Manage tools

Completed

Agents are more valuable when they interact with organizational systems, take action, and get data. Agent 365 gives agents tools that connect agents to external services and business functions.

What are agent tools?

An agent tool is a service that supports experiences across Microsoft 365 apps. Agent tools define how an AI model interacts with user data, tools, and workflows. Agent tools help you handle requests, responses, and actions consistently, safely, securely, and transparently. Agent tools include AI-powered tools and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

MCP servers

MCP servers are a key component of agent tools. They give agents a standard interface to access and work with data, actions, and business logic. Microsoft and non-Microsoft providers develop MCP servers and expose enterprise services to agents.

Choose one of these options:

• Use common MCP servers. For more information, see Common MCP Servers and Microsoft Agent 365 SDK and CLI.

• Bring your own (BYO) MCP server (Preview). To register a remote MCP server, see Bring Your Own MCP Server. Register MCP servers with Microsoft Agent 365 to make them available to agents. For more information, see Register an MCP Server.

Plugins

Plugins package AI capabilities. They bring together skills and MCP connectors that connect users with agents, business data, and external services directly in their workflows. To install a plugin, see Install plugins.

Microsoft Agent 365

As organizations adopt more agents, administrators must ensure tools are discoverable, compliant, secure, and managed according to organizational policies.

As tools expand agent capabilities, they increase organizational risk if unmanaged. The potential governance concerns include:

• Unauthorized data access

• Excessive permissions

• Unapproved third-party integrations

• Compliance violations

• Operational disruptions

Microsoft Agent 365 helps IT admins to centrally manage, monitor, approve, and control the tools available across your organization. Manage agent tools in Agent 365 with these key components:

• Registry

• Requests

Registry

The tools Registry tab lists available tools across the tenant. Use the registry to:

• View available tools and review publisher information.

• Examine tool status and block or unblock tools.

Requests

The Requests experience lets you review requests that users submit for other tools. Use Requests to:

• Review pending requests and evaluate organizational impact.

• Approve or reject requests.

• Maintain governance oversight.