Use system topics in Copilot Studio

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Important

Power Virtual Agents capabilities and features are now part of Microsoft Copilot Studio following significant investments in generative AI and enhanced integrations across Microsoft Copilot.

Some articles and screenshots may refer to Power Virtual Agents while we update documentation and training content.

System topics are common topics used in conversations with a copilot.

System topics are configured to trigger at appropriate times in response to related events. However, you can manually trigger system topics by redirecting a conversation to them. Some system events have trigger phrases that you can customize to fit your needs.

System topics

Unlike topics that you create, system topics are built into Copilot Studio and added to a copilot automatically when you create it. System topics help your copilot respond to common system events like escalation and have essential behavior like ending a conversation. You can't delete system topics. You can disable system topics you don't need, however.

We recommend not customizing system topics until you're comfortable creating an end-to-end copilot conversation. If you make changes to a system topic that you want to remove later, you can use Reset to default to restore the topic's default state.

Screenshot showing the Reset to default option for a system topic.

System topic conditions and behaviors

This list describes the available system topics and reveals what triggers them.

Conversation Start

  • Greets users and introduces the copilot and its capabilities.

  • Triggers when a copilot first engages with a user in conversation.

Conversational boosting

  • Creates generative answers from external data sources.

  • Triggers when the copilot can't find a match for the user query.

End of Conversation

  • Confirms with customers that their query is answered.

  • Triggers from a redirection. Call this topic from your custom topics when you're ready to end a conversation.

Escalate

  • Informs customers if they need to speak with a human.

  • Triggers when "talk to agent" is matched or the Escalate system event is called.

    For example, Question nodes can be configured to escalate if they don't receive a valid answer from the customer.

Note

For a Copilot Studio copilot configured to hand off to OmniChannel, follow the instructions in Hand off to a live agent to ensure proper handoff to Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

Fallback

  • Informs users their query couldn't be matched to a topic and asks them to try again.

  • Triggers when the copilot can't match the user's question or message to a topic.

Multiple Topics Matched

  • Prompts users to choose their intended topic and sets a system variable to identify the topic triggered.

  • Triggers when a user's message closely matches multiple topics.

On Error

  • Informs customers that an error occurred.

    The message includes an error code, the conversation ID, and the error timestamp, which can be used later for debugging. If the conversation is taking place in the Test copilot pane, a detailed error message is included to help the copilot author diagnose the issue. Learn how to troubleshoot errors.

  • Triggers when an error occurs during the conversation.

Reset Conversation

  • Resets the conversation by clearing variable values and forcing the copilot to use the latest published copilot content.

  • Triggers with a redirection.

Sign in

  • Prompts customers to sign in when user authentication is enabled. Learn how to add user authentication.

  • Triggers at the beginning of the conversation when users are required to sign in, or when the conversation reaches a node that uses authentication variables.