Choose an external model as the primary AI model

Want to try out cutting-edge AI models from outside Microsoft? Add an external model to your nonproduction Copilot Studio agents as the primary AI model for generative orchestration reasoning or responding.

The external models available in Copilot Studio are Anthropic models.

Important

• These models shouldn't be used for production purposes. You might experience slowdowns or timeouts due to limited capacity and availability, and these models might not be supported in the future. Admins can control access to this feature.

• Anthropic models are hosted outside Microsoft and are subject to Anthropic terms and data handling. Makers need to review and accept these terms before they can use the models. These models are available before an official release so that you can get early access and provide feedback.

• If you're building a production-ready agent, see Microsoft Copilot Studio overview.

• This article contains Microsoft Copilot Studio external model documentation and is subject to change.

Select an external model for your agent

1. Go to your agent's Overview page.

2. In the Model section, select a model under Anthropic.

You can switch between different kinds of models at any time.

If external models are visible but you can't select them, that might mean your admin removed access to external models. If an admin removes access to an external model after originally making it available, agents using that model change to another suitable internal model. If a suitable model doesn't exist, the agent errors out and makers must change their models to internal models.

If you can access external models but the model you want to use isn't visible in the model picker, your admin might need to allow Anthropic models in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Admin controls and requirements for external models

Admins control whether makers can add external models to agents. To grant access to external models, turn on external models in Power Platform admin center for the environment or the environment group.

Admins must first grant access to Anthropic models in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Complete the steps in Connect to Anthropic LLM in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Preview models and external models are two different sets that can overlap but aren't the same, and their settings are separate. For example:

• Admins can block external models but allow preview or experimental models. In this case, makers can't use external models but can use preview, experimental, and generally available internal models.

• Admins can also block preview or experimental models but allow external models. In this case, makers can't use any preview or experimental models, but can use any generally available external and internal models.