistant to schedule appointments for your healthcare service
- Gaming experiences that incorporate generative AI
Important information
Important
Microsoft Copilot Studio (1) is not intended or made available as a medical device for the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease, or otherwise to be used as a component of any clinical offering or product, and no license or right is granted to use Microsoft Copilot Studio for such purposes, (2) is not designed or intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or judgment and should not be used as a substitute for, or to replace, professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or judgment, and (3) should not be used for emergencies and does not support emergency calls. Any copilot you create using Microsoft Copilot Studio is your own product or service, separate and apart from Microsoft Copilot Studio. You are solely responsible for the design, development, and implementation of your copilot (including incorporation of it into any product or service intended for medical or clinical use) and for explicitly providing end users with appropriate warnings and disclaimers pertaining to use of your copilot. You are solely responsible for any personal injury or death that may occur as a result of your copilot or your use of Microsoft Copilot Studio in connection with your copilot, including (without limitation) any such injuries to end users.