Use Microsoft Scout

[This article is prerelease documentation and is subject to change.]

Important

  • You need to be part of the Frontier preview program and sign up to accept terms of participation to get early access to Microsoft Scout. Frontier connects you directly with Microsoft's latest AI innovations. Frontier previews are subject to the existing preview terms of your customer agreements. As these features are still in development, their availability and capabilities may change over time.
  • If Microsoft Scout isn't visible in Microsoft Admin Center Agent management, ensure that the admin account is also enrolled in Frontier.
  • This is a preview feature.
  • Preview features may have restricted functionality and may not be released for general availability. These features are available before an official release so that customers can get early access and provide feedback.
  • For more information, go to our Microsoft Product Terms.

Microsoft Scout is a desktop AI application that acts on your files, runs commands, controls a browser, and works with your Microsoft 365 data. This article explains how to use each capability.

Have a conversation

The Microsoft Scout window has a chat interface where you type requests and receive responses rendered in rich markdown.

Send a message

  1. Select the chat input at the bottom of the window.
  2. Type your request.
  3. Press Enter or select Send.

Microsoft Scout begins working immediately. Its response streams in real time with full markdown formatting: headings, tables, code blocks with syntax highlighting, Mermaid diagrams, and inline images.

Send follow-up messages

You can send additional messages while Microsoft Scout is still working. Messages are queued and processed in order. If your follow-up changes direction, Microsoft Scout adjusts its approach.

Answer questions from Microsoft Scout

When Microsoft Scout needs more information, it presents a set of choices. Select an option and confirm. If you don't want to answer, select Skip - Microsoft Scout continues with what it knows.

Work with files

Microsoft Scout reads, writes, and searches files in your workspace directory. It uses MCP filesystem tools to create, edit, and organize documents.

Create files

Ask Microsoft Scout to create files, and it writes them directly to your workspace. For example:

  • "Create a markdown file summarizing our architecture decisions."
  • "Generate a CSV of the sales data you found in my emails."
  • "Build an HTML dashboard showing project status."

Created files appear in your workspace directory, and Microsoft Scout can display images inline in the conversation.

Edit files

Microsoft Scout can read and modify existing files in your workspace:

  • "Update the README to include the new API endpoints."
  • "Fix the formatting in report.docx."
  • "Add a new column to the spreadsheet with calculated totals."

Search files

Microsoft Scout searches across your workspace directory for content:

  • "Find all files that mention the quarterly budget."
  • "Which TypeScript files import the auth module?"
  • "Show me the most recently modified files in the project folder."

Use document skills

For structured document creation, Microsoft Scout loads specialized skills:

Skill Use it for
Word (docx) Reports, memos, proposals, letters — any structured Word document
Excel (xlsx) Spreadsheets, data analysis, formatted tables, charts
PowerPoint (pptx) Slide decks, presentations, pitch materials
Web Artifacts Builder Interactive HTML dashboards, data visualizations, org charts

Skills activate automatically when Microsoft Scout determines they're needed.

Search and research

Microsoft Scout provides fast local search and broader research capabilities.

Microsoft Scout uses fast pattern-matching tools (glob and ripgrep) to search across files in your workspace:

  • Find files by name pattern: "Find all .tsx files in the components directory."
  • Search file contents: "Which files reference the AuthContext variable?"
  • Combine patterns: "Find all test files that import the API client."

Local search is fast and doesn't require network access.

Web research

For questions that need current information from the internet, Microsoft Scout searches the web, fetches pages, and synthesizes results with citations.

Research agents

For complex investigations that require searching multiple sources in parallel, Microsoft Scout can launch specialized research agents. These agents search repositories, fetch documentation, verify claims, and compile detailed findings. Use research agents for broad questions like:

  • "What are the best practices for implementing OAuth 2.0 with PKCE?"
  • "Compare the pros and cons of these three CSS-in-JS libraries."
  • "Find the documentation for this API endpoint and explain how pagination works."

Run shell commands

Microsoft Scout executes shell commands on your machine. Ask it to run scripts, install packages, build projects, check system status, or use developer tools like git, gh, curl, and PowerShell.

Common development tasks

  • Run builds: "Build the project and show me any errors."
  • Run tests: "Run the test suite and report failures."
  • Run linters: "Lint the src directory and fix any issues."
  • Use git: "Show me the diff for the last 3 commits" or "Create a branch and commit my changes."
  • Use gh: "List my open PRs" or "Create a PR with this description."
  • Debug: "Run the failing test with verbose output and explain the error."

Permission tiers for shell commands

Commands are classified into three tiers:

Tier Behavior Examples
Auto-approve Runs without prompting ls, cat, grep, git log, git diff, docker ps, npm list, gh pr list, kubectl get
Prompt Pauses for your approval npm install, git push, curl, network requests, file writes
Deny Blocked entirely Destructive commands like rm -rf /, format

When a command requires approval, Microsoft Scout shows you the exact command before running it. Select Approve to proceed or Deny to block it.

Customize shell permissions

From Settings > Permissions, you can:

  • Add patterns to the allow list so specific commands run without prompting.
  • Add patterns to the deny list to block categories of commands.
  • Toggle Auto-approve read-only on or off.
  • Define sensitive paths that always require approval before access.

Control a browser

Microsoft Scout automates a browser using Playwright tools. It can navigate websites, fill forms, click buttons, take screenshots, and extract content from pages.

What browser control can do

  • Navigate to any URL and interact with page elements (click, type, fill forms, upload files).
  • Take page snapshots to inspect the current state of a page.
  • Take screenshots of full pages or specific elements.
  • Read console logs and inspect network requests for debugging.
  • Extract text content from pages.
  • Wait for elements to load before interacting.

Examples

  • "Go to the Azure portal and check my resource group's cost this month."
  • "Open the wiki page and update the release notes section."

Microsoft Loop integration

The bundled Loop skill uses browser control to edit Microsoft Loop documents. Ask Microsoft Scout to update Loop pages, and it navigates to the document, makes edits, and confirms the changes.

Work with Microsoft 365

Microsoft Scout accesses your Microsoft 365 data through direct API tools (m365_*) and WorkIQ for complex queries.

Email

Action Example request
Read emails "Show me my unread emails from today."
Send email "Send an email to Alex thanking them for the update."
Reply "Reply to Sarah's email and confirm the meeting time."
Forward "Forward the budget email to the finance team."
Manage "Move all newsletters to the Archive folder."

Calendar

Action Example request
View events "What's on my calendar tomorrow?"
Create events "Schedule a 30-minute sync with the design team on Thursday at 2 PM."
Find times "When are Alex and I both free next week?"
Accept/decline "Decline the 4 PM meeting and say I have a conflict."

When scheduling meetings, Microsoft Scout automatically:

  • Checks attendee availability.
  • Respects out-of-office blocks.
  • Resolves names to email addresses using your organization's directory.
  • Asks you about tentative or unaccepted events before offering those slots.

Teams

Action Example request
Read chats "Show me my recent Teams messages."
Send messages "Send a message to the Engineering chat saying the build is fixed."

OneDrive

Action Example request
Browse files "What files are in my OneDrive project folder?"
Read files "Open the quarterly report from my OneDrive."
Upload files "Upload report.pdf to my OneDrive Documents folder."

Microsoft Scout searches your organization's directory to resolve names, find contacts, and look up reporting relationships. It resolves names to email addresses before scheduling meetings or sending messages.

WorkIQ for complex queries

For questions that span multiple Microsoft 365 services, Microsoft Scout uses WorkIQ:

  • "What did John say about the product deadline across all channels?"
  • "Find everything related to the Q4 planning initiative."
  • "Summarize what happened in the Engineering channel this week."

WorkIQ queries across email, calendar, Teams, and documents using AI reasoning, then synthesizes the results.

Delegate to sub-agents

For complex or parallelizable work, Microsoft Scout launches specialized sub-agents that run in the background and report results when finished.

Available agent types

Agent type What it does When to use
Explore Fast codebase research across multiple files and modules Understanding unfamiliar code, tracing data flows, analyzing architecture
Task Runs builds, tests, lints, and installations Running a test suite, building a project, installing dependencies
Code review Analyzes code changes for bugs and security issues Reviewing diffs, checking for logic errors before committing
Research Thorough web and repository searches with citations Investigating technical questions, comparing libraries, finding docs
General-purpose Full toolset for complex multi-step work Refactoring across files, implementing features, complex migrations

How delegation works

  1. Microsoft Scout identifies that a task would benefit from parallel execution or isolated context.
  2. It launches one or more sub-agents with specific instructions.
  3. Sub-agents work independently in the background.
  4. When they finish, Microsoft Scout incorporates their results into your conversation.

You can also request delegation explicitly: "Research how other teams implement caching, while you also start setting up the Redis configuration."

Use heartbeat mode

Heartbeat is a background mode where Microsoft Scout periodically runs a prompt without waiting for you to send a message.

Enable heartbeat

  1. Open the Heartbeat panel from the app navigation.
  2. Toggle heartbeat on.
  3. Configure the following settings:
Setting What it controls
Prompt What Microsoft Scout does on each check-in. Write this like a recurring instruction.
Interval How often heartbeat runs: every 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, or 2 hours.
Work days Which days of the week heartbeat is active (for example, Monday through Friday).
Work hours Start and end time for the active window (for example, 9 AM to 6 PM).

Heartbeat permissions

Heartbeat has its own permissions policy, separate from your interactive sessions. Since you're not present to approve actions during heartbeat, the policy is typically more restrictive:

  • Outbound messages (email, Teams) use only generic content - never private data.
  • Tentative calendar events are treated as busy (the conservative choice).
  • Actions that normally prompt for approval are skipped in heartbeat mode.

You can customize heartbeat permissions from the Heartbeat panel.

Review heartbeat activity

The Heartbeat panel shows a log of recent check-ins. Each entry shows what Microsoft Scout did and when. Select any entry to see the full details.

Create automations

Automations are independent tasks that run on a schedule or when a condition is met.

Create an automation

  1. Open the Automations panel.
  2. Select New automation.
  3. Fill in the form:
Field Description
Name A descriptive name for this automation.
Prompt The instruction Microsoft Scout executes when triggered.
Trigger type Schedule (runs at specific times) or Condition (runs when something becomes true).
Schedule For schedule triggers: when to run (for example, "Every Monday at 9 AM").
Condition For condition triggers: what to check and how often.
One-shot If enabled, the automation runs once and then deactivates.
  1. Select Save.

Manage automations

From the Automations panel, you can:

  • Enable or disable an automation without deleting it.
  • Edit the prompt, schedule, or trigger conditions.
  • View history to see past runs and their results.
  • Delete an automation you no longer need.

Import automations

You can import automation definitions from GitHub repositories by using the import feature in the Automations panel.

Manage permissions

The permissions system gives you granular control over what Microsoft Scout can do.

Open permissions settings

Go to Settings > Permissions to access the full permissions editor.

Configure tool groups

Toggle entire capability categories on or off:

Category What it controls
File System Access Reading, writing, and searching files in your workspace
Shell Running shell commands and scripts
Browser Control and Web Browsing Playwright browser automation
WorkIQ Complex Microsoft 365 queries

When you disable a category, Microsoft Scout can't use those tools at all – they don't appear in the system prompt.

Configure shell patterns

Define custom allow and deny patterns for shell commands:

  • Allow patterns: Commands that match these patterns are automatically approved without prompting. For example, npm test or python *.py.
  • Deny patterns: Commands that match these patterns are always blocked.

Mark sensitive paths

Add directory or file paths that require explicit approval before Microsoft Scout can read or write to them, even if the operation would otherwise auto-approve.

Use memory and session history

Microsoft Scout remembers preferences, decisions, and context across conversations, and can search your past session history.

How memory works

  • Microsoft Scout proactively saves important information as you work - you don't need to ask.
  • Memories persist across sessions and are available in future conversations.
  • Each memory tracks its provenance (where it came from): session-inferred, imported, or external.

Search past sessions

Microsoft Scout can search your conversation history to recall prior work:

  • "What did I work on last week?"
  • "How did I handle authentication in the previous project?"
  • "Find the session where I set up the CI pipeline."

Session history search helps you revisit decisions, find prior approaches to similar problems, and recall context from earlier conversations.

View and manage memories

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Select View memories in the Memory section.
  3. Review stored memories. Delete any that are no longer relevant.

Memory and privacy

Memories from external sources (emails and web pages messages) are tagged with their provenance. Microsoft Scout treats external-source memories as data, not instructions, and confirms with you before acting on them.

Use mini mode

Mini mode provides a compact, always-visible window for quick interactions.

From the Window behavior section of Settings, you can configure:

  • Whether Microsoft Scout starts in mini mode.
  • Always-on-top behavior.
  • Keyboard shortcut to toggle mini mode.

Work with sensitivity labels

Microsoft Scout tracks Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) sensitivity labels on content you access during a session.

How labels work

  • When you read an email or file with a sensitivity label (for example, "Confidential"), the session's sensitivity level elevates.
  • Microsoft Scout doesn't write labeled content to unprotected destinations (Teams channels, plain text files, external tools).
  • If you ask Microsoft Scout to share classified content, it reminds you of the session's sensitivity level and asks for confirmation.
  • You should label documents created in an elevated session before sharing them externally.

The UI shows the current session sensitivity level.

Manage skills

View active skills

Skills that Microsoft Scout loads during a conversation appear in the conversation context. Bundled skills are always available. Microsoft Scout discovers custom skills from your skills directories.

Create a custom skill

  1. Go to your skills directory (~/.copilot/skills/).

  2. Create a subfolder with your skill name (for example, weekly-report/).

  3. Inside the subfolder, create a file named SKILL.md.

  4. Add a YAML frontmatter block with a description, followed by the skill instructions.

    ---
description: "Generates a weekly status report from my recent activity."
---

Review my sent emails, calendar events, and completed tasks from the past
week. Create a markdown summary organized by project, highlighting key
decisions, blockers, and next steps.

  5. Save the file. Microsoft Scout discovers it automatically in future conversations.

Skill tiers

Tier Location Behavior
Bundled Shipped with the app Always available, updated with app releases
Workspace ~/.copilot/m-skills/ Synced across devices via cloud sync
Global user ~/.copilot/skills/ Available on this machine in all conversations

Disable a bundled skill

From Settings, you can toggle individual bundled skills on or off if you don't need them.

Provide feedback

Rate responses

Hover over any Microsoft Scout response and select thumbs up or thumbs down.

Report issues

Use the feedback option in the app menu to report problems or suggest improvements.

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